Ok you guys, we continue here with the recount of my Chicago trip earlier this month.
If you haven’t read the first part, it might make more sense if you do since I am picking up where we left off last time. Plus I gave all the information about what to bring in terms of clothes and the like.
CONTINUATION DAY 1
So, we where in Michigan Ave, which is also called Magnificent Mile. The old me would’ve shopped the whole way through, but not this time. We walked admiring the store fronts (the Burberry one is amazing) and Christmas lights. We planned to be at Hancock tower before sunset to get to see it from up there. Almost in front, we saw the Chicago Water Tower, one of the few buildings that survived that big fire. It is beautiful and it contrasts against the modern buildings around it.
John hancock tower
360 Chicago is the observation deck in the 94th floor of Hancock. You have to go down to the very first floor where the ticket office is. Tickets cost about $25 dlls, but for $29 you get the ticket + drink. I can’t seem to find on the website, but that’s the one we got. Once you are up there, there are 360 views of Chicago and Lake Michigan. Going up before sunset is perfect because you get to see it the city both during day and night. There is a seating area, facing west where you can sit and watch the sunset, enjoying your drink. There are also a few more sitting areas and a souvenir store up there.
Once we where up there we decided to try getting on the Tilt. It is like a glass enclosure where you stand and then it literally tilts you towards the street. It is $9 per person, I would say if you are afraid of heights, definitely don’t do this. Honestly, you can do without it, but I bet it would be fun for kids. Honestly, it is just the thrill of feeling like you are falling above Michigan Ave.
starbucks Reserve
After watching the sunsted and doing that thrill “ride” on Hancock, we ended up going back on Michigan Ave. This time stopping at Starbucks Reserve, since there was no line (hurray!). We were curious since its the biggest Starbucks Reserve ever. And since we have never been to one, we where curious. It also had just opened. Well, it is just a bigger Starbucks with one floor being a bar. It was pretty packed still so we just walked around. They have some rare coffees for sale, as well as the usual Starbucks to go mugs. We snapped a few pics and where quickly out the door.
On the next block there was an AT&T store with a temporary exhibition of Friends. We are all avid fans of so of course we went in. They had a Central Perk photo area where we of course took pictures on the couch with our coffee mugs. They also had some scripts, original outfits and props from the show.
Christmas market
Our last stop of the day was the Christmas Market. Again, we walked there, it was a total of 8-9 blocks. At this point we had been walking all day, but honestly, we were not tired. Downtown Chicago is so beautiful we just wanted to feel a part of it. The Christmas Market, or The Christkindlmarket, is right next to Cook County Court. It looks like a proper German Christmas Market, offering things like Christmas decor, winter clothes, and of course, food.
It was around 6 pm and it was packed. Still we took a strolled around to check the stores. We ended up trying the mulled wine, a jalapeño pretzel, and a german sausage (which I didn’t eat of course). They sell you the wine in a small boot shaped mug, which is pretty cute. I originally wanted a hot cocoa, but there was a long line and I could not bother. I wish I took pictures but there were so many people it was impossible to get good ones.
lou manati’s
Since we were still pretty hungry from all the walking we ordered Lou Manati’s pizza. We planned to pick it up and head to the apartment, since it takes about 40 min to be ready. It was more or less the time we needed to get there walking. I don’t really know much about the place itself since we ended up spliting up. There are several Lou Manati’s accross Chicago, and I definitely recommend you adding it to your travel plans.
We ordered the famous deep dish pizza.It is what your pizza dreams are made of. I ended up getting one for myself, since I’m the only vegetarian of the bunch. One note I have to make though, don’t do what I did and put a million toppings on it. Since they charge per ingredient, it added to almost $40 bucks on a small pizza. I totally forgot that most places charge you per ingredient (thanks MOD Pizza) and so I went literal ham on mine. It was absolutely delicious don’t get me wrong, just know that it won’t be cheap.
Of course after all that walking and food comma, went to bed and I think I snored.
day 2
Can you believe all of what we did on one day? Yeah, us neither. That’s why the next day we woke up late, and decided to chill and recharge batteries before heading back out.
It was a Saturday and we had planned to go to a couple of speakeasies in the evening. Before that, we wanted to go out to Navy Pier. To get there, we took the city bikes and biked towards Grant Park, which is only a few blocks away. Biking in the streets can get a little stressful as sometimes there are no bike lanes. Luckily, we only went on the streets for a few blocks and the rest we biked on the lakefront. There is another bike station right by the Pier, so you can leave them there.
It was too windy to walk outside so we ended up just walking indoors. The pier feels like a mall but the skyline views are stunning. Almost all the way to the end there is a rooftop bar, called Offshore Chicago. It had just opened in the summer and has the biggest rooftop of all of Chicago. It was all empty of course during the winter, but you can still go outside. The skyline looks awesome from here. The inside is pretty cool, with glass walls and ceiling, like a greenhouse, so you can also enjoy the views. The service we didn’t like much, but the place is totally worth the visit.
speakeasy tour-the dirfter
After enjoying a round of drinks, we took an Uber out to the first speakeasy of the night. The Drifter. None of us had gone to it so we didn’t know what to expect. We stopped at a pub called Green Door so we thought we had the wrong address. But as we are going in, some friends we were meeting had already asked about it. Turns out the Drifter, was downstairs, behind a hidden door on the way to the restrooms. There was about 2 hours wait when we got our name, but we ended up waiting less than 1 hour.
Once inside, it is pretty small and crowded. There were about 3-4 small groups, a few couples and a bunch of people sitting at the bar. It still has some original features from its speakeasy days. There was also a screen projecting vintage burlesque videos. Behind the screen there was a little stage where we saw a mime performance. I loved it, it definitely transported me to another time.
The signature drinks came in “tarot” cards, which was pretty fun. We ordered from there but there is also a regular menu. I picked one called ‘Bye, Felicia’ because, of course. We rotated them to try them all. Some were very eccentric and the combination of ingredients was very uncommon. But, I am not a drink expert so, take that as it may. Food is my thing.
three dots and a dash
After that, we decided to go to another used to be speakeasy. Three Dots and a Dash, which you have to enter from an alley. This bar is also in the basement, but as you are coming in, you are literally transported to Tiki World. The decor and the drinks are full-on Tiki and delicious! They also serve food, which I didn’t try, but everyone else had the Thai fried chicken.
As for drinks, they have really fun drinks that come in their own special container. They also offer drinks to share, which are very popular. All of them very catchy names. We ended up getting the Bali Bali to share. It comes in a glass skull on a bowl filled with dry ice, very spooky. The drink itself was meh, very fruity but not. If its your thing , they have some drinks that are on the strong side. You know this by the skull next to the names on the menu. They also had seasonal Christmas drinks that looked very cute. ‘You don’t gnome me’ and ‘Gingerbread painkiller’ are some of the ones I remember. They also have a full list of rums from all over the Caribbean.
before ending the night- the janitor’s closet
We only had time to visit one more by the time we left that bar, the Janitor’s Closet. We walked from Three Dots and Dash for what felt like an eternity. By the time we got there they had already announced last call, so we only got a chance to take a quick look. Really cool place if you ask me though. It is a really small place that could fit 10 people at most. It seemed to be a real janitor’s closet. There where mops and tools around that made it look the part. I mean, you go in through a door that says employee’s only, how cool is that?!
After that we called it a night, so that we could wake up early-ish the next day.
I can’t believe this will turn into a three part series, I wasn’t planning on it but here we are, I don’t want to skip details so I rather makes this a longer series than expected. stay tuned for part three!
