44.5/52: Girl's Trip to Chicago, Part II

 Over looking Chicago River

After two days of meetings in Chicago, Chick and I walked from our hotel to Chicago's Union Station for our 2:15 departure aboard the Amtrak Empire Builder last Monday.

We found the most perfect place for lunch, Townhouse Wine Bar before the train departed.  

It was so nice to relax, enjoy a Chardonnay and some shrimp tacos and say a proper goodbye to Chicago!

Chicago Union Station is absolutely gorgeous!  I am glad that Chick had time to see the architecture and hang out in the Metropolitan Lounge before boarding.

The Empire Builder is an interesting train and I've taken it from Portland to Chicago, but not west...so even though the route was not new to me, I knew that it would still be enjoyable.

Along the way, we pass through rural America.....Milwaukee, WI....Winona, MI....Fargo, ND....Minot, ND.....Wolf Point, MT....Glacier National Park, MT........Spokane, WA.....White-Salmon, WA and on into Portland, OR.

The funnest thing was Chick's experience on board.  Everything from the introduction to our roomette to our first dinner was good for a laugh!!  We both had a wonderful trip!

We enjoyed a bottle of wine in our room before dinner, and opted for a dinner reservation after sunset.  We passed the suburbs of Chicago and finally over into Wisconsin.  

There isn't much to "do" on the train, but there is a lot to see (and eat).  

Despite not sleeping much that first night, neither one of us wanted to miss the sights of America from the train.  We played cards, drank Bloody Mary's and ate three meals a day!

Before we knew it, we were in Washington and soon to cross the Columbia River into Oregon.

Columbia River Gorge

It took us 50 hours and 23 minutes to go from Chicago to Portland (and we ended up being 4 hours and 4 minutes late).

We were EXHAUSTED, but what a fun adventure!

Enjoy!
Stacy

44/52: Girl's Trip to Chicago, Part I

Chicago River

This time, it was Chick's turn to take a train trip with me.

Last week was my fall meeting in Chicago and it gave us the opportunity to spend one afternoon in the city (I had two and a half days of meetings) then it was all aboard westbound on the Empire Builder for Portland.

Friday we flew into Chicago to begin our adventure...plus our weather could not have been better (upper 60's and sunny). We packed at least two days worth of eating, drinking and sightseeing into 6 or 7 hours!

Cloud Gate

First stop, Millennium Park. 

We walked past Cloud Gate, a sculpture by Indian-born British artist, Anish Kapoor.  It's actually nicknamed the bean because of it's legume-like shape.  It's made up of 168 stainless steel plates welded together, it's highly polished exterior has no visible seems.

I would have loved to explore the entire park, but we had 3:30 reservations for a river cruise so we snapped as many pictures as we could and kept walking!

We then continued to walk down Michigan Avenue and found the Chicago Architecture Boat Tour aboard Chicago's First Lady.

The boat accommodates up to 250 people and they run tours daily that last about 90 minutes. The First Lady is the official cruise line of the Chicago Architectural Foundation.  

The river cruise highlights more than 50 architecturally significant buildings and is led by passionate volunteer docents from the foundation.

 Wrigley Building

The tour was awesome and I would highly recommend it for any visitor to the city.  I had no idea of the architectural significance of some of Chicago's buildings including the Wrigley Building, Chicago Tribune and the NBC Tower.

The Bridge House Tavern with outdoor bar right on the Chicago River

As we cruised along the Chicago River, I spotted the Bridge House Tavern, which I had researched as a spot for us to grab Happy Hour on Friday.

After the tour, we walked across the river and had an amazing dinner and shared a bottle of wine.  It was just the most perfect spot along the river (and an amazing 67 degree day in Chicago).


For dinner we enjoyed.....

 Charcuterie - cured meats, house pickles, stone ground mustard, sun-dried tomatoes, sweet peppers and toasted ciabatta ($18)

Tavern  Oysters Rockefeller - 5 Blue Point Oysters, spinach de-glazed in tequila, apricot fennel breadcrumbs, melted brie, bacon and Bearnaise sauce ($17)

 
A full Friday in Chicago, but well worth it!  

The rest of the weekend was spent working, but we both still managed to have fun.

On Saturday morning, Sandra toured the Willis Tower. 

On Saturday, I had a hard hat tour on the Amtrak train yards.

We met up for dinner on Saturday night and found the most perfect place to watch the World Series Game at American Junkie.  

Great food and a wonderful atmosphere.

Sunday was a 13+ hour day of work for me and shopping and lunching along the Magnificient Mile for Chick!

Monday began our train adventure home!  More to follow......

Enjoy!
Stacy

43/52: Chicago

 This is just a sneak peak at our wonderful adventure to Chicago.

Chicago River - Heading to lunch

Union Station - Chicago

Hard Hat Tour!

We are home now and I am sorting through pictures and video.

Enjoy!
Stacy