Chicago Concert Weekend  June 2019

Ian and I recently went to Chicago to see the Rolling Stones.  It was an amazing concert and I highly recommend going to see them if you can while they are touring.   We decided that since neither of us had been to Chicago for awhile we would go ahead and spend the weekend to explore.   

On Friday we got to our hotel which we initially loved, great location near Soldier Field and the Museum complex.   I will tell you why I won’t be recommending it at the end of the post.   

 

We got checked in then went downtown to meet Ian’s nephew for lunch.  After lunch we walked down to Millennium Park and just happened to enter the park right by the Bean.   We wandered around the park for awhile and then decided to go to Navy Pier. By this time we were at the Buckingham Fountain, you may remember it from the opening credits of Married with Children.  By this time we had walked a lot so we took a bike tuc tuc to the Pier. Best $10 ever!   

Before we went to the concert we ended up at Giordano's Pizza.  We tried to be healthy and split a salad first. The salad was HUGE and next time we would get the small salad even if we are splitting it. Everything was wonderful but do be prepared to wait if there are things going on near the restaurant.  

On Saturday we went to a deli, Eleven City Diner, that was near the hotel for breakfast.  WOW! I highly recommend it! It was so good we went back the next day!   I would also love to try their chicken soup, boozy shakes and side of guilt but we didn’t get a chance to go back for lunch or a snack.  

After eating way too much at breakfast we walked it off and headed to The Field Museum.  Many amazing things at The Field and wow it is huge! We did not see the whole thing, we were starting to wear down after a late night and 2 days of a lot of walking.  We were incredibly impressed with Sue. Sue is the largest and most intact T Rex that has been found. They did a really cool presentation talking about things they had learned from her while highlighting the parts they were talking about with colored lights.   Please make sure you stay for that if you go!   

After the Field we decided to go on a Shoreline Architecture tour and rest our feet awhile.   It was a really great tour and a beautiful day. We learned a lot about Chicago’s history during the tour and it was a cool way to get a look at the parts of the city you might not see.  I would love to go back and walk along the RiverWalk but we just ran out of time on this trip.   

Sunday we hit the Shedd Aquarium.  They have some really nice exhibits and a wonderful educational show about some of their marine animals and a few surprise guests.   

After the Shedd we decided to get a little more walking in for the weekend and head back over to Navy Pier for some souvenirs and  Garrett’s Popcorn. You really do have to try Garrett’s if you go! 

 

All in all it was and  really wonderful and busy weekend trip.  Sadly a few days later we discovered that while we were out of the room someone came in and stole credit card numbers and a check out of my business account checkbook.   No we did not put those things in the safe while we were gone. We had the do not disturb sign up the whole weekend and I can affirm that our rooms were not made up while we were gone.  Lucily the credit card company caught the charges before they went through and the bank refunded the money to my checking account. I realize these things do happen and I will be much more careful about putting items into the safe or just not taking them with me.   My biggest complaint was that when I called and reported it to security he knew just how much my check had been written for. This tells me that it has happened before. I was also very disappointed that there was no follow up from the hotel management. A simple follow up and telling me that they were reviewing the cameras to see who had gone in the room would have been sufficient and I don’t believe that was a lot to expect.   Sadly I will not be able to recommend the Hilton Garden Inn South Loop to anyone for this reason. It’s really too bad since we loved the hotel and location and we typically are pretty loyal to Hilton’s.   

 

I think Chicago is a great couples trip but also good for multi generational families. There really is something for everyone there!  Please feel free to contact me if you need help planning your trip or if you have any questions.   

 

Happy traveling!