We have long had the Christmas tradition of the Chicago Christkindlmarket with Ryan, and since we wouldn't get to go with him this year we took a new spin on it by having a mini staycaytion in the city. The guys met me in Chicago after work on Saturday afternoon and we stayed the night in a river view room at The Renaissance hotel at Wacker and State. We were so busy that we didn't get to use the hotel pool, so we will have to try again! But we loved the view out our window!
Our first adventure was to walk along Michigan Ave. to the North Face store at the John Hancock tower because John realized he forgot to pack his winter coat! After a few boring minutes trying to help John, William and I went next door to Water Tower Place to the Lego store to spend his birthday gift card.
Then we cabbed to the Lincoln Park Zoo for Zoo Lights. It was a fun (cold!) walk thru to see the lights. A few minor exhibits were open to see, as well.
We ended up walking from there all the way to Lakeview because the traffic was so bad that it was faster to walk than Uber. Our only stop was for a donut and bathroom break at Firecakes. A giant donut for first dinner isn't a bad thing on holiday, right?! William was a little tired but John was getting grouchy that I kept making them walk! And I was getting a little anxious that we would be late for our tickets to Blue Man Group. But we walked fast enough to make it and really enjoyed ourselves! My original plan for the Christmas staycation was to see a holiday show but tickets were limited and expensive, and I happened upon a great deal for BMG. I've seen it in Orlando but it was a first for both John and William and they both loved it!
After the show we were tired but needed to eat a real meal. We ended up just getting food from the lobby bar and eating in our room, which was a great idea!
On Sunday morning, we dropped our bags with the bell hop and headed out for brunch at my favorite stop (Beatrix in Streeterville), enjoy the sites along Michigan Ave, see the Marshall Fields holiday windows and hit the Christkindlmarket. Unfortunately it was so busy at the market that we had to divide and conquer for the ornament house line (Lisa and William) and the drinks line (John). After our beverages and buying our favorite cinnamon-sugar pecans, we just headed home. It was too busy to venture through all the little shops and we were full from brunch so didn't need more food.
