Day 2 Of Our Chicago Adventure
By the second day of our trip we were mostly adjusted to the time change of being 2 hours ahead. And I finally felt like I had gotten a good night's sleep! Which definitely helped because this was our busiest day filled with lots of activities. We started the morning with a donut run to Firecakes after missing our breakfast reservation elsewhere! Thankfully we were able to make a reservation for a different morning, so I'll be sharing more about that soon. Firecakes donuts were some of the best donuts I’ve ever had! Fun fact: I can never resist a sprinkle donut--they just make me so happy! Then we headed over to the Art Institute of Chicago and got there just as they opened. It’s important to note that the night prior, I watched Ferris Bueller’s Day Off for the very first time, so I was able to fully recognize all of the places in the movie and understand the references :) The museum was so beautiful inside, with marble flooring throughout and gorgeous tall ceilings. We spent a few hours there and really took our time in most of the exhibits. Freddy was drooling over the Japanese, Greek & Roman art, being the historian that he is! And I loved the rooms dedicated to Monet; seeing his masterpieces in person was unreal.
Observing a sculpture...trying to form an opinion on it ;)
After the museum we were all hungry and ready for lunch. Thankfully Lauren planned ahead by making reservations at an adorable rooftop cafe, appropriately named Cindy's Rooftop, that overlooked the city! We could see Lake Michigan, the Bean & other parts of downtown from the outdoor balcony. Their lunch menu had a lovely assortment of seafood, and the lobster roll definitely caught my eye. After we ate we got to take some great pictures with the city as our backdrop--the views were incredible!
With full bellies we headed over to check out the infamous "bean" and obviously we had to snap some pics while we were over there! The Millennium Park area was one of my favorites to explore, with walkways that went over the highway and amazing sights of the skyscrapers. We walked along the water of Lake Michigan before finding the most amazing fountain, Buckingham Fountain. It was dedicated in 1927 and is one of the largest fountains in the world, featuring beautiful design elements from the Rococo period.
Even after all of the fun we had already had up until this point in the day, my favorite part was still yet to come--the architecture boat tour. Our tour started at 6pm, which allowed for beautiful golden sunlight on the tour, and it painted all of the buildings in the dreamiest light. It was so fascinating learning about the different decades that these buildings were built in, starting in the 1920's all the way to present day. You could really see the progression of architecture and how the buildings became more modern. It was also really nice to just sit down for an hour! I even dozed off at one point, but it was only for a couple minutes :)
After the tour ended we walked to our dinner reservation (I told you, Lauren is the best when it comes to planning!) which was just around the corner at Beacon Tavern. We ordered the most amazing cheddar biscuits as an appetizer for the table. I need to find out how to recreate them at home...I could seriously just eat those for the rest of my life and be totally content. I was also craving some seafood, so I ordered a big bowl of clam chowder and Freddy and I split the fish n' chips. We actually split a lot of meals while we were in Chicago which worked out perfectly, since my eyes are always bigger than my stomach and Freddy ends up finishing half my food anyway! We were very excited to head home and get in our pajamas after a full day of fun in the sun, and we did what Lauren and I do best...watch Disney movies! I can't think of a better way to end the day. xo