Day 1 in Chicago

Greetings from...Chicago!! Oh yes, this trip was so spontaneous that I don't think most of our family even knows we are here. Last week, Julie and Charlie offered to watch our kids for a couple of days so that Will and I could take a quick trip together somewhere. Best sister and brother-in-law ever! Chicago had cheap airfare and a direct flight from Manhattan so it seemed like the perfect choice. Our flight arrived Sunday morning and we go back Tuesday night, so 3 days and 2 nights. I am still pinching myself that we are here. 

We took Daniel over to the Thorntons on Saturday night since our plane left early the next morning. Annika was at a sleepover birthday party, so we foisted the job of picking her up the next morning on Julie. Daniel told Julie, "I have to warn you guys. I wake up really early. Like at 1." I reminded him that he actually wakes up at 7 a.m. (which is only early because we are a family who likes to sleep in).

At the airport, ready to go! We had a bit of stress at the airport; right before we were set to go through security, they announced that our flight was going to be cancelled and no one could go through. There were maintenance problems with the plane and all subsequent flights were booked, so they were saying people may need to re-book to fly out of Kansas City or Wichita (2+ hours away). Then in the midst of all of these explanations, they announced that the plane did not, after all, have maintenance problems and would be departing anyway. There is nothing that I feel safer on than a plane that had maintenance problems 10 minutes ago, but hey, we were thrilled that it was a go.

We made it to Chicago!! Manhattan only flies to O'Hare and for some reason I had it in mind that we could only take a taxi, but our friends told us that the L also goes from the airport. It was very easy and we only had to walk a few blocks to our hotel.

Our hotel room! We are staying at the Four Seasons on the Magnificent Mile (aka Michigan Avenue). I am not exaggerating to say that this is the fanciest hotel either of us have ever stayed at.

View from the window. We opted for the cheaper "City View" as opposed to the slightly pricier "Lake View."

I thought this was the coolest thing - when we turned on the TV, there was a scrolling message welcoming us. And even better - the hotel clearly believes in gender neutrality, which cracked us up.

Panoramic view out the window.

We had no plans for Chicago before we got here - we figured that having the plane and hotel booked was enough and we could see what we were in the mood for. The first order of business was getting lunch. We found a Thai restaurant that was right next to the Thai Consulate, so we figured we couldn't go wrong there.

Homemade Crab Rangoon! Best I have ever eaten.

Will ordered the Crazy Spicy Noodles. They were not actually crazy - or spicy - but were still very tasty.

Panang Chicken, my Thai food restaurant staple.

Chicago is COLD right now. I was super grateful for the scarf that my friend Melendra made for me - I would have been dead in the water without it.

After lunch, we decided to visit the Art Institute of Chicago, since neither of us had ever been before. It was about a 1.6 mile walk from our hotel so not too bad (although very cold). The water in the river was gorgeous.

Ice skating was open.

We made it to the Art Institute!

We decided to go ahead and get the "City Pass," which includes attraction to other museums and attractions. Our City Pass came with an audio tour at the art museum.

One of the best surprises was discovering that the Art Institute lets visitors take photographs of anything in the permanent collection (the special exhibits, such as "Art and Appetite" that we saw, are not included). Wow! We spent the most time in the Impressionist Gallery.

The most famous painting of all, courtesy of Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

Vincent van Gogh self-portrait.

One of the many "haystack" paintings by Monet on display.

Water Lilies.

This was in the American wing (the not-quite-modern-but-still-older part) - The Portrait of Dorian Gray.

American Gothic.

Buddha!

This is a really famous modern art piece. Yes. Very famous.

Jackson Pollack!

Chagall's America Windows!

A famous Greco-Roman bust. I swear I have seen this before. Will had no such recollections.

 El Greco.

Mary Cassatt - "The Child's Bath." This is an artist that Will really likes and I was all proud of us for actually tracking her down.

The museum closed at 5 p.m. and it was time to hike back. Chicago was just beautiful at night!

The Magnificent Mile Lights Festival (kind of like the KC Plaza lighting ceremony) had happened the day before we arrived and the whole walk back was filled with beautiful Christmas lights.

That evening, we went to dinner with my dear friend from high school, Ashley, and her husband, Matt. They live here in Chicago and we all arranged an impromptu dinner yesterday. They picked us up and drove to a Tapas Bar in Old Town. The sangria was awesome.

We ordered lots of different small appetizers to share. The stuffed dates were one of my favorites.

I went with the Chocolate Truffle Cake for dessert. Divine.

Ashley and I! We saw each other for Christmas last year but the last time we got together in Chicago was in 2007, when I was here for a conference.

The whole gang! So awesome to see them and I wished we all lived closer so we could get together more.

Will and I were exhausted last night and decided to use our kid-free time to....go to bed early. That meant that we woke up early, though, and got to see a beautiful view of the city out our window.

In going with our no-plans trip, I think today we will try to see some of the attractions on the City Pass, but no idea what. Spontaneity: It's Shockingly Fun!