We're Back from Chicago

What a great trip visiting great friends -- Brian & Betsy! (B & B from here on out) I'm already ready to go back.

Since this was our 2nd trip to the Windy City and we had already done most of the touristy things last time, we were up for anything. Did I mention we brought great weather with us?!?! 80 degrees pretty much every day. You're welcome! :)

Saturday -- we arrived around 5 and were pretty tired from the travel. we rested and enjoyed a delicious sushi dinner at Wakamono. oh how i've missed good sushi -- yumm!

Sunday -- B & B had made plans with friends to picnic at the beach of Lake Michigan. the weather was great and we had a lot of fun, but the water was cold. After a day at the beach, we went to Spacca Napoli for dinner. A great place for (not Chicago style)pizza.

Monday -- Justin and I went out exploring downtown. Our first stop was Mr. Beef's, a famous Chicago spot, for lunch. Then we headed to Michigan Ave for some (window)shopping. We walked past Crate&Barrel and decided to go in. Once inside we saw some things that the Short Pump store didnt have, so we went to the desk and asked for a scanner to add things to our registry. After that, we came across a little mall and inside found the Lego Store. Justin was like a kid in the candy store. He wanted everything -- even thought it would be cool if they had a registry. We headed over to Millenium Park for a little while, then made our way back to our "home" for the week. For dinner we grilled out on B & B's back porch -- something we arent able to do in our current apartment. so sad, i know.

Tuesday -- B & B were both off during the day so we were able to do something together. We went sailing at the Northwestern University Sailing Club. We rented a catamaran and made our way out on the lake. We were out for an hour and, for the majority of the time, had some really good wind. Later, we went to a Cubs game at Wrigley Field. Cubs beat the Dodgers 3-0 in case you were wondering.

Wednesday -- our last day :( While doing research before our trip, I came across a restaurant owned by the winner of Top Chef Masters, Rick Bayless. We planned to have either lunch or dinner at Frontera while we were in town, and lunch Wednesday is what worked out. The food was delicious and we are already looking forward to a return trip to try his other restaurant for dinner. After a quick lunch, we headed to the architecture boat tour on the Chicago River. The tour was pretty interesting and provided great pictures. And not to mention, we had great weather.

After the tour, we walked over to the Field Museum. Not too much to report here, because we were super bummed by it. It was mainly focused on being kid friendly and not what we expected. We headed back to B & B's to hang out and relax -- aka nap. We enjoyed a late dinner at HB.

and finally Thursday we were on our way back to Virginia.

THANKS B & B for letting us invade your personal space for a 2nd time. We cant wait to see you in September!