MidTexHorn
100+ Posts
I posted my itinerary before we left, so thought I'd follow up here with some thoughts. We got in about 2/3 of the stuff I had planned, which is about typical. Nothing ever goes according to plan, and I don't think I'd want it to. Usually, I plan lots of details for my trips in advance just so I have lots of ideas and never come to a "what the hell should we do now" or "where should we eat?" moment.
Overall, I was very impressed with Chicago, at least what I saw of it. Lakeview in general and Wrigleyville in particular is a very cool neighborhood. Lots of bars, restaurants, shopping for the chics, cool residential streets, etc. Everyone in our group loved it, and we had my in-laws and my 18 y.o. son, so there were a wide variety of ages. Chicago is the first big city I've visited that I thought I'd actually want to live in (I don't consider Austin to be a big city, although some of my Midland friends do). I love how all of the bars and restaurants open their front windows to the street and many put tables on the sidewalk to take advantage of their great summer weather. I heard people bitching about the "hot" temps in the 80s, but it sure felt nice to us and the occasional rain showers cooled things down nicely throughout the day.
Here is my original rough itinerary posted earlier (I won't bore you with my complete itinerary) with some thoughts:
Staying at Chicago Guest House in Wrigleyville
Sweet place. A renovated brownstone "two flat". First class, beautifully decorated, and plenty of room for 9 adults and a baby. The owner has three of these in the area. Highly recommended for Chicago trips with a group. Way more fun than getting a few hotel rooms. Location was perfect, a couple blocks south of Wrigley, halfway between the madness of Clark Street and the more civilized but also fun Southport. I would stay here again in a heartbeat.The Link
Architecture and Lake Tour
Didn't do it. Rained the afternoon we were going to go, so instead we drank all afternoon at a brewpub downtown, Rock Bottom brewery, which I understand is a chain. Pretty decent, if unspectacular beer. We all liked their beer better than Goose Island, which surprised me. The two Goose Island beers we drank both had a very watery aftertaste. Kinda odd.
Dinner (Italian) at La Scarola
Great old school Italian place west of downtown (near United Center I believe). Loud, energetic, very fun vibe. Coolest bar that we found in Chicago was right next door. Richard's Bar is a tiny dive bar with a couple of guys behind the bar who look like they used to hang out with Frank Sinatra and might have broken a kneecap or two back in the day. Great place to sit and drink and listen to Frankie or Cash or some old school crooners on the juke box.
Two Cubs games - bleacher seats. Maybe they'll actually win a game. Man they suck this year, nothing new there I guess
Well, they won one of the two that we went to. Friday's game was a lot of fun despite the loss, including when word spread through the bleachers that Barret and Zambrano were trading punches in the dugout. Sunday's win was great. I never knew they had a song they sing when the Cubs win. Kinda cheesy, but fun. Wrigley was not a disappointment. My father in law had a huge grin on his face the whole time he was there, which was pretty cool to see because he grew up as a Cub fan as a sharecropper's kid down in Arkansas. Neat to get to experience that with him.
Dinner at Gino's East
Ate at the Superior St. location and it's just not the same as the old spot with the dark, barely sanitary basement where I ate when I was in college 20 years ago. Pizza still very good, but I'm not sure I'd go again since I'd like to try some of the other places. Took well over an hour to get our pizza, which was just too long and this was on a Thursday, so I'd hate to see what it would be like on a weekend night.
An afternoon at North Avenue Beach if the weather permits
Got rain every afternoon, so never made it. Next time.
Dinner at Andalous Moroccan
Enjoyable dinner at this small place about 7-8 blocks south of Wrigley on Clark. Never had Moroccan before and almost everyone in the family enjoyed it (rather unadventurous in laws not too impressed, but they're steak and potatoes types). BYOB and cash only.
Lincoln Park Zoo with our niece
My wife went, but I didn't. They had a good time and especially enjoyed seeing the gorillas up close.
Hancock Center
Great views. Everyone enjoyed this, even my wife who I had to coax onto the elevator when she suddenly surprised me with a never before evidenced fear of heights.
Dinner (ribs) at Twin Anchors
Didn't make it. Disappointed about that, but we had fun anyway. Some family came to town to go to Sunday's game with us, and stuck around for dinner. We didn't feel like traveling to Twin Anchors, so we decided to walk over to the Southport area and find a casual place to eat. Ended up eating burgers/sandwhiches on the sidewalk patio at Southport Lanes. It was a very pleasant evening after a rain storm passed, and it was a wonderful end to the weekend. Some of us bowled a couple games and drank beer afterwards which was a blast since this is an old school bowling alley with pinboys setting your pins rather than automated lanes. Adds a whole new dimension to bowling which we all enjoyed. The interaction with the pinboys was cool and we all really enjoyed this bar and grill/pool hall/bowling alley in a cool old building (used to be a brothel).
Spa afternoon for the ladies
They really enjoyed Fuga Spa on Southport. Owned by an Italian and has a nice vibe, per my wife, with wine and small sandwiches provided with the treatments. Fairly pricey, but the ladies had a great afternoon.
Some live music, not sure where yet. Any suggestions? Must allow 18+ since my son is with us and I'm not ditching him.
Didn't really get to see any. Since we had a little kid with us, and my son couldn't get into most places because they carded, we ended up spending most evenings drinking Old Style on the front porch and watching the world go by or out in the very nice back yard. It was pretty darn fun, actually.
Lots of beer, brats, Chicago dogs and Italian Beefs
Din't have any brats, but had lots of dogs and an italian Beef. As good as I remember them. Wish I could get them here in Midland.
