Chicago is one city that has always intrigued me… mostly because of the windy weather. I had always heard its really windy and very cold in winters, and serves up some awesome grub ;)…. they had me at Food 😀
I never thought I would have a spontaneous trip to Chicago…. I’m spontaneous alright… but my spontaneity also gets planned once the spontaneous act is decided upon 😉 But this impromptu decision to drive did not leave me with any planning except to rem to pack lot of warm clothing-gloves, scarves and hat!!! That I did.
So after quick packing at night and few hours of sleep…. we set off on a 15 hour journey (approx)…Yea we were driving… nothing like driving on your own…stop at places and see something local!!!
A quick detour in Asheville, North Carolina to French Board Chocolate Lounge… best place for a chocolate connoisseur… and for my hubs who wanted some Hot Sipping Chocolate at 11 in the morning 😉 They have some awesome truffles, pastries and chocolate drinks.
Next stop was I-75 tourist center in Kentucky…. this was a unique tourist center… Besides having a regular welcome center, it had 2-3 other centers and one of them was Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea (Berea is one of the Top 25 cities of Art, can’t remember what number it was on). It has all forms of arts- pottery, metal work, crochet, sewing, painting, food items and more. Everything featured is also for sale and can be bought easily. If ever you drive through that…you want to check it out.
After crossing Kentucky, it was welcome Indiana… and welcome some snow light snow and awesome snowy weather 😉 All you can see is miles and miles of open land and all white. Crossing Indiana was one heck of a long drive for sure.
Pretty soon it was WELCOME TO CHICAGO…. By the time we reached, it was dark… all we could see was lights, Christmas decor and crazy traffic 😉 No offense but my southern driving skills were apparently too laid back for Chicago…. drivers zooming around…felt like I was the slowest driver in Nascar Race while other drivers zoomed and overtook me 😉
Nevertheless….. Sunday morning started chilly and little windy!
Downtown Chicago…starting at Skydeck Tower -after seeing a huge line to get in… we weren’t going to wait around for hours in that cold. But it gives a wonderful view of Chicago city as long as you dare to step out on a glass deck…if you have fear of heights, don’t even bother! We intend to see it on our 2nd visit to Chicago (oh yeah there will be another visit…this time a summer one :D).
Chicago Riverwalk located on Chicago river… is a pretty sight… unfortunately for us visiting it on a Sunday, we found things closed… but a walk up and down the Riverwalk was pretty calming and delightful. Perpendicular to the Riverwalk are State Street and Michigan Ave. State Street is the shopping heaven while Michigan Ave. will take you to Millennium Park with the famous Bean which gives a view of the Chicago Skyline–pretty neat!! The Park is a good place in summer but also has an ice skating rink in winter.
Navy Pier is another wonderful place to visit… especially with little kids. For winter, the boat rides were closed. But they have an equally wonderful Winter Wonderfest with activities, ice skating and rides indoors for families. Heck my husband and I enjoyed it as much 😉
Besides the sights…. Chicago also offers some wonderful grubs…
Be it breakfast at Apple Villa, some Indian Chinese at Bombay Chopsticks, or Chocolates at Fannie May or some Italian food at Harry Caray’s or some Indian fast food on Devon Street…. Food is THE BOMB in Chicago. I am ashamed to say we did not eat Deep Dish Pizza- the soul of Chicago food 😦 Next time.
There will be a next time for sure…. this time summer…. catch up with all the things we could not do on this trip. But this trip was worth all the fun we had 😉 the drive, the cold weather and the food. Although I wonder why Chicago is the only city in Illonois that is windy?? Geographical location maybe!!
What ever it is… Chicago is definitely one city to visit 😀
Enjoooy!!
Cheers
Life Scribbles Over Coffee 