Usually I’m the throw a toothbrush and underwear in a bag and go kind of girl, but this little trip had me stressed. The planning part took way longer than it should have, I think because Chicago is so expensive. It took me a few days to get over the sticker shock of hotel room costs (for those prices, they should include a foot rub and a tuck each night) but once I came to terms with the fact that we weren’t going to get off cheap, I started to focus on the fun.

That picture up there is of a room in the hotel I picked for us. Unless we get miraculously upgraded ours won’t look much like that, but I love the decor and the view and it’s fun to daydream for a minute. As a family, we narrowed down what things we want to see (because we don’t want to spend the whole time racing around) and this is our list:

  • Navy Pier
  • Field Museum
  • Aquarium
  • American Girl Place
  • the beach
  • shopping the Magnificent Mile
  • Chinatown

If there’s anything that you think we must see, or any travel tips for getting around, please comment… I’d love to hear your thoughts. I haven’t been to Chicago in probably 15 years, and I’m guessing a few things have changed. For one thing, apparently spray painting graffiti is old school and yarn-based tagging is now the way to go:


Check out the Micro-Fiber Militia for some fun examples; thanks to Linn for the link.

We’re going to take Cheese along with us to Chicago, too. He’s never been to a big city (and he also likes to get into mischief) so my daughter decided to make him a leash. If my husband doesn’t die of embarrassment, I’ll have a few pics of Cheese taking in the sights when I return.

We don’t leave ’till next week, so I’ll be blogging through the weekend. I hope to get around to catch up with all of yours, too… I’ve still got several hundred unread posts in my Google reader. Happy Thursday!