Phew—after a long drive from Lincoln and fighting holiday rush hour here, we finally made it to Chicago! Despite arriving in our air-conditioned car its hot, hot, hot here and the humidity creates an extra layer of warmth that we could live without.
We walked down to Lake Michigan to spend some time at the beach because I was dying to just be near the water. Unfortunately, they had to close it as soon as we arrived because a big storm had been rolling in. We ended up getting caught in the rain after a nice walk, getting our legs moving after sitting for 8 hours. But it was so refreshing in the warm air.
Since the storm pushed us back to my best friend Abbey’s apartment, where we had dropped our bags earlier, we went online and checked out the neighborhood restaurants and made a reservation at a place called Farmhouse, located on Chicago Ave. The rain had finally passed so we made our way down the street to this farm-to-table eatery, where all the ingredients are sourced from the quad-state region—Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana. We had a glutinous, albeit fantastically delicious, meal of the Beer Battered WI Cheese Curds [hellllo—we’re in the Midwest!], PEI Mussels, Farmhouse Chop Salad, and an Old World Grains Burger because, hey– we’re on vaca!
It was all way too good and a walk was definitely in order. We hopped in a cab to Wicker Park, where we’d be meeting Abbey and her boyfriend Joseph in a bit for a late-night cocktail. For those of you who know Jason and I, you understand that we can’t say no to dessert, so when we strolled up to a trendy place called Mindy’s Hot Chocolate, a dessert bar, we couldn’t resist stepping in and taking a seat at the bar for a ½ espresso/ ½ dark chocolate dessert drink that was incredible.
All this followed by cocktails at a great speakeasy-type place called The Violet Hour with Abbey and Joseph. It was such a wonderful evening and we had a lot of fun soaking up the city and seeing old friends. We’re so tired after a long day of driving and staying up past our usual bedtime, but it was so worth it. Chicago is such a great city so hopefully we can come back in the near future and spend more time exploring.
Mid-western goodies for the foodies!