CHICAGO!!!!!

I LOVE CHICAGO!! What is not to love?! It has a lake, the weather is awesome, and the food is great!! By the third day there, I was ready to have our dog shipped to us and Jason and I would just stay there permanently =).  I highly recommend everyone should go see the Windy City at some point in their lifetime. You won't be disappointed. I feel like a part of the city has come home with me. 

So what did we do while we were there? Well I plan on giving a detailed account - don't worry. That way when you plan your trip to Chicago (because trust me - you are going to want to go) you can take tips from us!!

Day #1

Jason and I arrived at Chicago O'Hare airport around noon and took the El to our hotel downtown. We stayed at the Hampton Inn. I definitely recommend it.  It was reasonably priced and we had a yummy continental breakfast each morning before we went sight seeing. However, it was next to a fire station so you do hear sirens at all hours but we live near a fire station at home so it didn't bother us. We checked in and headed towards the Magnificent Mile. The Magnificent Mile is a mile of shops on Michigan Avenue and it was only 3 blocks from the hotel (bonus!!!) It has a ton of shops - Apple, Banana Republic, Borders, Crate and Barrel, Nike Town - the list goes on and on. Shoppers paradise!! When we got to Michigan Avenue, we stopped at the Chicago Tribune building. The guy who built this place wanted to place stones from various places from all over the world on his building. I think there are over 100 stones from all over the world on the bottom half of the building. And for those Batman fans (me!) out there, the Batcave scenes were filmed in the basement of the tower.

A really cool quote in the front of the building

Oh London - how I miss you!!

In front of the Alamo stone!!

I took many more pics of stones but I will spare you from them =) We shopped to our hearts content and then headed to Navy Pier! Oh but here is pic of the Water Tower on Michigan Avenue - one of the only buildings to survive the Great Fire of Chicago of 1871.

Navy Pier:

Navy Pier was a really great place to go. It had a ferris wheel and putt putt golf course, tons of restaurants and food stands, sight seeing cruises, and a beautiful view of Lake Michigan. Plus from Memorial Day to Labor Day, they have fireworks every Wednesday and Saturday nights. We spent the rest of the night at Navy Pier enjoying the sights and cool weather. 

On Navy Pier - isn't it so pretty?

We decided to go on a firework cruise and watch the fireworks from the lake. You could see the fireworks really well from the boat and we got a great view of the city skyline at night. 

Some of the best fireworks I've ever seen

On our way back to the pier - it was cold on the boat - and windy!!

It was a great first day in Chicago! Stay tuned for Day #2 !!!