Chicago!

Yes, a trip to Chicago. A fluke, really.  We were in the midst of discussing R&R yet again last spring, when C announced that she desperately wanted to see a show in Chicago.  We had tried to arrange something similar last year, but we, well, moved, and that kiboshed that.  On a whim, I said, "Okay, it's your birthday gift!" and suddenly committed to the trip by purchasing season pass tickets to Starkids.  Suddenly we were slated to two shows in mid-July. Now, I just had to figure the rest of the trip out…

After several false starts, I finally selected the Willows Hotel in Chicago. It was recommended by Stage 773 (hosters of Starkids) and it reminded me of places I had stayed with Mom while in England and New York (two very different, but fabulous trips).  I went back and forth and up and down and finally told C to pick.  The Days Inn was a close second (it had a Jamba Juice beneath it), but the Willows won and I think it was the best choice.

Flight arrangements were originally easy:  BWI to ORD, RT and would be totally covered by Peter's United points (yes, I'm cheap).  Then complications arose, and we ended up doing the round-trip, but had to add an extra leg later on so that we would arrive at DCA late Thursday afternoon, only to leave a few hours later in a different direction.  Let's just say points don't go very far when you try to complicate things with several one way trips. Thank goodness for Jet Blue.  I'd never tried them before, but we had a quick, easy, and relatively inexpensive trip.  Heck, they even threw in DirecTV for free…United, the bigger airplane required $7  per tv (not surprisingly, few took them up on it).  

Back to Chicago.  We had arrived in the U.S. on July 10, and after a few days recovering from our travels, packed up our one suitcase (told you I'm cheap!) and headed west.  I had not been to Chicago since college and, well, WOW! I'll admit I was overwhelmed, but good grief, how much there was to do there!

We couldn't begin to do it all, and ended up probably barely scratching the surface.  C had not exactly planned an itinerary for us, so I spent a few hours our first night there trying to hammer out a plan. I realized that not only did I have to pick things to do, but quickly figure out how we'd get there.  The public transportation system in Chicago is amazing, yet a lot to figure out in a short time.  

 I had received recommendations of things we must do from friends, and had my own bucket list. However, when only has 4 days, 2 of those are really travel days (and filled with delays), and the other two have 5 hours committed to shows each night…it can be tricky.  We arrived late Monday night, after serious delays on our flight.  Our first flight was delayed due to weather, then we had engine issues, so we rebooked on a new flight (next gate over), then got delayed again and finally took off 3 hours after our original departure time.  We ended up having to cancel our dinner reservations, but thank goodness for my iPhone, or even that would have not been possible.

We arrived safe and sound in Chicago and even though we were delayed, we still had much daylight left. Since I'm cheap, and public transportation was touted as fab in Chicago, I opted to skip renting a car (so glad I did!).  In hindsight, we could have transferred and taken the L most of the way to the hotel, but I didn't realize this at first. So, we took the L most of the way, then a cab, and still came in way under the price of an airport shuttle.  C was a wee bit tired upon arrival, and we finally ambled out for dinner around 9 p.m.

We couldn't really agree on anything, so we ended up at a Cuban restaurant enjoying tostones and the like (go figure).  We walked around Lincoln Park for a few minutes after dinner and that was just such a treat.  There is just so much to do and so many places to go.  I spent the rest of the night researching things to do on Tuesday, watching HGTV (I just don't care if House Hunters is staged, I still love it), and thanks to a friend's tip, making reservations for our first college tour at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Tuesday rolled around and C spent the early mor