For Canadian Thanksgiving long weekend, we’re going to Chicago! Our aunt / sister-in-law Julie is running in the Chicago Marathon on Sunday so we’ll meet up with her, my brother Kasey and nephew Brady.
Our trip starts out a bit early. I had forgotten about a free night certificate that I had at Bonvoy chain hotels, which was expiring at the end of the month, so we used it to stay the night before our flight at the Marriott hotel inside the airport terminal in Calgary. It was nicer than getting up for an early ride to the airport on Friday and of course, they had a pool which was well enjoyed by Ellie.
The morning was crisp and a beautiful start to what was forecast to be a really nice and warm weekend in Calgary. Had some nice views of downtown as well as the Rockies.
Ellie did her best to relax herself to counteract her anxiety about flying.
Our route today actually goes a little backwards – it was a better deal to fly to Seattle first, and here we are over Lake Chelan.
And the Cascade Range.
After a short layover in Seattle-Tacoma airport, we’re up and on our way again.
Flew over this gorgeous area just a bit east of Seattle. Those tarns and larches look like they’d be amazing to hike up to!
On this trip I’m sampling the cheeseburgers of two of the biggest US airlines – here’s the Delta cheeseburger. Not too bad.
Before we know it, we’re in Chicago!
Ellie doesn’t usually eat on the plane so she requested a McDonald’s stop right in the airport.
We took the Blue Line “L” downtown from O’Hare Airport, which at this time of day is about the same time as in a private car, but a tenth of the price.
We also had to take a bus from the L station to our hotel, which was private at this point (it got full after a few more stops).
After a bit of rest in the room we walk out on what’s unfortunately a cold and blustery evening. Ellie really liked Ohio street!
And also posing in dark alleys…
We met Julie, Kasey, and Brady at this donut and ice cream shop. It started to rain while we were eating our desserts so we walked over to the landmark Chicago Theatre on State Street. It rained more so we went our separate ways back to our hotels at that point.
The hotel that Ellie and I stayed at was a smaller boutique kind of place, and the restaurant was fancy – too fancy for Ellie in fact – the only thing on the breakfast menu that appealed to her was this huge cinnamon bun.
After breakfast we headed out to do a bit of exploring.
Unfortunately Cloud Gate (“The Bean”) was surrounded by construction fencing for a renovation of that plaza, so no pics there, but we walked around Millenium Park a bit anyway.
Missing from the exploratory pics was our trip to Target, which was a must do for Ellie.
All 5 of us met up again for lunch at a small pizza place, and outside was a great alley with fire escapes and trash.
One of the highlights of the weekend was our evening activity – Chicago Architecture Foundation river cruise. I’d done this on my previous trip to Chicago in 2018 with Blanka, and it was so cool to do it again.
The sky conditions were perfect but it sure was cold. There was a line at the snack bar where the attendants were furiously making hot chocolate, and we also got some classic Garrett Mix popcorn for the ride.
The buildings are all beautiful and it’s a real treat to hear someone passionate about architecture explain the history and development of notable ones, as they do on the CAF tours. There are many river tours that offer similar cruises but I suspect they wouldn’t be nearly as informative as this one.
The Willis (formerly Sears) Tower is an eye catcher.
As is the Merchandise Mart, once the largest building in the world.
The Trump International Hotel and Tower really anchors this section of the Chicago River.
Ellie enjoying her cruise in the big city 🙂
After the cruise we went to a French restaurant – Mon Ami Gabi – which not only had great food, they were super kid friendly !
Ellie wanted to burn off some of her dinner on the treadmill back at the hotel.
Since our hotel restaurant was too fancy for Ellie, I sought out a more favorable place and found one just around the corner. The Original Pancake House.
Ellie was impressed and asked if we could go again !
While we were indulging in our big breakfast, Julie had already been up already for almost 4 hours and was about half done the race at this time. So Urban Ellie and I headed out to spot her along the route. We were aided by tracking technology and an app especially created for the Marathon!
We avoided the finish area as it seems like it would have been just packed. We saw this part of one of the loops in Chinatown from the L station, but Julie was already past this point.
I didn’t get a picture (was filming video when she went by), but we were lucky enough to see Julie go right in front of us at this point on South Michigan Avenue!
While Julie recovered after the race, the rest of us went for pizza right next to our hotel. It was very good.
We checked out the rooftop pool at our hotel, which due to the cold weather, we didn’t use, much to Ellie’s disappointment.
Ellie went with Kasey and Brady to use their pool while I went to check out the Allbirds store on the West side and stopped on the way back to take a few pics.
Regrouping at the Sheraton, I captured the awesome view from the terrace there – the St Regis Tower right across the river.
Julie snapped this picture of us marching off to dinner – Italian food this time.
Again, another great meal! Chicago really does have great restaurants!
The next morning, all 5 of us met up again at Wildberry for breakfast. It was another very busy place, but with good reason – the food was fast and excellent!
Sadly, it’s time for us to go home. Ellie said that she wished she was staying another day like Julie, Kasey, and Brady. But here we are on the plane again already, this time going through Denver.
Goodbye Chicago!
We had a longer layover in Chicago so we stopped at Ellie’s request – McDonald’s. I had a few snacks in the new United Club lounge but mostly enjoyed the awesome view, and saved room for my dinner on the next flight.
Which was, the United Airlines cheeseburger! Lol. I rate this one slightly above the Delta cheeseburger 😉
It was a fun getaway weekend in the Windy City. Ellie wants to go again – I do too!
Ellie's Adventures 