The Wilson Family: Chicago Valentines Week

The Chicago Firehouse Restaurant

Jeremy needed to go to Chicago for his training for Chase. It just happened to be the week of Valentines. He left on Monday and I got to fly out and join him on Tuesday. I got there just around dinner time. I had checked Trip Advisor when I found out that we would be doing this, and made reservations at the Chicago Firehouse for our dinner. It was so cool. It's an old firehouse, restored and they had the tables all set up and decorated with candles and rose petals for the special day. I had filet mignon and some yummy squash, while Jeremy had one of the best burgers he'd ever tasted. We had taken a cab to dinner, but decided to make the 12 block walk back to our hotel. It wasn't too cold and we really enjoyed taking in the sights along Michigan Avenue. We stopped in Millennium Park and checked out "The Bean":

Wednesday-

Jeremy was in training all day, so I decided to just stay in bed ALL DAY...and I did... ALL DAY! It was wonderful! I slept in until 10, ordered room service, and then just laid around the whole day. When Jeremy got back though, I was ready to go out! We went to Macy's and got each other new perfume/cologne for Valentines gifts. Then we went through some more shops and had dinner at 312 Chicago. I had a yummy pasta soup and mozzarella and tomato salad. They also had the yummiest bread w/ an olive oil spread that was so delicious! It was our last night at the Hotel Allegro, so we played in the cool lobby and took silly pictures:

Thursday-

Jeremy had to leave for training again and I was left to check out of the hotel and find things to do in the city until he was done. I started my morning with breakfast at the Corner Bakery. I had truffle hot chocolate and strawberries with yogurt and granola. Then I headed over to the Chicago Cultural Center. This place is beautiful. My pictures do not do it justice. I got to sit and enjoy a concert by the Chicago All-City HS Honor Band. Then I visited a weird, yet interesting exhibit-"Morbid Curiosity". It was all about different cultures obsessions and celebrations of death. But, mostly, I walked around and took pictures of the interior:

I left the Cultural Center and headed for the Chicago Art Institute. I know nothing about art, but really loved walking through all the beautiful exhibits. Plus, the place itself is beautiful! Here are some highlights:

Jeremy texted me around 2:00 and said they were ending early. I finished up at the Art Institute and walked down to meet him at the Chase Tower. He looked so cute in his work clothes! We had lunch in the building and I took some pics of him in front of the tower-

Once I got my hubby, we strolled down Michigan Avenue and headed to Buckingham Fountain. It was not on, of course, so I was the water instead!

Yay!

Next, we took a walk down along the lake...

And we found this cool bridge that leads back to Millennium Park...

And played some more at "The Bean"!

Jeremy was getting tired of being in his work clothes, so we went headed to our new hotel, Hotel Monaco and changed. This time, we were staying right along the Chicago River. We headed across the bridge in search of Chicago's best deep dish pizza. Gino's East is the best, but Uno's was the first...so that's where we ended up. You order when you walk in the door and wait until a table is available. When we got sat, we also enjoyed some hot boneless buffalo wings. Then the pizza came out...

Masterpiece! And so YUMMY!

And we wrote our names on the wall...

Thanks Uno!

We walked along the river on the way back to the hotel and got to enjoy the beautiful night lights:

Wabash Street Bridge

Friday-

All Day with my Hubby!

Today we wanted to see as much as possible. We walked down to Navy Pier-

And then made our way to Soldier Field-Home of the Chicago Bears, for a tour.

We learned so many cool facts about the place, like, it's not just a football field, it's THE largest veterans memorial in the country! This truly was the highlight of the trip for me. Here I am running down the tunnel to the field-

I am touching the grass on the field...

AND ( even though we were not allowed on the field )-I ran out while the guide had his back turned and did a little touchdown dance in the end zone.. Oh Yeah!!!

We got to go into the Visitors Locker Room and looky what I found-

The Showers...

The Training Room...

We got to go up to a box suite and here we are with our best game faces...

This is so cool!

Our last stop on the tour was the Collonades:

Dennis was the best tour guide...

We spent the rest of the day walking all the way back to Navy Pier along Lakeshore Drive. We were so tired and so hungry! We finished up the day at Harry Carey's for a "so-so" dinner.

Holy Cow!

We loved the mirror in our room because it made us look tall and skinny-

Our Last Day-Saturday-

We slept in way late and almost didn't check out in time. Then we headed to Corner Bakery for a late breakfast/early lunch and then walked down Michigan Avenue's Magnificent Mile. We hit up all the shops and got the kids souvenirs. Then we headed to the beach...Oak Street Beach.