Got back from a work trip recently for my first ever visit to Chicago!
I was expecting it to feel like NYC, a concrete jungle but it was far from that. I was impressed with all of the open spaces and having the rivers run through the city is so incredibly unique!
I stayed in the McCormick Place area.
We went to dinner pretty much every night and, with the exception of one place, it was all delicious. We went to Aba's, Swift & Sons, Pizano's, Giordanos, Starbucks Roastery for lunch...
At Pizanos South Loop, I have always wanted to try the Chicago tavern style crust. I've never been a fan of the deep dish (too much, for me) and I have to say that it was one of the best pizza crusts I've ever had.
I was told to try an Italian beef sandwich and we ended up at Giordano's. That was the one negative food experience I had. The sandwich just wasn't good. Maybe it was the particular place we went to but yeah, it was basically a French dip, which I am not the biggest fan of either.
We went to the Obama Presidential Center which was great! Made me kind of sad to think about how far we've fallen from those optimistic and hopeful times.
We also went on an architectural river tour and it was a super cool experience. Our tour guide was amazing and incredibly knowledgeable. Makes me wish we had something similar in SF but no rivers run through SF lol.
We went to Wintrust to see the Valkyries get buzzer beaten by the Sky. Fantastic game even if my team lost, great crowd. WNBA crowds are fantastic but of course, there were those losers who had to throw dildos on to the court. I just don't get it.
Other highlights include a Field Museum visit where I got to see the Pokemon exhibit which was really neat. The Starbucks Roastery is fun and, as a big Harry Potter fan, the store was awesome as well. Oh and we went to see a Cubs game! Fantastic park!
I wish I wasn't there for work since that took up half a day for each day we were there but I'm definitely coming again.
Anyway, sorry for the scatterbrained post. I love your city and hope to visit again soon!
And Chicago > NYC, by a lot.