Short But Fun Weekend in Chicago

Hello everyone! It's time for our Chicago trip recap, as promised. We went up to Chicago on Saturday and came back Sunday afternoon. It's just a few hours drive for us, but we don't get up there too much, so it was nice to get away for a couple of days.

We actually went to see the Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds concert on Saturday night. They played at the Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island. It's a pretty cool venue, but I'll get to that in a moment!

First, let's talk about our hotel. We stayed at the Congress, which is close to Millennium Park and Lake Michigan, and best of all, was within walking distance of the concert venue which was super convenient.

This was our room..Isn't it cute? I loved the bed pillows and airy curtains.

The room was comfortable and charming, and you could tell the building was pretty old (and huge!), but also historic at the same time. Apparently a lot of U.S. Presidents have stayed here in its day, though I'm sure they stayed in nice suites, not a simple room like ours. :)

We will be back here again for a concert next month and will be staying at the same hotel, so it was nice to get a feel for it now, so we know what to expect when we're here again in July.

After we checked into the hotel on Saturday, we headed out and walked around town, looking for a good place to eat. Well, the place we wanted to eat at, called Cindy's (it looked pretty awesome inside and has rooftop seating), was super crowded with a long wait, so we decided to just walk to the lake and see what we found along the way.

It was a nice day, pretty hot but with a nice breeze! The lake made for a nice view, though. We walked through a couple of parks first, and we just ended up eating at a little food vendor by the lake that had hotdogs and nachos and some other refreshments. As long as we had food in our stomachs before the concert and plenty of water, we were satisfied!

It felt good to be back in Chicago again. It had been a while since we actually had some time to walk around and explore a little of the city.

We watched the geese swimming for a little while, then made our way down to Northerly Island, which is where the concert venue is. It's actually a little peninsula that juts out into Lake Michigan, near the Shedd Aquarium and the Adler Planetarium. Here's a map for your reference:

It was our first time seeing a concert here, and our first time seeing just a Dave and Tim show, and we were actually really impressed. Not only was the area around it really pretty and nice (can't beat both lake and skyline views), but we had a great time overall.

We sat near the back floor sections, so weren't super close, but we had a good view of Dave and Tim on the screen. And once it cooled down at night, it was much more comfortable! I think it was in the lower nineties all day, so we were pretty hot at first.

Can't beat good music and good views, though! Seriously, I'm pretty sure this is close to what heaven is like: The sun setting over the Chicago skyline, Dave Matthews playing in front of you, and a cold drink in your hand.

Here's a wider shot of our concert view:

This was our 9th Dave show together, and the acoustic set with Tim was amazing. We can't wait to see Third Eye Blind here next month. I'm sooo excited for that one!

The next day, we headed home, but not before stopping in Geneva and eating brunch at Buttermilk. Our second time there. I'm still thinking about those pancakes...highly recommend!

And of course, we also stopped at my sister Haley and brother in law, Dan's house there to pay them a visit!

Overall a good weekend in Chicago, although as always, too short. Back to reality for us this week.. Until next time!