This year, Drew and I decided to make a vacation out of our trip to Chicago for one of our good friends wedding. We spent 7 full days in Chicago and we had a BLAST! It was great because for the first half of the vacation, we got to hang out with a bunch of our college friends and p-a-r-t-y :) and then relax and have several days just Drew and I. The other great part of our trip was that we spent the first three nights right on Michigan Avenue (AKA: The Magnificent Mile) and then Trey and Liz were nice enough to let us stay at their apartment while they were on their honeymoon. So we truly got the Chicago experience including walking the neighborhood, eating at the local restaurants, and learning to take the "L" Train around town. By the time we left, we even had people asking US for directions on the street - we must have looked like we lived there!
Below is a break down of our trip - keep in mind I took over 100 pictures, so while this post may seem long, I think I kept it brief. Enjoy!
Thursday: We got in town around noon on Thursday and hung around downtown that afternoon before heading to the Lincoln Park area for a 'Welcome to Chicago' get-together hosted by Trey and Liz's families. Everyone went to the couple's favorite bar and had drinks and appetizers. After the get-together Trey took us around to some of their favorite party spots. It was nice to just relax with everyone in town before all the craziness that comes along with a wedding weekend.
Us with Trey and Liz:
What is really cool about this couple is Trey is from Arkansas and Liz is from Alabama but they didn't meet until they were in Chicago! When Trey called Drew to tell him that he had met this girl, He says, "no, it's ok Drew, she is a southern girl." haha!
Some pics from our night out:
Friday: This was the day before the wedding so Drew was off with the other groomsmen doing pre-wedding stuff so I got to hang out and sight see with the other girls in town. The rehearsal dinner was that evening at this really great Italian restaurant.
Saturday: The big day! The wedding was that evening and the reception was O, on a yacht! It was something out of a movie with a four story boat, dancing on the top floor, and great food and drinks! Needless to say, we had such a good time!
This is a little out of order, but this is the entrance to the Navy Pier which is where the boat took off from:
Sunday: I had bought tickets to take an architecture tour of the city Sunday morning with some of our friends before everyone headed home. Ok, let me paint the picture, the wedding was the night before which consisted of the wedding, reception, and then some after-partying. I think we got to bed at 4 a.m. and the tour was at 10 a.m.! Not exactly our BEST idea but once we got checked out of the hotel and got on the boat, it actually ended up being a really nice tour and the morning was sunny and cool, so it was perfect! I know these pictures just look like a lot of buildings but the city is absolutely beautiful and the history is amazing! Of course, I couldn't tell you anything about these buildings now! haha.
Sunday afternoon after our friends had left town, we walked down to Millennium Park and even saw the bean!
Sunday evening, we got settled into Trey and Liz's apartment, took a long nap, and headed out to dinner. We ate at this cute Italian restaurant where they make their own pasta! So good and a nice low key dinner after a crazy weekend.
Sunday: I had bought tickets to take an architecture tour of the city Sunday morning with some of our friends before everyone headed home. Ok, let me paint the picture, the wedding was the night before which consisted of the wedding, reception, and then some after-partying. I think we got to bed at 4 a.m. and the tour was at 10 a.m.! Not exactly our BEST idea but once we got checked out of the hotel and got on the boat, it actually ended up being a really nice tour and the morning was sunny and cool, so it was perfect! I know these pictures just look like a lot of buildings but the city is absolutely beautiful and the history is amazing! Of course, I couldn't tell you anything about these buildings now! haha.
Sunday afternoon after our friends had left town, we walked down to Millennium Park and even saw the bean! 
Sunday evening, we got settled into Trey and Liz's apartment, took a long nap, and headed out to dinner. We ate at this cute Italian restaurant where they make their own pasta! So good and a nice low key dinner after a crazy weekend.
Monday: We slept in Monday morning and went to Taste of Chicago for lunch. Taste of Chicago is a food festival that was being held for several weeks in June/July. It was fun to walk around and taste all of the Chicago food.
We spent the rest of the day sight seeing and went out for a nice dinner that evening.
Tuesday: This was probably one of my favorite days because we went to a Cubs game! Forget the minor leagues, the atmosphere of a major league game is just so fun and exciting! Let's be honest, the Cubs aren't exactly the best team or anything, but Wrigley Field was full to the brim and everyone was so in to the game! One of the other groomsmen knew someone with season tickets so our seats were so good which made the evening that much better!
I like this picture, because one of the coaches was getting into it with the umpire!
The field is in the middle of the city so there are these apartments/townhouses around the stadium where the roof has bleachers that you can buy tickets for and watch the game without actually buying tickets to the game.
Wednesday: Our flight wasn't until 7:00 that evening so we spent the day doing some additional sightseeing. We had such a wonderful vacation and I am pretty sure this won't be our last trip to Chicago! Before, I end my post, I wanted to put some of the restaurants we ate at and sights we saw while we were on our vacation. If anyone is planning a trip to Chicago, I would highly recommend trying out these places!
Chicago Restaurant Recommendations:
Pasta Palazzo (homemade pasta)
Taco Joint
Hugo's Frog Bar (seafood)
Lucky's (in 'Wrigleyville' and was host to Man vs. Food)
Pizzeria Uno
Toast (breakfast)
Chicago Sight Seeing Recommendations:
Navy Pier
Sears Tower (now Willis Tower)
Hancock Tower (can go to the top floor for free! - 90 something floors)
Shedd Aquarium
Field Museum
Wrigleyville (area around Wrigley Field)
Chicago Architecture Foundation River Cruise
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