First shop … Target? Yes, it really was. We needed snacks and we can’t check in for awhile anyway so might as well do the boring stuff. A terrible thing happened while we were in there though…… ALL EASTER CANDY WAS 50% off. ☺ I tried to resist but just look back to the first post and what I qualify as breakfast and you’ll understand just how hard that was for me.
I was pretty excited to find Pepsi Next, it’s got about half the calories and sugar. I like it! I’m pretty sure this was my idea though because I’ve been mixing Pepsi max and Pepsi throwback for awhile to stretch out my pop addiction. My dad worked for Pepsi, my first dog’s name was Pepsi, I can hardly be blamed for this addiction, right?
My husband is itching to go to the Chicago Music Exchange so we stop there next so he can get his fix. My neck is hurting from the travel and I’m feeling lazy so I stay in the car so we don’t get a ticket. Forty-five minutes later he finally returns going on and on about how amazing it is in there and how many cool guitars they have.
We are staying at the Whitehall hotel right downtown thanks to some groupons my husband bought that were going to expire if we didn’t use them! They include breakfast, valet parking and Internet. We get checked in a little early and the room is small but pleasant complete with a mini fridge that I promptly empty of it’s contents so I can store my stash there. The view however was breathtaking, if you consider the shock of throwing open the curtains to see a solid white wall that was the side of a parking garage of some sort? Oh well it’s still a great location. We take a nice long nap to sleep off the early departure and time change. We are planning on being out very late.
Dinner is late at 9pm and we use open table to make reservations at Petterino’s. We’re going in blind having only a few reviews to guide us and we are so very happy once we arrive. It’s lovely and while not packed, still quite busy which I take to be a good sign considering its already 9pm. The meal was fabulous and I highly recommend this restaurant if you are in the area. Appetizers were corn chowder and Cesar salad. It was one of the best Cesar salads I’ve ever had with just enough dressing that wasn’t too tangy, crisp lettuce and tons of fresh parmesan cheese. I’m told the corn chowder was equally pleasing though I decided not to try it. Our entrees were steak Diane and chicken vesuvio. The steak Diane came alone but was so tender and full of flavor! The chicken vesuvio was a half roasted chicken served over the best parmesan crusted roast potatoes I’ve ever had and perfect green beans. The chicken itself although not overly flavoured was so tender that it was delicious just like that. For dessert we had Chicago cheesecake that was clearly homemade and after trying it I wished I’d ordered it myself! My milk chocolate mousse cake was lovely and served with freshly made whipped cream and chocolate and berry sauces. Each three-course dinner was only $32.95, which seemed to be a great deal considering the amount and quality of food. I’d come back for sure. Here’s a pic of the $12 dress I talked about yesterday!
As soon as we went outside we took a few photos of the front with my iPhone 4 and hailed a yellow cab. This is where our good luck ended. The driver thought he was on a racetrack and flew around corners, slammed on breaks and rushed us to our next destination the Buddy Guy Blues Club. We got out as fast as we could and ran inside before we tossed up our dinner from the racecar experience. Sadly as I opened my purse to pay the $40 cover for the two of us I realized I didn’t have my iPhone. I must have set it on my lap instead of in my purse during the short cab ride and it must have flown onto the floor on one of those reckless corners. We looked out front with no luck. A great guy named James at the club handed me his personal iPhone and let me call the cab company, the restaurant and my cell (calling Canada). He also reminded me about the find my iPhone app that I had installed but since I turned off roaming to avoid additional charges it won’t work…at all. The phone just rang and rang till it went into voicemail. Bad news…my life is on that thing, not to mention all the photos of the kids. ☹ James let me try again a couple more times and I was very disappointed to realize that whoever had it now, they turned it off. I guess they aren’t interested in answering it to help return it to the rightful owner. Damn! I try to forget about it, and head upstairs where I’m thrilled to find some pool tables. Truth be told I’m not a fan of blues music so while my husband quickly plays one game with me I send him back downstairs to watch the show up close instead of on the TV’s they have it displayed on in the upper bar. I continue to play pool and shoot the best game I’ve ever played…against myself and no one was there to see it! An hour or so later I’m just wanting to leave so instead of heading to the dance club I’d been looking forward to we return to the hotel and crash.
After breakfast on Sunday we start our walk out in the beautiful mild weather and tour the neighborhood. We are literally feet away from the Sears Towers and the magnificent mile is just calling my name. We take as many pictures as we can of the gorgeous architecture and envision a black and white photo wall that will display our memories at home for years to come. There is so much that we realize that we haven’t really covered much ground, stopping to take shots every few feet it feels like.
It starts to look a little rainy so we duck into the Water Tower Place, an eight-story mall on the mile and explore the Macy’s, which used to be the Marshall Fields store. There is also the biggest American Girl store I’ve ever seen! Who knew there were so many dolls and outfits for little girls to choose from? I guess I’ll be needing to learn more about this stuff soon as my daughter gets bigger. After choosing some Chicago Blackhawks hats for the boys we head out. I spy an H&M store and we pop in. It’s huge, several floors and we start looking around for a purse that matches my boots. We get a little separated and as I turn back I see my husband spy something and rush over to it. He’s found a coat, a brown leather coat that as luck will have it matches my boots almost perfectly!
After shopping we head back to the hotel for a pit stop and decide that we are going to go for dinner early since Giordano’s is known to have quite a wait and we are hoping that it won’t be so bad on a late Sunday afternoon. I post this on Twitter and almost instantly I get a reply from @giordanos letting me know that we can call ahead and preorder. Thank you Twitter! I make the phone call only to learn that this location doesn’t accept preorders, which is slightly annoying. I explain the twitter comment and the manager apologizes and takes our order anyway, politely letting us know that the medium we ask for is way too big for the two us so we order a small.. The pizza was SOO good. I honestly have never seen such a thick slice with gooey cheese in every bite. I was however horrified to learn that they don’t have bacon for the pizza! Oh the shock and horror, they offer Canadian bacon but we aren’t falling for that twice. They got us at breakfast when we learned that “Canadian bacon” is not the peameal version we were expecting but rather just plain ole ham. Who do they think they are kidding?
I’m so looking forward to Second cityand we arrive early to get decent seats. It’s a pretty tight fit in there and since we are practically on each others laps we end up chatting to a really friendly Mike from DC and his sister about our experiences in Chicago so far. The show was amazing, really funny outgoing comedians and a great variety of topics and skits, mixed with random improv. After the official show concludes they come back out for a third act that is totally and completely improve based on suggestions from the audience. Somehow the suggestion of “sushi” turns into a bachelor party with an almost naked chef and the other 2 male actors stripping down to their boxers as well. Who would have thought sushi was that entertaining? Fantastic show, can’t wait to go again sometime. It’s pouring rain when we leave and it’s harder than you would imagine to find a pub with a pool table but we manage. I’m ready to show off my newly acquired skills but soon realize that they don’t exist in the presence of an audience. I lost the first game for scratching on the eight ball but I did win the second. If you know me at all you already know just how competitive I am! The walk home was longer and in the drizzling rain but it was still mild. We didn’t let the fact that we had absolutely no idea where we were stop us from attempting to find our way back by following the Sears Towers. As we approached a street named Delaware neither of us recognized it and almost kept walking. We decided to go up it one more block to see if we could figure out where we were and walked straight into our hotel that was located ON Delaware St.!
How do you travel in new cities? Fly by the seat of your pants and rely on your excellent sense of direction? Google map everything and carry the papers with you? Smartphone? GPS?
Take a look to get you excited: 
