Chicago...5th anniversary trip

Cole and I went to Chicago for our 5th anniversary. It was the 1st time I had left Meg for a night and I was in desperate need of a baby free night. Not that I really have room to complain because aside from a few hiccups and really wet diapers Meg has slept 10 or more hours at night since she was 10 weeks old. But, as any parent out there knows you just do not sleep the same when there is a baby in the next room. So needless to say I was elated to go on this trip! Cole and I have been fortunate enough to be out together 10-12 times away from Meg these past 8 months but this was a well deserved treat.

Mimi and Pop arrived Thursday afternoon to keep Meg, I had a typed agenda for them full of Do's and Don'ts. Yes, this was filled with things I thought I would never say and probably things I would have laughed at, or even never thought about a mere 9 months ago. Luckily they at least pretended to be interested and even asked questions about my detailed instructions. Before we knew it, they dropped us off at the airport and we kissed Meg goodbye for 3 days!

We arrived in Chicago Thursday night and took a shuttle to our hotel(about 10pm) and then dropped our bags off and headed to the John Hancock Building to the Signature Room. It is a bar on the 96th floor that has spectacular views. We were not disappointed. We had a few high priced but tasty drinks and people watched until close to midnight and then headed back. We saw a recently traded member of the Chicago Bulls, his name has left me, Solomons, maybe.

Then on Friday we woke up a little after 7 (late for us these days) and got ready for an architectural boat tour at Navy Pier at 9am. This was great because they told and showed us alot of the city and they fed us food and drink (always a plus in our book). It really helped us get our bearings for the rest of the trip. Also, we saw the building where the beginning scenes of "The Dark Knight" were shot in an abandoned post office. This Building is huge and sadly about to be auctioned off at a suggested starting bid (not even the minimum) of $300,000.

Then we walked around Navy Pier and ate lunch before heading to Wrigley Field. It was a bit rainy but nothing too bad. When we reached Wrigleyville, we went to Harry Carey's restaurant and bar. It was packed, partly because the rain had gotten heavier and there was talk of a delay. We overheard there was an upstairs and found our way there, which was much less crowded and even ended up with a table. Once the game had actually begun, we left and walked across to the stadium. We had great shaded seats that were very close. The only issue was a pole that obstructed my view of 2nd and Cole's view of 1st. The game was fun and the Cardinals beat the Cubs. But, we were really indifferent to the matter.

We ended the day by going to the Art Institute of Chicago, because it was free on Friday evenings and then went to a great Mexican Restaurant called La Cantina Grill. We actually "hiked" 19 blocks form the museum to get there, but the margaritas, mojitos, and guacamole (a new liking of mine) were worth it upon arrival. Here we also had a celeb siting...it was a Cub player (maybe 2).

Saturday we let ourselves "sleep in" until 9. Which was great since Friday we were gone from 8 am to 10pm. Then we headed out to see the city. We tried to go to the new observatories at Sears tower, but they actually opened an hour before my book said, so by the time we got there it was a 2 hour wait. So we were then off to eat Pizza. After that we went to the Shedd Aquarium which was amazing aside from the crowds. (Pre order tickets and pick up at will call if you ever go) Then we headed to the Field Museum to see the new Pirate exhibit (anyone who knows us well knows how much Cole LOVES pirates) but unfortunately it was sold out. So we opted to walk down Lakeview drive to Millennium Park and see the boats in the bay. This was a nice walk that involved lots of people watching.

There was a lot going on in Millennium Park, bands performing, artists booths, but it did not take long for me to find a free wine tasting. This was a great little surprise in our day! We were able to taste wine from 6 local wineries and they were all very unique. My favorite had a green apple flavor and was called a Green Apple Riesling and Cole's favorite was whatever he had currently in his glass. We had 8 tickets, so we could try multiples at a couple of places, but surprisingly neither of us used all of our tickets. After the wine tasting we returned to the hotel and rested, showered for dinner.

Last night we went to dinner at Gibson's Steak house. The steaks were so big that Cole and I shared a Sliced Sirloin. He loved it, I liked it, it was a little charred on the edges for me. We could not even order dessert, because they all basically served 4+ people. Then we went to Navy Pier to hear a Rock Cover band and see Fireworks. They both were quite impressive. Then at about 11, we started heading back. There were so many people that there was no way to catch a cab so we started walking. Unfortunately, half way home we found a cab. The reason this is unfortunate is somehow Cole lost his ID, and credit/debit cards in the cab. We did not realize it until we were back almost at our room and he was looking for the key. But, luckily still to our knowledge no charges have been made.

Today we arrived home safe and sound, and were so glad to see Meg. Mimi and Pop had taken pictures of Meg (bathing, sleeping, playing, etc) and put in this cute book for us. So we did not even miss out on a thing while we were gone!