June 9, 2011

All of our Favorite Things

Can you guess from the picture that we are foodies?  Can you guess where we are?
Yes, we're in Chicago!  The Windy City.

  It happens to be my favorite stop on our Great Tour of the Midwest.  I used to live there... when I was a little tyke...
Maybe that's why I thinks it's so great.  In keeping with our no-chain-restaurants theme, we decided to visit a few that we had seen highlighted on the Food Network channel.  Ginos East was delish.  Their pizza is very different.  Crust, cheese, then sauce.  We actually liked the kids' thin crust pizza the best.  Try it if you are ever there!

When I was growing up, the most famous and tallest building in Chicago was the Sears Tower.  It's still the tallest, but now it is called the Willis Tower.  We visited the 103rd floor with all the other tourists.
The views are fantastic:
Lake Michigan is gorgeous.

Willis Tower now has a section of the 103rd floor cantilevered out over the street with nothing but glass beneath.  Yikes.  I'm not usually scared of heights, but it kinda skeered me.  
Notice the death grip we have on each other. :)

While in downtown we also visited the American Girl Doll store.  Even though my girls have pretty much outgrown the dolls (sniff, sniff), it was still a fun stop for them to enjoy.  Another highlight for them was seeing a mall that goes up, not out.

The rest of our time in the Chicago area was spent in the suburbs.  Legoland Chicago was a huge highlight for our son the boys.
Life size animals and characters made out of Legos.  Crazy.
We also made a few stops for the grown-ups:
Weber Grill Restaurant (Schaumburg is the home of the original Weber grill)
Cabelas for my outdoorsman.
IKEA for mom.
We also visited the 3rd largest mall in America.  I know it would be amazing to some, but to me, if you've seen one mall, you've seen them all.
We finished off Chicago here.  I know it is sort of a chain, but we don't have one in NC, so it still counted.   The kids LOVED it.  I thought the food was okay, but not great.  

Do you have any favorites from the Windy City?

6 comments:

Richella Parham said...

I love Chicago in the summertime. In the winter? No thanks. But summer and fall are gorgeous.

My very favorite place in Chicago was always the Marshall Field's flagship store. Remember it? Like the American version of Harrod's, it always seemed to me.

It's so cool that y'all made this trip with no chain restaurant stops! That sounds like something my husband would suggest. Fun! :)

Kellie said...

Never been to the Windy City but my best friend has. Did you see the neat art piece in Millennium Park (or some name like that)? It is a silver oblong thingy. She loved Chicago, too. Looks like y'all had such a great time!

mer@lifeat7000feet said...

I haven't been to Chicago since I was a young girl, but I remember being fascinated by the Museum of __________ ? It was awesome but apparently not awesome enough to remember the name of it. :)

Glad you enjoyed the trip. I love flying into Chicago and seeing Lake Michigan from the air. SO beautiful!

Valerie@chateaualamode.typepad.com said...

Hello there, just stopped by to visit your blog. Such fun. Looks like the Windy city was a fun time for the family. It is on my list of places to see for sure.

Little Oak Table said...

WHOA NELLY! Lake Michigan is GORGEOUS!!

SO glad ya'll are having a ball and eating great food!

jason and jen said...

I also LOVE Chicago. I lived there during the summer after my junior year of college. I went with Crusdae on a summer project. It was one of the best summers of my life! I too loved Gino's pizza, Rainforest Cafe and just being in a such a big amazing city!!