The Windy City

It's been a little while since our last trip, and going from constant travel (for work/fun) to spending more than 60 days on this island… well, it's made me a bit restless. Ask David and he’ll tell you that I’ve already planned out our next 12 vacations in my head!

Luckily one of David’s good friends from high school, Chris, was getting married in Chicago this August. Chris was an usher in our wedding, and to return the favor, asked David to usher in his. So we headed to Chi-Town! Even though I grew up in the Midwest, I’d never been to Chicago, so I was really excited to get on a plane headed to the windy city!

The moment we landed Thursday afternoon, we headed out to lunch for some American food. We’d heard about Al’s Beef while watching Man v. Food, so we decided to hit up the nearest sandwich stand for some legendary Italian beef sandwiches. The roast beef is sliced extra thin, but the best part is the entire sandwich is dipped in au jus just before serving.  Somehow the bread doesn't get soggy, it just makes everything extra moist and delicious. 

David and I shared a side of cheese fries, made with that yummy, Cheez-Whiz type processed cheese you can only find in the US of A. I love it so much, I had it again as my last meal before flying out, along with a “cheezborger” from the legendary Billy Goat Tavern, made famous by SNL.

But we couldn’t go all the way to Chicago and not have a deep dish pizza! And we had to do it right, so we ate dinner Thursday night at Pizzeria Uno, where deep dish was invented. In 1943, Ike Sewell, a former UT football player, developed the recipe. People flocked to Uno for his pizzas, so he quickly ran out of space.  He decided to open another pizzeria down the road called Due. Later, going back to his Texas roots, he opened Chicago’s first upscale Tex-Mex restaurant. 

Look at all that garlic!  

Eric and David reunited as ushers for the wedding.  Pizza and beer... what more could a guy ask for?

The architecture in Chicago is world-famous, too, so we took a guided river cruise on Chicago's First Lady to learn more about the buildings and city.

Trump Tower was designed by the same person who built the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa.  We thought it looked familiar...

Sear’s Tower 

(I know it's Willis Tower now, but in my mind, it will always be Sear's)

The Tribune Building 

The Chicago Tribune’s correspondents have collected stones from famous buildings they’ve visited while on assignment. The building is made up of these stones from all over the world, including one from each state, the Taj Mahal, Great Wall of China, Petra, Cologne Cathedral, the White House... You name it, they've got it. 

We also passed Chicago’s old post office, or Gotham City Hall from Batman Begins, the Aqua building, the opera house, and on and on. 

The Aqua building (shorter one on the left) was made to look like water is running down the side of it. It's actually more noticeable in photos like this than in real life.

On Friday, David and Eric had a wedding party luncheon to attend so I went shopping on the Magnificent Mile! I knew I could count on American consumerism to finally find a bridesmaid dress for Cristy’s upcoming wedding and some simple black flats. I also found a great sale at the three-story Banana Republic. It was wonderful. 

That evening, we had the rehearsal at Stan Mansion, a former Masonic lodge, and then a cocktail party at a nearby wine bar. Chris and his bride, Lindsey, are huge wine connoisseurs. They got engaged while on a wine-tasting trip in Portugal and are headed to Napa and Sonoma for the first few days of their honeymoon. The wine bar featured a selection of bottles from the different countries they’ve visited together.

Chatting up Chris's dad, Mr. Leikhim

Before the wedding on Saturday, Eric’s girlfriend, Jess, flew in. We met up with them that morning and walked to Millennium Park to see The Bean. 

We stood directly under the Bean and tried to count all of our reflections.

Then we strolled along Lake Michigan before circling back around to the John Hancock Center. 

Jess and I found some "artsy" trees along the lake, 

but the paint totally killed them :(

We just happened to walk in right as the bar was opening on the 95th floor’s Signature Lounge. So we took the elevator straight up (no lines – nice!) and snagged the first window seat. We had some overpriced drinks and bar food for lunch while enjoying the view. 

Hancock Center from the beaches of Lake Michigan

View from our table

David and Eric did a great job that evening at the wedding. Eric was the perfect person to greet the guests, and David escorted Chris’s sister down the aisle... and then stood there pretending to be a groomsman when the route back to his seat was blocked (it was Eric to the rescue on that one).

During cocktail hour after the ceremony, we decided to take some cheesy engagement-style photos on the grounds of the mansion.

Jess and I coincidentally chose very similar dresses for the wedding.  The only difference was a slight variation in the pattern, and hers was a bit darker.  But even the backs were the same!  We looked very matchy-matchy, especially next to David and Eric, who were wearing the same usher suit.

Stephanie (from Natalie’s wedding earlier this summer) also flew in, and we were at the same table as her and her boyfriend from New York. 

It was a really fun wedding, and David couldn’t believe that it was already past 1AM and time to go when the band stopped and all the lights flipped on.

Proud parents of the groom

Things got a little rowdy at the end of the night...

The TASIS boys with the bride

On Sunday, it was the Chicago Air & Water Show. Chris and Lindsey hosted an informal brunch at a cafe on Navy Pier, which was the perfect place to catch all of the action.

After we ate, Eric, Jess, David, and I took a turn on the 

ferris wheel and then flew on the swings. 

 Between the spinning, the view, and the fighter jets flying by, I was totally overwhelmed and didn’t know what to focus on during our swing ride. I think we all felt a little woozy hopping off. 

We said goodbye to Eric and Jess after that, and walked down to the lake to hang out on the beach and watch the Navy air show. It was definitely warm on Sunday, but not really hot. The outside temperature was in the high 70s, but the water temperature wasn’t even close to that! It didn’t stop the locals from swimming, but it did stop us. We only dipped our toes in, before heading into the city center for a snack. 

State Street

We had hot fudge sundaes and milkshakes at Ghiradelli’s across from the old water tower, one of the only structures to survive the Great Chicago Fire. 

They don’t have chocolate syrup in London, so we headed across the street to pick some up at the Hershey's store. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Hershey's has finally started making dark chocolate syrup. And when David told me he'd never had strawberry milk before (poor kid!) we also bought strawberry syrup. 

As much as David wanted to, we 

DID NOT buy this enormous chocolate bar.  

We started the long weekend with a Chicago favorite so we had to end it with a Chicago favorite. Our last stop before heading home was Garrett’s Popcorn off Michigan Avenue. The wait in line was well worth it. We devoured a bag of Butter and a bag of Chicago Mix, caramel and cheddar combined into one glorious bag of popcorn.

Congratulations, Chris and Lindsey! We had a great time in your hometown; thanks so much for making us a part of your wedding! To see all of the pictures from our weekend getaway, click here.