Chicago - Day 7

There was an insane thunder storm last night. I thought we were going to wash out to lake! The sound of the rain on the trailer seemed like we were going through Niagara Falls again. But the PUP held up like a champ! I really am proud of the amount of work we have put into this trailer, it really proved itself last night. My heart went out to the campers next to us in their tents. They were gone by the time we woke up early this morning.

Since we are staying at Indiana Dunes State Park, we had to go explore the dunes. We drove down to the beach at Lake Michigan and looked around at the water and dunes for a bit before heading into Chicago for the day. It is so crazy looking at the water. You have to keep reminding yourself that you are looking at a lake and not the ocean! The sand is so soft too, but the dunes are steep and make for quite the hike!

- Lake Michigan, Indiana Sand Dunes -

Toby gets to spend the day at a PetSmart day care today. After dropping him off, we headed into downtown Chicago. Our first stop was Lou Malnati's Chicago for some Chicago style deep dish pizza! It was so delicious and different than any kind of pizza we have ever had. Kyle's favorite food group is pizza so he was in heaven! The pizza is more like a pie, with a very thick crust and lots of layers of meats, sauce, and cheese.

- The Chicago Skyline -

- Deep dish pizza -

There was an Eataly near the pizza place so of course we stopped in! The last Eataly we went to was in New York. Eataly is an Italian market that has tons of items from Italy and places to eat or grab an espresso, gelato or a glass of wine. We spent a good amount of time exploring the store and bought all our favorite pastas and snacks.

We headed back to the car and drove around downtown for a bit, exploring the Navy Pier then finding a place to park near the Millennium Park. We walked around the park and found Cloud Gate (aka The Bean). The park is pretty awesome, there is a lot to see. The Bean was fairly crowded but it made for good people watching.

- Millennium Park -

We had reservations at this place called Cindy’s later so we decided to head in that direction. We stumbled on this lounge that resembled an old gentleman’s club where men would come drink scotch and smoke cigars. The room was dimly lit, with large comfy leather chairs arranged in little conversation settings. They had a game room next door that had shuffleboard, billiards, an indoor bocce ball court, football and darts. We put our name down for the shuffleboard table and went back to the lounge side to enjoy the AC. It was so relaxing to sit there and sip on some wine and have intimate conversation with each other in this room not filled with tourists. It felt like we really found a hidden gem!

- View from Cindy's and the hidden gem lounge -

After relaxing then playing many rounds of shuffleboard together we headed up to Cindy’s on the 13th floor. They have this large outdoor patio that overlooks Millennium park. The views are spectacular. Our reservation was fro 7:30 PM and we were early so we just hung out outside and enjoyed the views. We were able to watch the sun set over Lake Michigan, my favorite time of day! We didn’t end up eating at Cindy’s though. Once we were seated and had a chance to look at the menu, we quickly realized we were out of our element and dashed for the door before we could even order. We settled on dinner at Shake Shack downstates which was much more our style. $20 for burgers, fries and a milkshake is right up our alley and beats a $200 meal any day!

Walking back to the car was beautiful, the park was lit up and they were playing a movie on the big screen. People were scattered all over the lawn in their chairs and blankets enjoying the film. We had to head back to pick up Toby so we didn’t stay long. I drove us back to the campground so Kyle could have a break again.

- Millennium Park all lit up -