Chicago Trip: I Need a Take Two

There aren’t too many things in life I enjoy more than traveling & spending time with my family, so it’s no surprise that one of the trips I look forward to every year is our annual family travel weekend built around my dad (and now brother’s) work convention. I’ve been going since I was really young, and they host them in different places every year. This year it was in Chicago, which was…well, underwhelming, to be honest. Bummer.

I so wanted to love Chicago as I’ve heard it’s a great city, and I’m sure it’s much different if you live there and get to explore it fully and find “your places,” but to visit for 4 days at the end of April just didn’t work for me the way I would have liked. I need another trip to the Windy City to improve my impression.

Let me start with the positives: I got to spend a weekend away with my family, which is always invaluable and outstanding and all sorts of wonderful, regardless of location.

My brother and I look more alike to me in this photo than in any we’ve ever taken, I think!

Love these two. Especially when they dress alike. 🙂

And our hotel, the Palmer House (Hilton), was lovely. I would absolutely recommend it if you’re planning a visit to Chicago. The lobby is beautiful and impressive, the staff is friendly (except for the lobby bartender, who was awful), the gym is impressive for a hotel, the beds and rooms are comfy, and it’s in a central location right by Millennium Park and the art museum. Great choice of a hotel.

photos taken from their website:

lobby:

gym:
Millennium Park was pretty (although I’m sure it’s much nicer on a not-gray-and-freezing day), and I did get my obligatory “bean” photos, so that was a success:

I also had some great quality time with my mom, shopping & at the park and seeing the Van Gogh exhibit Bedrooms at the Art Institute of Chicago, which we both really enjoyed and which made me realize I want to be more intentional about going to museums and other cultural events. It was interesting and thought-provoking.

Other highlights included getting to spend time with one of my closest high school friends (with whom I was wayyyyy overdue for a visit and who has a gorgeous condo there), going salsa dancing on Saturday night with my brother, and and buying new Paige jeans that I realllllly like.

The negatives: well, I guess they all basically tie back to one main thing: the weather. It was awful. Absolutely atrociously terrible — rainy, windy and in the 40s the entire time — and prevented us from wanting to do much of anything. We didn’t walk around and explore, we didn’t take the boat architecture tour, we didn’t have any rooftop or patio or really any restaurant experiences at all —

and the #1 bummer for me was that I didn’t get to run the Lakefront Trail along Lake Michigan, which I was realllllly looking forward to doing. I didn’t see Navy Pier or experience any lovely Chicago Spring weather at all, as there wasn’t one single day that begged for us to be outdoors. I did run every day, but only on the treadmill. It was quite depressing, actually, and that’s what I hope to change next time I visit this city! The weather really can make or break your experience with a place, and unfortunately it tainted my first taste of Chicago.

So, til next time, Chi-town. Hope you treat me with a sunnier disposition then.

Ever gone on a vacation where it rained the whole time?
Been to Chicago? What did you like/dislike most?
Fave brand of jeans?

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