constance

We ate lots of food. Drank lots of wine. And laughed a lot. Just like all Thanksgiving’s really. But this year was SO mild. We were out in t-shirts and just like... too warm. 

One thing that’s changed this year is that we now have an iPad. We have Netflix on the iPad. We can download stuff to bring with us to the cottage. See where this is going? We didn’t waste any of our days though. We still went hiking and paddling and I read The Illustrated Man and got Colin to FINALLY start on The Shining (fun fact: my favourite book). But at night. That’s when we got sucked into the vortex that is Netflix and ended up watching The Good Place and Big Mouth until the wee hours of the morning. Oh well! Another Thanksgiving in the books. 

Oh yeah, look at what a little cottage adventure dog Parker has become this year. Chipmunk hunting for hours on end and just being generally fearless and adorable. He usually needs a couple days to recuperate when we get back home.

We checked in early morning on our first day there (Saturday September 16th) and didn’t waste much time. We left the hotel and wandered around until we found a good spot for breakfast and an multiple early afternoon cocktails. The food at Beatrix in River North was shockingly great for what I expected to be a tourist trap neighbourhood, and there was a great little cafe with delicious treats. 

Later that night we hit up Riotfest. We spent the night drinking beers, eating footlong corndogs (okay, just one each... although if it was socially acceptable I might have double fisted them), and listening to some great music. We made it in time for most of the shows I was excited to see, so that was pretty great. Overall a pretty cool festival. Finding an uber/lyft to get us out of there was kind of a nightmare, but who cares. We had nowhere else to be!

Day two we played tourist at Navy Pier before heading to a Cubs game at none other than Wrigley Field! What an amazing place. The home team won in a seriously great game! 

We took a stroll though Linkin Park area and eventually found our way to dinner at The Publican. Honestly, if this place existed at home, I would be broke all the time. The food was outstanding and they have a beer selection that rivals most I’ve seen. It was a beautiful night and we were able to sit comfortably on the patio. Amazing service and food so good barely any photos exist, that’s how desirable it was (and that’s serrrrriosuly saying something). It’s the little things that show the quality of a place. We had an heirloom tomato salad (plate one of 5 [yes, we’re gluttonous]) and can confidently say that they were the best tomatoes I’ve ever eaten. Tomatoes. A stand out dish. See that I mean? Amazing. I cannot recommend this place enough.

Continuing our tradition of hungover touring, we spent the following day in the city making the most of the beautiful weather. We started our day at Portillo’s Hot Dogs. Because we were in Chicago and we have our priorities in check!

We went to Millennium Park and saw The Bean (because you have to, and it was super cool). A must do is an architectural boat cruise. What better way to see the remarkable buildings in Chicago than form the river that runs right through it. We booked with Chicago Line Cruises and had a great experience. The cruise was just over an hour on a smaller boat than the others we saw, which was nice to be not packed in with dozens of other people. They provide refreshments (which went a  long way on such a hot day), and our guide was extremely knowledgeable. I learnt a lot about the history and architecture in the city and it was just overall a great way to spend a day.

We grabbed cocktails and some snacks at a place right on the Riverwalk and just enjoyed being in a new place. 

Late that night we went to The Aviary 

Where cocktails and service are given the same attention to detail as a four-star restaurant; where bartenders are trained as chefs; where the produce and herbs are carefully sourced and procured fresh daily; where the name and branding of the spirit mixed is less important than its actual flavor; where drinks are made quickly and consistently in a state-of-the-art drink kitchen; where innovation and tradition are both honored.

for a five course cocktail progression paired with small bites. This should honestly be a blog post of it’s own because I could go on and on about it, but for now, let me quickly gush. So we of course dreamed of visiting Alinea while there, but since this was a kind of last minute plan, funds were not in order to do so. We at least wanted to get to one of Grant Achatz’s restaurants; something in The Alinea group. Being fans of the drink, we thought The Aviary would be a good choice. We were not ready for the magic that it was. Seriously, click on the link for the restaurant. Look at those cocktails. Everything was so interactive. The service was impeccable. The cocktails were beyond amazing. The food was great. We were there for just over two hours and left feeling prettttty great. 

Okay continuing in the theme of amazing restaurants: Au Cheval! Best burger in America? Can confirm. Seriously, I am totally ruined for any future burgers. I know you’re thinking “It’s a burger. What could be so great about it? ... It’s a burger” It is a burger... but it’s everything you’d ever want in a burger in the most perfect bun with the most perfect combination and amount of condiments. I got, and subsequently crushed, a double cheeseburger. Colin had a single with bacon. We shared crispy fries with mornay sauce, garlic aioli & fried farm egg. And drool just hit my keyboard.  

Looks like any other burger, right? WRONG! Just... oh my god. If you are ever in Chicago you MUST go here. You must go, enjoy a burger, and thank me later. I will accept thank you gifts in the form of a double cheeseburger from Au Cheval.

We had a super early flight on Wednesday so we took the day easy. We tried to walk off the burgers and come out of our food comas. We went to The Skydeck and walked out to the ledge. Which, I will admit, made me a little more uneasy than I thought it would. We went to the Buckingham Fountain, which was quite spectacular. We hung out in some parks, went exploring, and tried to come to terms with the fact that we’d be leaving soon.

We spent our last night getting tipsy at Timothy O’Toole’s Pub within stumbling distance of our hotel. We had some wings and nacho’s, and made sure to drink enough beer to put us out early for the night so we could *tears* get up early to *tears* leave.