Monday, May 30, 2022

Chicago Trip!

Oh man, all we did this trip was basically eat until we couldn't take another bite... and then eat some more! This all stems from the fact that my cousin is a foodie, and she was our tour guide the whole trip lol. We came to Chicago on a whim with no plans except to eat and see the Bean lmao.

Tuesday, May 3rd: 
  • This trip feels so long ago already! I feel like all we did was eat lol
  • Landed in Chicago around 9am and became confused on how to get onto the CTA lol
  • Got on the CTA and got off on an exit near Cafe Con Leches for brunch. I don’t remember what I ordered, but it was great. The fried plantains were the bread!
  • Walked in the sprinkling rain over to Gaslight Coffee to chill for a bit before we could check into our Airbnb, which was so cool!
  • Our Airbnb was southwestern themed and had all of these cool desert/cactus theme items throughout the whole apartment. There were TWO teepees! One inside and one in the backyard!
  • Found out my cousin was nearby, so she came over to chill for a bit
  • Went to my cousin’s apartment to chill until we met up with her friends for dinner at a KBBQ restaurant nearby. Cousin wanted to go because they didn’t order the meat ferris wheel last time lol. It was insane! Also, the salad was REALLY good
  • Went back home and ordered Pequod’s pizza for a midnight snack cuz all we do is eat even though we’re stuffed. Lmao we were on a mission to try as many of the famous pizza places in Chicago as possible
  • Ate a slice of pizza and passed out

Wednesday, May 4th: 
  • The only sunny day during this trip, so we walked for miles outside!
  • Ate leftover Pequods for a quick breakfast
  • Went to the backyard to check out the bigger teepee
  • Took the CTA to Hanabusa Cafe for their pancake souffle. Unfortunately, they’re other side dishes and ramen were only available for dinner, but the pancakes were good and *aesthetic*
  • Walked across the street to Garrett’s to get their famous popcorn as a snack for later
  • Found out Magnolia Bakery was nearby and that Jessica and Alec have never eaten it before, so bought a large banana pudding also as a snack for later
  • Walked along the Chicago Riverwalk through the Magnificent Mile along the Lakefront Trail and resting and snacking on our popcorn before walking all the way to Navy Pier
  • Walking along the lake was nice and all until we found a bunch of these big gnats stuck to our clothes. Then, Jess and I were grossed out and ran the last stretch of the lake before getting back into civilization lol
  • Went into the building in front of the pier and had a hotdog as a snack before deciding to take the bus to Millenium Park to go to more tourist sites since my cousin was picking us up around 4 and it was already 3
  • Walked to the Bean and took pics before walking across the BP Pedestrian Bridge and around a few blocks to Buckingham Fountain only to find out that the water was off for the season. It was around 55-65 degrees the whole trip, which was a huge difference from GA’s 80 degree weather lol
  • Cousin picked us up from the corner and drove us to our happy hour reservation at Machine: Engineers, which is known for their fancy, aesthetic drinks. It did NOT disappoint. They looked awesome!
  • Also, look at the bar decorations!
  • We ate a snack and mainly drank at Machine: Engineer, so we walked around to Kurimu for some ice cream since my cousin said that they have lots of Asian flavors. Unfortunately, the white rabbit flavor wasn't in rotation at the time, so Alec and I split the earl grey flavor instead.
  • Drove around and went to Time Out Market for dinner and got food from half of the vendors inside
  • Even though we were stuffed, we were committed to ordering Giordano’s pizza and trying it later
  • Jess ordered it online, and my cousin drove us there only to find out that they had already locked their doors for the night and wouldn’t let us in until some customers left. Then, they said that they didn’t have any pizza orders left, and Jess was about to throw down before my cousin said that we had the wrong address! Lol, so Jess was all “my bad” and we booked it to the other location closer to my cousin’s address and got our pizza lol
  • By the time we got back to our apartment, we were still super full and tired from walking all day, so we didn’t even eat the pizza lol

Thursday, May 5th: 
  • Reheated a couple slices of Giordano’s for a quick breakfast. Wasn’t trying to eat much because we made plans for brunch already
  • Went to Kusama for brunch with my cousin’s recommendation since it recently got its first Michelin star. Awesome Filipino food and pastries!
  • Drove around multiple blocks trying to find free side street parking before walking to the 3 Arts Club Cafe. We were 30 minutes early for our reservation, so we went up the floors and checked out all of their fancy rooms and furniture that we couldn’t afford lol
  • We ate appetizers and had drinks at this place purely for the aesthetics and fountain lol. The charcuterie board was pricey but delicious, too
  • Drove to the 2D Cafe for the novelty! The donuts were pretty nice. The strawberry milk was aesthetic lol
  • Went back to the apartment so Jess could pack since she was leaving soon.
  • Walked to Furious Spoon across the street because we saw that they had $.50 dumplings for happy hour online and REALLY wanted dumplings. Then, they told us that that offer period was over, so we couldn’t get unlimited dumplings, and we were sad lol. We ordered drinks and two ramens to share because we had been eating all day. The ramen was good!
  • Dropped off Jess at the CTA since it was faster that way to get to the airport
  • Went back to my cousin's apartment to chill since our next reservation wasn’t until 9. We ended up watching Kitchen Nightmares upstairs in the free area until it was close to time for Gaijin
  • Ordered more drinks in honor of Cinco de Drinko and two different types of okonomiyaki: Osaka style (the ingredients are all mixed into a batter and then grilled) and Hiroshima style (a small crepe-like pancake is grilled and then other ingredients are layered on top)
  • Also ordered the matcha donut for desert, which was SO soft and chewy freshly made <3

Friday, May 6th: 
  • Ate the rest of the pizza for breakfast
  • Walked to Colectivo for tea. The Masala Chai Latte and Windy Ci-Tea were great!
  • Took the CTA to my cousin’s place to drop off our bags before going to Matchacita for more aesthetic drinks and waffles. The whole place is instagramable
  • Ordered frozen pizzas from Giordano’s to take back to GA with us in their free freezer bags when you spend a certain amount of money
  • Picked up the pizzas and headed to the CTA to go back to the airport
  • Made it home around midnight

No comments:

Post a Comment