This year, for Fall break, Max picked Chicago, or you could call it a tour of the Midwest. I tried to convince him to go to an island so I could relax on a beach, but he really wanted to see Chicago. We spent a few days in the Windy City, then drove up to Green Bay for a Packers game, then a little drive to Madison for a night. It was a very busy week, but Max did pick a fun Fall break trip.
The first day we arrived it was a rainy day. It was a light rain, but very cloudy and cold with the wind. A typical Midwest rainy day. Us Arizona people loved the rainy day. Once we got settled in at the Westin, we walked to Nike's flagship store on Michigan Avenue so Max could do some shopping. To my surprise, he only bought one pair of shoes and one hoodie, but the store was not as exciting as we had hoped.
We headed back to the hotel in the windstorm.
The guys had deep-dish pizza at Grandpa T's favorite Chicago pizza place, Gino's East. They were out of gluten-free crust, so I had a bowl of iceberg lettuce with grilled chicken on top.
The next day we went to the Shedd Aquarium.
We spent a few hours there and saw tons of fish. My favorite was the beluga whales.
Next up was lunch at Eatily. Max loved this place in New York, so he wanted to go to the one in Chicago and get Alfredo prepared at the table. This boy was very happy!
We headed to the Ice Cream Museum. This was meant to be something different to do in Chicago and something for Max. Throughout the self-guided tour we tasted eight different ice cream flavors. My favorite was the cherry sorbet and Max's favorite was the chocolate with chocolate chunks that was made with oat milk.
For dinner, we went to Gibson's. This place was fantastic. Our waiter was amazing, and you could tell he'd worked there a really long time. Max and I shared an order of oysters for the appetizer. This is one of our favorite things to eat together. Andy declined the oysters.
The next day we went to show Max the Bean. He thought it was cool. It was nice that the sun was out and the weather was really nice.
After the Bean, we walked around, and Max did a little shopping. He found a fun Chicago T-shirt before we took a picture on the bridge.
Next up was one of the things I wanted to do. We visited the Cloud Bar at the top of the building formerly known as the Hancock Building. This is also where I did the leaning experience. This is where you lean on the glass, and it moves forward away from the building, and you are looking straight down. It was crazy. I was a bit scared, but I am glad I did it. Max chickened out right before they started leaning the glass, and Andy said "no way" before we even went up. Besides that, the bar at the top was pretty cool to just chill and enjoy the view.
It wouldn't be a trip to Chicago without seeing a Cubs game. The best thing is that Ryan drove down to meet up with us and go to the game. The genes are strong in this picture!
It was a night game in the Windy City. This meant it was cold. I was freezing!!! I couldn't get warm. It was so cold that it almost ruined the experience for me. Max stayed warm with a hot chocolate. I kept going to the bathroom to stay warm. The highlight for me is that this stadium has a dedicated gluten-free food stand. It was AMAZING! I ordered a hot dog, and it was the first time in ten years. I was happy! More stadiums should do this.
The first part of Fall break is over. I went shopping in the morning for a little bit, and then we packed up and drove 3.5 hours to Green Bay.
