Weekend Getaway - Chicago

This year it just so happened that our one year anniversary and The Black Keys Concert in Chicago landed on the same weekend, and one thing you should know about my boyfriend and I is that we absolutely LOVE Chicago. Taylor actually went to Loyola for a couple of years during his undergrad so it is a city we love visiting and talking about. Since we are only about three hours away here in Indianapolis, it makes it easy to go there for a quick weekend getaway!

We stayed at the beautiful Inn of Chicago near the Magnificent Mile, a building with historic charm and gorgeous rooftop views. The rooms were on the smaller side but it was just what we needed for one night in the city. We took a walk down the Chicago Riverwalk which was less than five minutes from our hotel and despite all the rain, saw so many cool places for picture opportunities! We also walked around the Tribune Tower area to hit up a Walgreens to add money to a Ventra card that we kept from our last visit. I recommend doing this first thing and always keeping the card just in case you go to Chicago again. Walgreens seems to be a good place to add money to a card and the process is simple and easy. You can also check online and register the card and check the balance. It feels like every time we go, we develop a better understanding of the public transit system there which really helps! We also reserved a parking spot rather than paying for hotel parking using apps like ParkWhiz and SpotHero that allow you to park in lots around the city for a set amount of time and at a much better price.

We used the Ventra card to take the Green Line to the Union Park area to see my favorite band, The Black Keys, at the United Center. The train was a 10 to 15 minute walk from the venue, so I recommend bringing an umbrella if it’s raining, since I mistakenly left mine in the car at the hotel. The Black Keys are on tour after a long hiatus and middle school Hayley was in heaven! It was so amazing to see Dan Auerbach play the guitar and Patrick Carney play the drums live, I will never forget it. I sang along to every song and Taylor had a great time as well. We definitely crashed after getting back to the hotel, we were exhausted from the rain, all the walking, and singing for hours.

We planned to leave on Saturday around noon to make it back home in time to make dinner for our anniversary. We love how easy it is to just wander around Chicago and find new food places to try or photo opportunities. Taylor, a Chipotle connoisseur, noticed a restaurant called Burrito Beach near our hotel and had an amazing-looking burrito bowl. I also had seen while walking around that there was a Shake Shack nearby and had to try it for the first time. I was not disappointed, those crinkle cut fries were amazing (but definitely needed some ranch). By the time we got our food and explored a little more, it was time to head back to the car and get going. We loved visiting Chicago, but missed Indy and our cat. It was great to celebrate our anniversary this way and get a chance to head out of town and see all kinds of new and exciting things, even in a short amount of time. We will definitely be back to Chicago soon.