March - Chicago

For Christmas, I surprised Alison with a quick trip to Chicago.  

We arrived around midnight and took the train to our hotel.

Our first stop the next morning was for some deep dish pizza at Giordano's.  Every once in a while I'll get a craving for some deep dish pizza and I'm not aware of anywhere in Utah that can satisfy.  Maybe I'll have to have some shipped to me sometime...

Next stop was the Museum of Science and Industry in Jackson Park. This is where the 1893 Columbian Exposition (i.e. World's Fair) was held and is the subject of the book The Devil in the White City.  on the South Side.  This fair was the first time that electric lights were used in grand fashion, the first Ferris Wheel and more than 200 buildings were built to house the exhibitions.  Only two buildings are still standing, one of them being the Palace of Fine Arts where the Science Museum is now housed.

We caught a bus back downtown and stopped at The  Art Institute of Chicago (which incidentally is the second remaining building from the Columbian Exposition). Anybody who has read this blog for very long knows that we are big fans of going to art museums.

I love admiring the Monets.

Alison and The Drinkers (by Van Gogh).

Georges Seurat - A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.

We met Ben and Jenn Iverson for dinner at The Gage, right across from The Art Institute.  Somehow, we didn't end up with any pictures of them on our double date.

And after dinner was the highlight of the trip, Hamiton at the PrivateBank Theater along with the Iversons.  We were ecstatic!

The show was as fantastic as you probably imagine.  I've listened to the soundtrack dozens of times, but there were still a bunch of surprises and I just love how the story fell into place.

The next morning while Alison slept, I went on a mission to find some donuts for breakfast.  First stop was Stan's Donuts.

Next was Firecakes.

And last was Glazed and Infused.

We stayed at the new Virgin Hotel Chicago and we appreciated our guard dog.

Breakfast of champions.  I don't remember which place was the best, so we'll just have to try them all again next time we're in Chicago.

Our last event was an architectural river cruise.  It was great.

We had a few minutes to spare before we needed to leave for the airport, so we stopped by Good Stuff Eatery to grab a couple of burgers.  Good Stuff.

Such a lovely time with my lovely wife Alison (and great company at Hamilton as well).  We make good traveling partners.