I would be fine with making this an annual pilgrimage. You could trip to Chicago for a week each year for the next 20 years and not begin to run out of cool new places to eat, drink and explore.
I'll be happy to answer any questions from those who haven't made it to Chicago yet.
Overall, I was very impressed with Chicago, at least what I saw of it. Lakeview in general and Wrigleyville in particular is a very cool neighborhood. Lots of bars, restaurants, shopping for the chics, cool residential streets, etc. Everyone in our group loved it, and we had my in-laws and my 18 y.o. son, so there were a wide variety of ages. Chicago is the first big city I've visited that I thought I'd actually want to live in (I don't consider Austin to be a big city, although some of my Midland friends do). I love how all of the bars and restaurants open their front windows to the street and many put tables on the sidewalk to take advantage of their great summer weather. I heard people bitching about the "hot" temps in the 80s, but it sure felt nice to us and the occasional rain showers cooled things down nicely throughout the day.
Here is my original rough itinerary posted earlier (I won't bore you with my complete itinerary) with some thoughts:
Staying at Chicago Guest House in Wrigleyville
Sweet place. A renovated brownstone "two flat". First class, beautifully decorated, and plenty of room for 9 adults and a baby. The owner has three of these in the area. Highly recommended for Chicago trips with a group. Way more fun than getting a few hotel rooms. Location was perfect, a couple blocks south of Wrigley, halfway between the madness of Clark Street and the more civilized but also fun Southport. I would stay here again in a heartbeat.The Link
Architecture and Lake Tour
Didn't do it. Rained the afternoon we were going to go, so instead we drank all afternoon at a brewpub downtown, Rock Bottom brewery, which I understand is a chain. Pretty decent, if unspectacular beer. We all liked their beer better than Goose Island, which surprised me. The two Goose Island beers we drank both had a very watery aftertaste. Kinda odd.
Dinner (Italian) at La Scarola
Great old school Italian place west of downtown (near United Center I believe). Loud, energetic, very fun vibe. Coolest bar that we found in Chicago was right next door. Richard's Bar is a tiny dive bar with a couple of guys behind the bar who look like they used to hang out with Frank Sinatra and might have broken a kneecap or two back in the day. Great place to sit and drink and listen to Frankie or Cash or some old school crooners on the juke box.
Two Cubs games - bleacher seats. Maybe they'll actually win a game. Man they suck this year, nothing new there I guess
Well, they won one of the two that we went to. Friday's game was a lot of fun despite the loss, including when word spread through the bleachers that Barret and Zambrano were trading punches in the dugout. Sunday's win was great. I never knew they had a song they sing when the Cubs win. Kinda cheesy, but fun. Wrigley was not a disappointment. My father in law had a huge grin on his face the whole time he was there, which was pretty cool to see because he grew up as a Cub fan as a sharecropper's kid down in Arkansas. Neat to get to experience that with him.
Dinner at Gino's East
Ate at the Superior St. location and it's just not the same as the old spot with the dark, barely sanitary basement where I ate when I was in college 20 years ago. Pizza still very good, but I'm not sure I'd go again since I'd like to try some of the other places. Took well over an hour to get our pizza, which was just too long and this was on a Thursday, so I'd hate to see what it would be like on a weekend night.
An afternoon at North Avenue Beach if the weather permits
Got rain every afternoon, so never made it. Next time.
Dinner at Andalous Moroccan
Enjoyable dinner at this small place about 7-8 blocks south of Wrigley on Clark. Never had Moroccan before and almost everyone in the family enjoyed it (rather unadventurous in laws not too impressed, but they're steak and potatoes types). BYOB and cash only.
Lincoln Park Zoo with our niece
My wife went, but I didn't. They had a good time and especially enjoyed seeing the gorillas up close.
Hancock Center
Great views. Everyone enjoyed this, even my wife who I had to coax onto the elevator when she suddenly surprised me with a never before evidenced fear of heights.
Dinner (ribs) at Twin Anchors
Didn't make it. Disappointed about that, but we had fun anyway. Some family came to town to go to Sunday's game with us, and stuck around for dinner. We didn't feel like traveling to Twin Anchors, so we decided to walk over to the Southport area and find a casual place to eat. Ended up eating burgers/sandwhiches on the sidewalk patio at Southport Lanes. It was a very pleasant evening after a rain storm passed, and it was a wonderful end to the weekend. Some of us bowled a couple games and drank beer afterwards which was a blast since this is an old school bowling alley with pinboys setting your pins rather than automated lanes. Adds a whole new dimension to bowling which we all enjoyed. The interaction with the pinboys was cool and we all really enjoyed this bar and grill/pool hall/bowling alley in a cool old building (used to be a brothel).
Spa afternoon for the ladies
They really enjoyed Fuga Spa on Southport. Owned by an Italian and has a nice vibe, per my wife, with wine and small sandwiches provided with the treatments. Fairly pricey, but the ladies had a great afternoon.
Some live music, not sure where yet. Any suggestions? Must allow 18+ since my son is with us and I'm not ditching him.
Didn't really get to see any. Since we had a little kid with us, and my son couldn't get into most places because they carded, we ended up spending most evenings drinking Old Style on the front porch and watching the world go by or out in the very nice back yard. It was pretty darn fun, actually.
Lots of beer, brats, Chicago dogs and Italian Beefs
Din't have any brats, but had lots of dogs and an italian Beef. As good as I remember them. Wish I could get them here in Midland.
I would be fine with making this an annual pilgrimage. You could trip to Chicago for a week each year for the next 20 years and not begin to run out of cool new places to eat, drink and explore.
I'll be happy to answer any questions from those who haven't made it to Chicago yet.
