Outfit Details:
Jacket (purchased in Abercrombie at Water Tower Place) | Shirt | Jeans | Booties | Belt: Gucci | Sunglasses (purchased in Nordstrom at North Bridge Mall)
As I told you guys earlier this week, I spent last week in freezing cold Chicago. Although this trip was not a vacation (see this post for more deets), I wanted to create a post to tell you guys all about where I stayed, what I ate, and what touristy things I got to do while I was there.
First lets talk about where I stayed:
The Claridge House
We stayed in The Claridge House Hotel. This hotel was super affordable and I think the cost was so low because of the time of year we went. My husband and I played with the dates a little to see if the hotel’s prices went up during the warmer months and they definitely did so we lucked up with the price that we payed (especially with it being so last minute!). The hotel wasn’t too far from the North Bridge Mall or Water Tower Place which are great shopping destinations. I personally liked North Bridge Mall better because they had a Nordstrom and street access to other stores like Sephora, Levi’s, and Burberry. There was also a Walgreens within walking distance of the hotel which as perfect for running and grabbing those small last minute things that almost everyone forgets or runs out of on trips. Overall the hotel was pretty nice and the room was a perfect fit for the two of us. The hotel also had a restaurant which we never went to because we ordered all of our food through door dash. The hotel also had a bar but we did not sit and have a drink there. Instead, we had a drink at the Nordstrom in North Bridge Mall. The bar is located on the mens floor and is called Habitant. We each had a drink called the Vine Street which was really good. If you have a chance to stop by the bar, you haveee to try that drink (as long as you’re of age of course!).
What We Ate:
We didn’t do much going out to eat as we were both pretty physically and emotionally drained at the end of each day. However, we still really wanted to try and experience as much of Chicago as possible so we ate at a few of the top places on door dash.
Do-Rite Donuts
This was our favorite place to eat while in Chicago! We literally ordered this every morning before heading out for the day. Our favorite breakfast sandwich was the Applewood Smoked Bacon Sandwich. This sandwich has bacon, scrambled egg, tomato, cheddar cheese, and mayo on a brioche bun. Literally the most delicious breakfast sandwich I have ever had. We also ordered an old fashioned donut each morning. These are freshly made everyday and they are sooooo good. Darion (my husband) is a heavy coffee drinker so he had an Iced Nutella with cream and sugar every morning. Honestly, if I was not allergic to hazelnuts I would have went for it. It looked really smooth and delicious. We ordered lunch here one of the days too and it equally as delicious as the breakfast! If you are in Chicago for even a day I would for sure suggest stopping in and grabbing a bite to eat here (I would even choose this place over the Chicago classic places TBH!)
Wow Bao
This place is super unique and when you go into one you will feel like you are in another world. When you go in to a wow bao (or at least the one we went to which was within walking distance of our hotel) there are no workers. Well none that you can see (lol!). You order your food on an iPad and then your food is prepare and placed in a glass box for you to grab. I will place a picture down below for you guys to see what I’m talking about. Now for the food! For starters, bao is a bread-like dumpling. The dumpling is not fried or baked but steamed. This was my first time trying this form of bao and I must say I am so sad that there are no wow bao’s here in Charlotte. We ordered a total of six baos. The bao’s we had were stuffed with BBQ Berkshire pork, Spicy Mongolian Beef, and Orange Chicken. They were really good but a little skimpy on the protein is we are being honest. We also go teriyaki bowls and two chocolate bao’s for dessert. The bowls were also a little skimpy on the protein for my liking but the chocolate bao’s were literally over flowing with chocolate which was good!
Giordano’s
We ordered our Valentine’s Day meal from here. We ordered a heart shaped deep dish pizza which had to weigh at least 10 lbs. I have never had a Chicago style pizza and that will probably be my last time eating one. It was really good but I much prefer NY Style Pizza. (Sorry Chicago! 🙂 )
Portillio’s
Along with Giordano’s, this place is another Chicago delicacy. Here we ordered our Chicago Style Hot Dogs which were amazing! I love hot dogs so this place really spoke to my heart. I ordered to Chicago style dogs, onion rings, and a vanilla malt milkshake. All of these items were winners! Darion ordered a chili cheese dog, onion rings, and a chocolate cake milkshake. He did not speak until he was completely done with his mean so I would assume that this means it was delicious!
DMK Burger Bar
We ordered this when we first check in to the hotel. I did not enjoy my meal from here but Darion said he really liked his food. He got the #6. This was a chorizo burger with guacamole , Sonoma Jack, and chipotle aioli.
P.F Changs
We find one of these in every city we visit! This is our favorite restaurant (haha!). As usual, we ordered the Mongolian Beef and rice. You can’t go wrong with that.
Sprinkles Cupcake ATM
I have been itching to go to one of these ever since I heard that one existed. I actually had no clue that Chicago had one until it popped up on my feed on door dash. The cupcake ATM experience is pretty cool and would have probably been even more fun if it wasn’t freezing cold when we went! The cupcakes were sooooo good. We got a bunch of different flavors and there was not a flavor that we got that we didn’t like.
We tried:
Chocolate Marshmallow
Vanilla
Strawberry (Darion’s Favorite)
Sprinkles (My Favorite)
Milk Chocolate
Peanut Butter Chocolate
Red Velvet
What We Did:
Willis Tower (Formerly the Sears Tower)
This was the only thing that I really wanted to do. I am incredibly afraid of heights so I just knew I would chicken out when it was time to go on the ledge but I did it! We went on a Friday so it wasn’t crazy busy. The only down side is that you only get 60 seconds to take pictures while you are on the ledge if you are in a group of 3 or less.
Navy Pier
We literally only went here for the popcorn. I wanted to just order the popcorn on door dash but Darion insisted that we go to navy pier to get the authentic experience. The place was super crowded which a little overwhelming but if you have small children, they would have a blast here because it seemed like there was plenty to do with small children.
The Chicago Bean
Of course we could not leave without getting at least one pic here! We went when the sun was down so it wasn’t too crowded.
North Bridge Mall
This was my favorite mall because it had a Nordstrom and street access to a ton of other stores including Sephora. The Nordstrom also had a lounge and bar area in the middle of the mens sections on the second floor (if think it’s the second floor). The drink I had was called the Vine Street and it was delicious.
Water Tower Place
This mall was okay but not my favorite place. The upside about this mall is that it did have a Riley Rose which I have never been in to. I really wish we had one of these here in Charlotte because of the variety of different makeup brands that this store has. I ended up getting some lashes from here that one of the sales associates in Abercrombie recommended to me. They are called Lash Pop Lashes. I only got one pair of lashes because I wanted to try them out first before I bought a bunch of them. Once I wear them a few times, I will let you guys know how I like them!
-XO, Elle
