Chicago 2012!

     Today I'm going to do a travel blog! This past weekend we took our first trip to Chicago and it was a blast and at the same time a total life experience and so glad we got the chance to experience it. The original plan was to just go to the cubs game, with my side of the family as a gift for my grandfather for fathers day seeing that he has always wanted to go to a cubs game. Ryan and I decided to make a full weekend out of it.This was just a two day trip filled full. 

8/11/12 DAY 1:

 Arrival. we arrived in Chicago around 2:40 pm later than scheduled due to traffic stops but you will have that. We went straight to the Hotel downtown to drop off our stuff and to valet park. we then started walking towards the red line to catch the subway to the cubs game. Although I was headed in the right direction due to the time crunch and second guessing my self we took a taxi instead. Taxi fare from downtown to the game was about 20$. The game started at 3pm and it was against the Cincinnati Reds. Sadly we lost :( 4-2 but it didn't matter seeing that the game was so much fun and exciting seeing all the cub fans energy around us. The weather was also perfect with just a slight breeze!

My grandpa and I at our first cubs game!

Also a FYI: If you have to go out and smoke a cigarette make sure you get your hand stamped to come back inside. We learned the hard way because they have a no re-enter policy once you have left and we didn't know since Ryan needed a smoke, so we stood outside for 10 minutes till this nice old guy was able to let us back in. showing your 50$ tickets is not good enough reason to let you back in i guess. After the game we said our goodbyes to the family and walked around to some of the shops and bars around Wrigley field.

Navy Pier

     After taking the red line back to downtown (which was crowded but very simple) we checked into our hotel. We stayed at The red roof Inn. It was around 174$ for one night and 36$ for 24hr parking. I read mixed reviews about the place. Yes it was small but the people were nice. I liked that it was in the middle of everything that we wanted to do and it was a perfect for us. All we needed it for was, to sleep anyways so it was worth it. We walked down to the navy pier which wasn't even a mile away and you really couldn't miss it. We actually went back on Sunday and decided the night version was way better and we really enjoyed it! There was so much to do and we went to so many little shops. Saturday nights they have fireworks which were nice to watch along with the children street dancers.

We walked back to the hotel and decided not to go to bed so we walked around downtown and checked out a bar called snickers bar and grill and had a drink there and just people watched.

8/12/12 DAY 2:

     

     Millennium Park/ Grant Park

We woke up around 8 and walked down to Millennium park and took some pictures along the way. We went to cloud gate to see the bean! We also checked out the crown fountain. They are two fountains that are made up of glass bricks that have water streaming down them into a shallow pool. The people of Chicago are placed on the fountain and even at some points they spit out water through their mouths. We also walked to grant park and checked out Buckingham fountain. 

Giordano's

    For lunch we went to Giordano's which was fabulous! It was a little bit of a wait but it was totally worth it! we got a small deep dish pizza with sausage and pepperoni and we finished it but we were stuffed! all around with the small pizza and a pop and tea it was around 25$. Afterwards we took a taxi to water tower place. Water tower place is an 8 level mall where we spent the rest of our afternoon doing some shopping where Ryan was able to find some good stuff! 


Lastly... you can't not go right? before we left we had to go to Willis tower. It was a long wait which stinks unless you paid for the Chicago pass but its a bundle deal and we weren't going to be there that long. But it was pretty cool to be that high in Chicago. In all it was an awesome view!
If I think we were to go back again we would feel a little more comfortable with what we were doing and do some new things... since there is just sooo much you can do there but we really did enjoy our time there and I hope you enjoy my travel blog!