day 4 in Chicago- Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

Our last day in the Windy City! :-( We made a quick breakfast stop at the Corner Bakery (we stopped at these shops numerous times over the weekend). Then we went to the Shedd Aquarium. www.sheddaquarium.org/ The animals were beautiful. We saw fish, lizards, frogs, seahorses, moon jellies, dolphins, sea otters, and much, much more!!! It was the last thing we saw in Chicago (besides the sights from the bus and trains on the way to Midway) and it was definitely worth it. Besides the beauty in the aquarium, there were wonderful views of the city skyline and Lake Michigan. We parted ways at Midway after having Chicago style hot dogs (well, I had a Gyro cause I don't like hot dogs, but I said it was in honor of 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' setting=Chicago!).

:-( We didn't want to say goodbye to Chicago (or Dawn!)!

day 3 in Chicago

So today we slept in and were ladies of leisure. :-) Then we went to mass at Holy Martyr Cathedral. Lunched and shopped @ Hard Rock Cafe then shopped @ Niketown and Harley Davidson. Next we made another trip to the library and since they were open they let us in! :-) Success!!! Luckily since we're all librarians we didn't have to feel guilty for dragging our friends to the library during vacation.

We traveled to Little Italy and ate at Tufano's. We found out there is nothing else to do in Little Italy but eat during this time a year. However, we were invited back to Little Italy in the summer (a personal invitation by one of the restaurant workers). I guess there is more to see and do then. It was a wonderful meal! We shared antipasto; I had stuffed shells; and then a unique cannoli (with chopped peanuts instead of coconut). Very good and worth the train ride! We finished the day at The Redhead Piano Bar. It was fun to people watch and listen to tunes!

day 2 in Chicago

Irish Festivities started the day! We saw the river dyed green, then checked out the parade. http://www.chicagostpatsparade.com/river-dye.html The Bean was on the way so we stopped for pictures. http://www.millenniumpark.org/artandarchitecture/cloud_gate.html We must have looked fine...we got stopped twice for people to take our pictures!! :-) (Note: We never did see our pictures in the paper though...darn!) We decided to leave the parade and got stuck in a mob of people! Probably an hour later we escaped and went to lunch at Houlihan’s or as I called it Hooligans (!). http://www.houlihans.com/ I ate the essential St. Patrick's Day feast, corned beef, cabbage, and green beer! Not a fan of beer, green or not, so I entertained Dawn and Ann with the faces I made with each sip. :-)


Next we shopped at Hardrock Hotel http://www.hardrockhotelchicago.com/.hardrockhotelchicago.com/ and went to the Chicago Public Library http://www.chipublib.org/ just as it was closing! Oh well!


Stopped at various shops along the way. We ate dinner at Su Casa Mexican Restaurant (Ike Sewell started this restaurant. Probably better known for his Pizzeria Uno.). The food was tasty and the margaritas strong!

day 1 in Chicago

After we dropped off our luggage we ate breakfast at the Corner Bakery. www.cornerbakery.com/ Then we shopped and shopped and shopped. We went to Crate and Barrel, Pottery Barn, shoe store, ESNP Zone, American Girl Store, and Hershey's Store. I'm sure I forgot a shop, cause we went to a lot of stores. Then we ate lunch at Pizzaria Uno (the original!). :-) http://www.unos.com/ We checked out Navy Pier (more shopping!) and went up in the ferris wheel (Ann is so brave!)! http://www.navypier.com/ Then we watched the best show of the year...That Tall Juggler Guy! http://www.learntojuggle.net/intro.htm He juggled three bowling balls!! And almost topping that he balanced three folding chair with his teeth! I know you can't wait to go to Chicago to see this show. :-)
But really we had the best dinner at Navy Pier. We went to Bubba Gump's Shrimp Company. http://www.bubbagump.com/ It was delicious and fun! There were fun things to see, trivia, and a store. I had "boat trash" for dinner!! It was deep fried shrimp, slipper lobster, and mahi mahi....yummy and healthy, too! ;-) John Hancock Observatory http://www.hancock-observatory.com/ was next...we checked out the city lights at night...it was beautiful. To finish out the night we ate dessert at the Cheesecake Factory. http://www.thecheesecakefactory.com/ Yum!

Chicago here we come! (ready or not!)

Well, I'm really excited about leaving for Chicago tomorrow! No Oprah tickets :-( but definitely lots of St. Patrick's Day festivities. :-) http://www.chicagostpatsparade.com/

Chicago Forecast:
Fri48°F 31°F
Sat39°F 25°F
Sun38°F 27°F

Maybe next year we'll do St. Paddy's Day in Savannah!

Savannah Forecast:
Fri71°F 56°F
Sat77°F 55°F
Sun66°F 47°F

Why Savannah you ask (beside the weather)?! I've been told that it has the 2nd biggest St. Patrick's Day celebration in the United States (1st-New York City). http://savannahsaintpatricksday.com/