LianneFARBES

When I found out that I was going to Chicago to host an event, I actually got excited.  I was raised in the mid-west and actually frequented this lovely town as a teenager.  It was the closest “big city” to St. Louis there was, so we went up for concerts etc. all the time.  As I prepared for my trip, I realized that I hadn’t been since I was 18 years old….and that was a LONG time ago!  I started to get really excited.

When I arrived after a nasty flight (long story…thank you SO much United), my friend Jack picked me up from the airport, drove me to the hotel and I checked in.  After my awful flight, I was ready for some dinner.  So we made our way over to Lincoln Park and found this little wine bar called Dunlays on Clark.  Stellar!  They had a great menu (hello….Steak Florentine!) and I made him try one of my favorite reds, Gnarly Head Old Vine Zinfandel (very peppery and jammy).  He was cautious as he thought zinfandel automatically meant the pink stuff…..yuck LOL.

As far as the hotel goes, everything was booked through Expedia so you kind of get what you get. However, this hotel was really cute!  It was called Hotel Indigo and it is a boutique property located in the Gold Coast section of town.  Pros: The rooms were large, quaint, quiet and the staff was truly helpful.  Features included, large windows (loads of natural light), hardwood floors, free wireless (very happy about that) a large closet and sitting area, AND it’s also a green hotel.  They utilize a line of eco-friendly cleaning products, a water reduction program, they offer towel changes but encourage you to use them more than once AND they have Aveda bath products.  Ask for a room on the end as they are like junior suites.  Cons: the lobby smelled like UBERvanilla (normally I love anything vanilla, but this was too much), the pillows were like rocks (hello…Fred Flintstone!) and the rooms/lobby looked like a slice of the Caribbean in the middle of cold ass Chicago (which was just weird more than anything else…LOL)

So my first full day there, I met my friend Patrice for breakfast at Yolk and had the most amazing breakfast…and the Strawberry Orange Juice – so so so good! (I need to find a way to recreate it, I’m not kidding…LOL)  As I moved around the city, it was easy to see why people loved it there,  so much history and things to do, especially for kids..  It was like New York, but friendlier (don’t get me wrong , I LOVE New York, but if you don’t know New York…. it can be intimidating.)

Chicago has Broadway theater, art museums, shopping and FANTASTIC restaurants.  There is SO much to see as well.  Amazingly, the bar at the Drake Hotel still has a dark smoky place where Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio carved their names in a heart on the bar.  Then there is the deep dish pizza, The Cubs, The Bears, Al Capone t-shirts, the Hancock Building, The Bean, The Water Tower, Wrigley Field…the list goes on and on.   There is even an over the top McDonald’s across from the Hard Rock that the locals refer to as Rock & Roll McDonald’s…..LOL!!  Also, Shopping galore (Nordstrom Rack & Filene’s Basement are right on Michigan Avenue), and then or course there is the Oprah factor.  I was in a cab and the driver practically gave me her address.…she is a Chicago institution.

All in all, a great place to visit…great food, theater, sightseeing.  And that famous wind that whips down Michigan Avenue.  Good times…can’t wait to go back.

Lianne Farbes is the Head of the US Edition of HelloCotton an online social platform for discovering and sharing women’s blog content. She also writes for several online publications, she is a Beauty Expert, Social Media enthusiast, Project Manager, Web 2.0 cheerleader and she is always online in one form or another. Follow her on Twitter @LianneFarbes, @Hellocotton and friend her through any of her social profiles here and here

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Tags: Chicago, Hotel Indigo, hotels, vacations