Chicago

After spending the week in some more rural destinations, our group excitedly began the drive to Chicago. I attempted to nap on the way, knowing I'd be getting minimal sleep trying to make the most out of the three days we had to adventure there.

I hadn't gotten much sleep in the Milwaukee hotel the night before. After a long day at work, and heavy construction on the highways we didn't arrive to our hotel until 11 p.m., and pretty much every restaurant except McDonald's was closed. While attempting to use the finicky laundry machines that were probably elite in 1980, I debated if McNuggets were really necessary to my survival, or if I could get by with the apple in my purse from the hotel breakfast the morning before (the side of travel that doesn't show up on your Instagram feed, hashtag wanderlust, am I right)? Though, I'd be lying if part of my lack of sleep wasn't due to excitement for our next destination.

When my friend in the front seat who knew Chicago was one of my top cities, aggressively tapped me saying, "Look! wake up, we are here," I quickly perked up. Glancing out the window to see the skyline, I smiled, Chicago warmly welcomed us with its sunny spring day. While times like the night before had me wondering why I accepted a three month long job living in hotels, it was moments like this that quickly refreshed my memory. Unlike some of the other locations we have visited I immediately felt comfortable in Chicago. Part of that feeling may have come from the fact that we switched things up and booked a hostel as our accommodation, and as soon as we walked in I felt as though I stepped right back into Europe. Seeing the world map with travelers' messages in the breakfast den, overhearing the foreign languages at the coffee bar, and seeing the solo travelers with their backpacks in the swanky lounge was the perfect vacation from the mundane highway hotels we had been staying in the past few cities. After excitedly wandering every room and hallway of the hostel, we couldn't get out the door fast enough to explore the city which, like us seemed to be awakened and revived by the unanticipated sunshine. Everyone on the streets seemed as if they were extras in the feel-good movie of the summer.

I was surprised at how walk-able the city is (on a sunny day at least). Our first afternoon we spent walking the Navy Pier on Lake Michigan. The water was so wonderfully aqua, it looked like glacier water. From there we walked to Millennium Park, and stumbled upon the famous Chicago Bean. The next two days were more what I had anticipated, gray, windy, and wet. While it didn't deter us from exploring, we decided to tackle the underground, or the "L." Planning on covering a lot of ground, we purchased a Ventra card. It's five dollars to purchase the card itself, but after registering it online those five dollars get added back to your fare amount, which was a great option for us. It also works for the bus system. On our last day in town we (unintentionally) swapped the sightseeing for food and drink. We went to Pequod's Pizza for lunch as a friend suggested. With amazingly cheap lunch deals it was the perfect spot to get that obligatory Chicago deep dish pizza. In the afternoon we grabbed a specialty latte at another suggested location, The Wormhole, a coffee shop in Wicker Park. This retro hipster hangout is like walking into a collection of 1980s cult classics, with everything from Star Wars posters to an actual DeLorean. My friend and I ordered the Koopa Troopa, a peanut butter dark chocolate latte, just a few of my favorite things wrapped into one. We finished off the evening at Del Seoul, and had some amazing Korean shrimp tacos.

Chicago was on my list of the top three cities I was excited to visit on this trip, and after just scratching the surface there on our three day adventure, I can now add it to my list of places I will definitely return to.