Chi-chi-chi-cago

I have to share that Chicago is one of my favorite cities. Although we were only in town for a little over twenty-four hours, we lived it up! This city is full of beauty, both natural and man-made. Fortunately we found this great boutique hotel that accepted dogs and even greeted Barley with a goodie bag filled with treats, doodie bags, and a toy. Way to go Kimpton! We are fans for life. After checking in we decided to grab some Chicago-style pizza at Lou Malnati's. This was Joe's first visit to Chicago, and according to him, "the first real Chicago pizza" he's ever had.  It was delicious, and even Barley found a scrap or two under the table to enjoy. At lunch we decided to make most of our short visit and signed up for an architectural tour of the city on a river boat. We dropped off the pup and headed down the river to fully enjoy the gorgeous and incredibly interesting history of Chicago's skyline. I would totally recommend anyone to do the tour when in the Windy City. When the tour wrapped up, we headed to the hotel again for the free happy hour; honestly, way to go Kimpton. Later that night we had plans to go to dinner with a dear friend from grad school, Carolyn. She suggested this place called Cafe Iberico for tapas and drinks. It was the first time she had met Joe, and I had met her significant other, Niles. Together the four of us had great conversation, delicious food, and a round or two (or three or four) of drinks. The visit with them was such a great end to our night in Chicago. We then headed back to the hotel to put on our cheetah-print robes (did I mention I loved Kimpton hotels?) and soak in the last moments before it's back to camping for the next week or so. On the way out of town we grabbed brunch and strolled by the Bean, because no trip to Chicago is complete without it!  (Side note: I write this while riding through the farmlands of Wisconsin where we just had one heck of a grilled cheese. Picture included ;)