My BFF visit

This past weekend my BFF, L, came to visit from California! YAY! It was her first time to visit Wisconsin. I still have no idea where to take visitors when they come to Wisconsin, so our default plan is always Chicago. She arrived Thursday morning, just a couple days after the blizzard, and the day after the wind chill warning. I took her to lunch at The Great Dane at Hilldale. I like their cheese curds and they have lots of beer. Since we were both tired (her from her trip, and mine from lack of sleep), we ended up taking a long nap for most of Thursday. For dinner I wanted to take her to HuHut, but it ended up being closed, so we had to detour to Granite City.  After dinner, we decided to spend the weekend on Chicago. After spending a little bit researching and reviewing hotels, we ended up going with the Doubletree in Chicago. I stayed there before with J, and it's only a couple blocks from the Mag Mile.

We got a late start on Friday, of course due to me. I woke up late, had to run errands, and ended up heading out around 2pm. We were making good time up until we actually got into Chicago, then we hit traffic. By the time we checked in it was already 5:30pm. After freshening up a bit, I took L to Giordano's, the famous pizza place. I knew it'd be a long wait, so we gave our name and did a little shopping. L bought the Reebok easytone shoes:

We're both curious whether it'll actually tone your body. After she bought them and decided to walk the rest of the night in them, we both decided that if the disclaimer is "if you wear them walking for 30 mins a day, while eating sensibly, you'll lose weight and tone your body" then it's like duhhh, that would be true no matter what shoes. She felt duped. But we're still giving the shoes a chance.

Eventually we were seated at Giordano's, and we decided to give individual pizzas, which actually we should've just shared one.

(top) My fresh tomato, sausage, and mushroom deep dish pizza. (bottom) L's jalapeno and olive deep dish pizza.

It was so yummy, and we pretty much passed out the rest of the night.

The next day, we got another late start because I slept in. Since we wanted to hit the major sights, we decided we'd do one of those trolley tours. We went with Chicago Trolleys, and hopped on at the Water Tower stop. Though the John Hancock building was the next stop, we chose to hit the Willis Tower (formerly known as the Sears Tower) first.

The last time I went to the Sears Tower (it just doesn't feel natural to call it the Willis Tower), I was probably ten years old. Still a beautiful sight.

 

the lovely L

 

 

The big change, besides the name, is the new Skydeck Ledge. It's a clear glass box that extends out of the building about 4 feet. Now, I'm not one to be scared by heights, but there's just something about being able to see 103 stories beneath me that got me a little nervous. L is more adventurous, and enjoys jumping out of planes, so this was nothing for her. She wanted to lay down.

Can you see the buildings beneath our feet?

Do you see the fear in my eyes?

I couldn't sit on the floor, so I just crouched

The two of us

After the Sears Tower, our next stop was Millenium Park. L had never heard of the Chicago bean so we spent a good amount of time just snapping pictures of the bean and us.

We stopped momentarily at the Museum area because of the beautiful skyline. It was seriously a great view of Chicago.

 

We took pictures with our own cameras

Our last stop on our itinerary was the Navy Pier. By then it was already 4pm, and it was cold! Despite the cold, we decided to ride the Ferris Wheel.

 

 

We were done by 4:30pm, and the supposed "15 minute" trolley took 35 minutes. It was sooooo cold, and we were so annoyed that the trolley that advertises coming around every 15 minutes was far from that. Not happy at all.

Eventually the trolley came and we took it back to our hotel. L said she really wanted to eat a place where mobsters ate. After googling, she picked the Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinder. The wait was over an hour, and they don't take your name (odd right? the guy just remembers your face and supposedly the order customers arrive) but since we weren't near Mag Mile like we were the night before, we hung out at a Starbucks.

As we were walking to our table, I noticed a lot of tables eating this breadlike thing, so I decided to order it too. It was Mediterranean bread, and it was huge.

For our entrees, L ordered the pizza pot pie, and I ordered an oven grinder. Neither of us knew what to expect, and we were both pleasantly surprised.

Pizza Pot Pie

Oven Grinder, which they should just call "sandwich"

Both were yummy and we had way too much to finish. It was another successful meal though. So we went back to the hotel and relaxed.

 

We checked out Sunday afternoon, but before we left the Mag Mile, we hit the John Hancock building. Since it cost as much to go up to the John Hancock as it did for Sears tower, we asked the employee if the two were any different. She said it was the exact same thing, so we didn't go up.

Our last stop before heading back to Wisconsin was to go see Wrigley Field.

 

 

 

 

I have no idea who this is

After Wrigley Field, we headed back home. Btw, did I mention I saw a White Castle?!? It was only a few blocks away from Wrigley Field. Unfortunately we had just had lunch, and I didn't want to stop. Oh well, next trip.

We got back home around 4:30pm. Did more relaxing, and a lot of laundry, then ended the night having dinner at the Old Fashioned. It was a great trip, and I'm so excited that I got to spend time with my BFF. She braved the cold and snow to visit me before tax season starts up again. I love her! Can't wait for her to come back again!