Just Another Weekend In Chicago

I titled today's post, "Just Another Weekend in Chicago," because I feel like we are here all the time these days. Haha. We are just under 3 hours from the city, so it's not too far, and it's one of our favorite cities because there's just so much to do here.

Last week, we spent a couple of nights here on our way back from our Michigan vacation. We actually stayed here because we were attending the Third Eye Blind concert Thursday night. They are one of my favorite bands, so I was so excited to finally see them for the first time!

We stayed at the Congress Plaza hotel again, and this time our room was even better than the first time we stayed here. We had a lake view, which was awesome.

Our room even seemed bigger, even though it was only a standard room. It was a bit noisier with the traffic right outside, but the view of Grant Park, the lake, and even Navy Pier in the distance was totally worth it.

Plus, it looked even better at night. Amazing view!

The Taste of Chicago was going on right across the street in Grant Park, too, so we could hear music from that, and we walked through it on our way to the concert Thursday night. You could buy tokens to try some of the local food from the vendors who were there, but we didn't partake in the food since we didn't have much time.

We did eat at Italian Village on Wednesday night after we arrived in the city.

It had been a long time since we first ate here. Actually, it was back in 2010 on my 22nd birthday to be exact! So it was nice to finally come back to this place. The atmosphere and food is a little like Olive Garden, but 100 times better.

It's more authentic Italian, and the food and wine we got were all great.

The next day, we went to North Avenue Beach on Lake Michigan. I had always wanted to go to the beach here. It was a fairly hot day, a little breezy, but the sun felt good! We layed out for a while, and Trent went in the water. I waded for a few minutes, but the water was freezing!

After getting a pretty good sunburn (haha), we ate at a restaurant at the beach called Castaways.

The building is shaped like a huge boat, and we sat on top and had a great view of the entire beach.

I got a Pina Colada which was pretty yummy. It kind of felt like we were back in Jamaica. It was so nice to have a day to relax at a beach after an eventful vacation!

That night, sun burns and all, we went to the Third Eye Blind concert at the Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island. They were just as amazing live as I had imagined!

It was literally a nineties music dream come true.

After the concert, we had a great view walking off Northerly Island. I mean, Chicago, could you get any prettier?

We had to do a selfie in front of the lake and night skyline. It was such a perfect ending to a great night!

The next day, we drove home but stopped at a couple more places along the way. First, the Fashion Outlets of Chicago, which is a pretty awesome mall, though we just ate there and didn't buy anything. And then to Haley and Dan's again for another quick visit.

We got home on Friday night, and while it was so nice to be home, we were sad that it was the end of our 4th of July vacation. It's been back to reality and work for us this week! I'm sure there will be many more fun vacations and trips to come, though. ;)

Lighthouses We've Visited

Happy Travel Tuesday, everyone. If you've ever seen a lighthouse in person, you know how amazing they can be! They are such cool structures, and being by the water, they also make for some pretty scenery and beautiful photographs.

During our recent Michigan vacation, Trent and I added a few new lighthouses to the list of those we've seen together.

So I decided to gather some photos we've taken over the years of different lighthouses and put together this list of those we've seen during our travels so far. You know I love a good list! :)

It's not a lot, but after I started looking through old photos to gather them all together, I realized it's more than I thought it would be!

I've listed each lighthouse we've seen below and their locations. You can click on some of the names for a link with more information about it.

Kenosha North Pier Lighthouse (Kenosha, Wisconsin)

We have been to this lighthouse twice - once in the winter, and once in the summer. It's located in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Lake Michigan. 

It was a much drearier day when we visited in the winter, but was cool to see in either season.

Chicago Harbor Light (Chicago, IL)

We've seen this lighthouse from a distance other times, but the closest we got was on a boat ride on Lake Michigan while visiting Chicago back in 2009.

I almost forgot about this lighthouse, it's been so long! I think it's so cool looking, though!


Bodie Island Lighthouse (Nags Head, NC)

The Bodie Island Lighthouse was actually in the middle of being repaired and restored when we visited in 2012. So unfortunately, we didn't get to see the lighthouse in all its glory.

This is apparently what it normally looks like (from here):

Much better and more magnificent finished and without the scaffolding surrounding it!

Ocracoke Lighthouse (Ocracoke Island, NC)

Ocracoke Island was one of our favorite places we've ever visited, off the coast of North Carolina.

If you travel to the Outer Banks, I highly recommend driving all the way down and taking the ferry to Ocracoke, where you can see this awesome structure. (And many more cool things!)

Clinton Lighthouse (Clinton, Iowa)

This is another lighthouse that I actually almost forgot about, because it has been so long since we've been here. It's unique because it's located in Iowa on the Mississippi River, not on a major lake or an ocean. It's one of the few that are pretty close to home for us.

Muskegon Pier Light (Muskegon, Michigan)

This is the first lighthouse we saw on our Michigan trip last week. It's along the coast of Lake Michigan, and was on our way up to Traverse City, so we decided to stop.

It was perfect timing, because the sun was setting while we were there, which made for a pretty gorgeous backdrop.

Wawatam Lighthouse (St. Ignace, Michigan)

This was another short stop on our trip. We stayed in St. Ignace (in the Mackinaw City area), just over the Mackinac Bridge. We first saw the lighthouse from our ferry to Mackinac island, then decided to stop before we left the area.

Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse (Mackinaw City, Michigan)

This lighthouse is located in Mackinaw City, Michigan. You can pay to go inside and go up to the top, but we decided not to, since we didn't have much time.

So we just walked around and admired the lighthouse and its cool structure.

And that concludes the list of lighthouses we've seen up close on our trips so far. Hopefully, we'll see more in the future! They always make for some pretty cool sights to see, and great photographs as well.

Part 2 of our Michigan Vacation

As you probably know, we visited Michigan last week, and I shared Part 1 of our vacation here.

Now it's time for Part 2! From Traverse City, we headed northeast to Mackinaw City, Michigan. It's a historic lakefront town, which had a lot of nice little shops and places to eat. We stopped here in the afternoon on our way to our hotel in the Upper Peninsula.

We saw the Old Mackinac Lighthouse, and then walked around and ate lunch at a restaurant called The Historic Depot. We ate outside on the patio, and I had a flatbread pizza there which was really good.

We then crossed the Mackinac Bridge, or the "Mighty Mac", into the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It's one of the longest suspension bridges in the world.

Our hotel was the Breakers Resort Lakeside in Saint Ignace. It was nice, and we had a balcony with a small beach out front and a view of the lake.

After we were checked into our hotel, we drove up to Canada to spend a few hours there in the evening. Trent had never been to Canada before, so it was his first time crossing the border! We explored the city of Sault Sainte Marie, Ontario.

There was a nice boardwalk there along the St. Mary's River, so we walked down it, all the way past the canal and explored some of the wildlife areas around the river.

We reached St. Mary's Island, which has a fish preservation area, where you can walk over a bridge and are surrounded by wildlife, including tons of ducks, geese, and birds. It's quiet there; all you hear are the sounds of nature, from birds chirping to ducks swimming the water. It was pretty cool. 

We walked back and went to a mall there where we bought a few Canada souvenirs, then we ate dinner outside on a patio at a hotel restaurant on the water called Fluid.

The view was great, and drinks and food were good, but it got chillier as it got later into the evening. We had jackets on, but I was still wearing shorts. It sure got cold at night in northern Michigan and Canada!

The next day was the Fourth of July, and we spent most of the day at Mackinac Island. We took the Star Line ferry there from St. Ignace.

The ferry ride was nice, but very chilly! I was wishing I had brought a jacket or a hoodie with me, but I didn't want to carry one around on the island, so I opted not to. It was an overall nice day, probably upper seventies and sunny. But the wind from the ferry ride got a little intense at times.

We rode under the Mackinac bridge, which takes a little longer, but was kind of interesting. They tell you a little history about the bridge as you are going under it.

When you get onto the island, it's kind of like a whole other world. It's the perfect escape from your normal life, so it was a great way to spend the holiday.

There are no cars on the island, so you have to travel either on foot, horse and carriage, or ride a bicycle. 

They have plenty of places where you can rent a bicycle for the day, or you can pay to take a carriage ride. We chose to walk around the island at our own pace, but if we ever go again, I'd definitely like to try the bike or carriage rides at least once.

The views on the island are absolutely gorgeous. Everything is just so pretty, from the shores of Lake Huron to the beautiful flowers everywhere.

We ate lunch at The Pink Pony, which I definitely recommend. Instead of waiting for a table, we just opted to eat at the bar, which was faster, and we still had a great view of the water. I got a lilac lemonade, which was strong, but really tasty.

One place we walked to was Arch Rock, which was located in the Mackinac Island State Park.

The whole area there was so pretty, that it felt like we were on a tropical island.

Arch Rock is a natural rock formation that was so cool to see in person.

There are so many gift shops, and little fudge and ice cream shops on the island too, so we explored the downtown area and had some ice cream to cool off after walking through the State park area.

We also saw The Grand Hotel, which is a historic and elegant hotel that you can still stay at. We didn't go inside, but just exploring the grounds was pretty cool.

It was decorated with several flags out front, so it seemed like a perfect spot to spend some time on the Fourth, and take a few photos!

We took the ferry back to St. Ignace at the end of the day, but were already missing the island and didn't want to leave! It was probably my favorite part of the entire trip.

We had a great view of the St. Ignace lighthouse when we returned. It's such a pretty area around here. The night of the Fourth, we stayed at our hotel, ordered pizza, and watched some fireworks from our private beach area.

Most of the fireworks we saw were just above the trees, but people also shot off their own, and the finale was pretty cool. It was a nice, low-key end to our Michigan trip!

It was so fun exploring Michigan, but I wish we had more time! I would have loved to spend more time at the beaches and stop at more lighthouses. Maybe in the future we'll come back again.

On the way back down from the Upper Peninsula, we stopped at a couple of other places that I'll blog about soon. We also spent the last couple of days of our vacation in Chicago. I'll have a post about that, too. 

I have a couple of other fun travel-related posts in the works, too which I'll share in the next few days! This week will be ALL about travel, since that's the kind of mood I'm in right now. :) Sound good? 

Hope you all had a great Fourth. We had a great vacation and holiday, but it's back to work for me today. Will share more soon! :)