For breakfast the next day, I picked up some food from Do-Rite Donuts and Chicken in Streeterville. This location brought me over to the Northwestern Memorial Hospital complexes, which brought back memories from my undergrad days. I was friends with a bunch of people in the HPME program (3 years undergrad with guaranteed entry to the medical school after 3 years) so came down to this area to visit them during my 4th year of school. We had some breakfast sandwiches and also some old fashioned donuts. D noted that the food here in Chicago seemed heavy to which I replied that being in the midwest and being cold, that kind of food certainly helps.
After breakfast we were headed up to Northwestern. My sister had mentioned the Bahá’í House of Worship, which is just north of campus, and I had never been so D and I were going to head there first. We took the Red Line to the Purple Line on the “L” (subway/train) which also brought back memories from my undergrad days. It does take awhile (close to 1.5 hours travel total) and reminded me why I didn’t get into the city much while at school.
The Bahá’í House of Worship was neat to visit and very peaceful. I can also see why people used to run up to the temple from campus. I think if I ran like I do now back then I probably would have done that run also.
We elected to take the L back down a few stops (Noyes) to get to campus instead of walking. First stop was Tech (or the Technological Institute) where I spent most of my undergrad career in classes/studying/school club events/etc. Other notable buildings were Deering Field and Library, University Library, and Norris University Center. We stopped in Norris to pick up some NU gear and to see how it changed. They completely renovated the downstairs area modernizing it and putting in additional food options.
On our way out through the southern part of campus, we walked by some of my old dorms (PARC, Allison Hall, and Shepard Hall). We continued into Evanston and passed Buffalo Joe’s (a favorite of my cousin) and back to the L. It was getting late for lunch but we stopped at Devil Dawgs, right by the John Hancock Tower/Chicago Water Tower for a Chicago Hot Dog and a Coney Dog.
We walked down Mich Ave back to the hotel but first stopped at the Starbucks Reserve Roastery and passed the newly opened Harry Potter store. After a brief rest, we met up with my sister and her kids for the Shoreline Architecture River Tour. This was also something I had never done, while I know many who have been on it multiple times. There are a few different companies that run these tours. I thought our tour guide was entertaining (I believe he also is a standup comic so that probably helps) and informative. I learned quite a bit about the many buildings of Chicago.
After the tour, we all went to get deep dish pizza at Lou Malnati’s, which happened to be just across the street from where the boat tour docks. I’ve had the chance to try several different deep dish variations (Giordano’s, Lou Malnati’s, Gino’s East, Pizzeria Due). They are all slightly different but I have enjoyed Lou Malnati’s and so has my sister so that is the one we picked (D’s first time trying).
After dinner we stopped at Garrett Popcorn for some Caramel Crisp and CheeseCorn popcorn. The kids wanted to check out the Harry Potter store and get some Butterbeer. I hadn’t tried it before and it was okay. Finally for dessert we walked back down south of the river to the Nutella Cafe where D and I shared a nutella crepe with strawberries. My sister also purchased a personalized jar.
For our 3rd day the plan was to check out The Art Institute of Chicago. We started by walking over to the AMA building where there was a Mojo Coffee located in the lobby area. Unfortunately they were sold out of the Shakshuka so I ended up with a ham and cheese croissant, which was tasty, along with a cappuccino.
Before hitting up The Art Institute, we stopped at Cloud Gate (aka “The Bean”) in Millennium Park. We also saw the Harris Theater and the Crown Fountain.
I noted that there were quite a few student groups walking around the park and also into the Art Institute. Overall I really enjoyed the museum and it reminded me somewhat of The Met in NYC. D really wanted to see a painting that unfortunately was on loan to The Getty back in LA (what’re the chances right?). But we did get to see Marc Chagall’s America Windows.
Initially for lunch we thought about Cindy’s Rooftop but they were about to close for lunch and there was still a wait to get inside. We forged ahead to check out The Rookery building, where the lobby had been remodeled by Frank Lloyd Wright.
It just so happened that there was a Potbelly sandwich shop attached to the lobby. We shared The Wreck sandwich (which is what I used to get) and I had a cold brew shake as well.
During the architecture boat tour, our guide had mentioned checking out Union Station as well which wasn’t too much further from The Rookery Building. Union Station reminded me of NYC Grand Central along with LA’s Union Station.
One of the coffee shops I had on my list was nearby so we stopped at Dark Matter Coffee. I tried the Barrel Mocha, which was interesting and tasty.
Using public transportation, we then made our way to The West Loop for our dinner reservation at Girl & The Goat. They typically recommend that you share dishes and for the two of us our waiter mentioned between 4-6 dishes would be good. We ordered: chickpea fritters, pan roasted halibut, the roasted pig face, and the goat empanadas. They also gifted us a side of their sautéed greenbeans (the waiter had been pushing that so unsure if they just had purchased too many or maybe they were going bad soon). It was just funny that they brought us some – they were tasty. For dessert we had the peanut butter and chocolate (brownie bites . peanut butter mousse . chocolate peanut butter crunch . passionfruit honey . chocolate caramel whip).
Our last full day in Chicago we didn’t really have any set plans except for lunch and dinner. D had found a cute breakfast spot over near Navy Pier and so we walked over to Cupitol Coffee and Eatery. I got excited when I saw they had Freddo espresso on their menu. This brought back memories of our trip to Greece last year (here). For food I had the Gravlax bagel (house cured salmon, herb cream cheese, cucumber on a plain bagel). I also had a side of the Jones Bacon.
Afterwards we walked to Navy Pier. This was also somewhere I had never visited during my time at NU as well as the other times I visited. We had early lunch plans (since our dinner reservations were also early) so hopped on a bus to get to Frontera Grill. We arrived a little early so walked around The Shops at North Bridge and Nordstrom’s. At Frontera Grill, we tried their chips and salsa, ceviche, and I had the Crispy Carnitas for tacos while D had their famous tortilla soup. I was still full from breakfast but I did enjoy the carnitas and the tortillas (made from heirloom corn from Mexico) were good but I did feel a little soft and didn’t hold structure quite as good as I would have liked. D thought it was good but a little too salty overall.
Our initial plan post-lunch was to head up to Lincoln Park area to check out the zoo and walk by the Lake Michigan but we stepped out of the restaurant and were immediately soaked by rain. We pivoted and headed towards The Museum Campus where the Field Museum is located (also there are Shedd Aquarium, Adler Planetarium, Soldier Field, McCormick Place). The Field Museum had an exhibition called Cats: Predators to Pets that was ending soon. I had visited the Field Museum for some dance back in the day and also wanted to check out Sue, which is one of the largest and most well preserved T. Rex fossils ever found. It was neat to follow the history of Earth and life on Earth, I didn’t realize how many Mass Extinction events have occurred.
Dinner was at Obélix, located in the River North neighborhood. We elected to share the Beef Wellington (not realizing it takes 1 hour to prepare). D had a caviar macaron and I had the macaron au foie gras and foie gras and crispy rice (their take on a nigiri). I really enjoyed the foie gras and crispy rice. The wellington was also quite good. D really enjoyed their fries as well. We finished off with the trio of desserts.
The following morning I picked up some food at Stan’s donuts and then we headed to the airport.
I really enjoyed getting to visit Chicago and the midwest again. We elected to utilize their public transportation system (L train and buses) to get around and it worked out quite well I think. D mentioned that people in general just seemed nicer as well, which I think is a typical midwest thing. Getting to see my old haunts at Northwestern also brought back many memories. The food and drinks were top notch.
-StewsCat
StewsCat 