My flight to Chicago was delayed Friday evening so I didn't end up landing until after 9 p.m. CT. Todd picked me up from the airport and we headed to Danny's a bar in the Wicker Park neighborhood. Oddly enough, I had been here once before when I had visited Mary a couple years ago with Brett and Kristen! The bar is a super hipster spot and while I had a ton of fun their the first time I went, it was a little dead when we arrived their a little before 10. But it was still a fun time and I got to meet a lot of Todd's med school friends.
Saturday morning Todd and I got bagels and coffee and then walked around Midwestern's campus. The campus is so opposite of MSU's, it reminds me a little of Grand Valley's - smaller and newer.
I then caught the train into the city to meet up with Lydia and Stephen. Of course, food was high on their agenda so our first stop was Yolk. This place was so good. We opted to get a couple of dishes to share - nutella crepes (duh), a bagel and locks, sausage, and some home fries. Not a scrap of food was left on our plates (mainly because of Lyds and Stephen).
(Sharing a fantastic donut)
Immediately after finishing brunch, Stephen expressed his desire to get tacos so we wandered over to Big & Little's. The walk over was really nice, it was a great fall day and Chicago looked beautiful. It seemed so much bigger to me than Boston, and newer. Boston has the Charles River running through it and Chicago has the Chicago River, but they couldn't be more opposite. The Charles is wide and its banks are lined with open green areas, the Chicago River is narrow and surrounded by city.
After Stephen got his taco fix, we headed to Tin Lizzie's to watch the MSU game. The bar was really fun and you got a complimentary Michigan State Rose Bowl mug when you ordered a mug of Miller Lite. The bar also gave out Jell-o shots every time State made a touchdown - which got crazy fast! (Go Green!) The best part was Mary came and joined us, shortly followed by Brad and his boyfriend Matt.
After a victory for MSU, we headed over to Mary's new apartment and then headed out for some dinner. I can't remember the name of the place we went for dinner, but they had some delicious pizza. We then headed to beercade called Headquarters which is exactly what it sounds like - a bar and arcade. We didn't stay too long here since we were all getting pretty tired and I needed to catch the train back to Todd's. I hopped in a taxi and it took to Union Station, where I proceeded to run (possibly slightly drunk) to catch the train and boarded it just as the doors were closing. Phew.
Sunday morning Todd and I got breakfast at a spot near his apartment and then caught the train back into the city. The Chicago Marathon was taking place and Alyse was running in it. We weren't able to make it down in time to see her run it, but Todd and I met up with Lydia by Millennium Park and spent sometime walking around there and down to the Lake Michigan shoreline.
Lydia then led us to a place called Eataly where we met up with the marathon runner herself! I don't think I can adequately describe this place. Any kind of cheese, wine, bread, meat, beer, coffee and anything else you can think of was in this two story restaurant/grocery store. We all got different kinds of espresso from the espresso bar (except for Alyse who got a well-deserved beer!). We wandered upstairs only to be met by more deliciousness. We got a snack from Focaccia which made these delicious pizza type breads - Alyse and I split one and still didn't finish it. We decided to part ways after this and Todd and I caught the train back to his apartment.
Monday meant it was almost time for me to head back to Boston but I still had just enough time to meet Lyds for brunch. After a failed attempt of going to Wildberry Cafe (who would think a brunch wait would be super long on a Monday?) we ventured to Toni's, a French Cafe near Millennium Park. The place was a little odd but still good even though they had run out of what both of us wanted to order.
After breakfast it was actually time for me to go, so Lydia saw me off to the subway to take me to airport.
Until next time, Chicago!
