Chicago side-trip

Ok. This has been a long - time coming. Props to Lisa Dershowitz for staying on me about writing a post about our short side trip to Chicago back in March. With DC warming up, its hard to remember the cold and rain that was Chicago. But the first picture I took of the city I from the plane is enough to remember just how cold it was when I first landed. 

It. Was. Frigid. Lisa's friend Tracy generously offered us her place to crash fo' free. Tracy lived downtown and lucky for us, right next to a classic Chicago-style eatery. After Lisa waited nearly 3 hours in traffic to come pick me up, we were both starving and thus feasted on some carbs at one of Tracy's local, neighborhood places. 

The next day was St. Patty's Day. In Chicago, St. Patty's day is otherwise known as the day that the city dyes the river green. Of course, we couldn't miss that tradition so we all lumbered out of bed early the next morning, put on about 3 layers of clothes (ok, as the biggest southern wimp I maybe put on 4 layers) and headed to the Polk L station. The festivities were in full swing when we arrived in the heart of Downtown. 

 

We got free sodas, saw cute Irish dogs, and took some selfies.

The ceremonial dumping of the green dye into the river was suppose to occur at 10:00. Around 9:45 it began to rain, er, snow and let's just say we were feeling the winter. 10 o'clock rolls by. No green dye in sight. So, we take some more pictures and get some free slurpies. Probably not the best idea for warmth when its 20 degrees outside... but who can say no to free slurpies?

After 10:30 when we could officially no longer feel our toes, we decided that the only green dye we wanted to see was in our beers. So we headed to Chicago's bar scene to start the real St. Patty's day celebrations and drink off our disappointment in lack of river-dye. 

Lisa shows off her ballet moves. 

 

...And we took some more selfies. 

After a good afternoon of ringing in the Irish holiday bar-style, I was eager to see more of the Chicago. Walking around the city after multiple drinks was much easier than it was at 10 am. Despite the cold, I loved Chicago. I definitely want to return in the summer when the city is in full swing and has more shopping, eating, and exploring options available. No wonder President Obama calls Chicago home; the city has its own mid-western style and identity that is just as unique as DC or New York, with a more ritzy yet gritty feel that is alluring all on it's own.

However, after all this exploring we were obviously starving. Not trip to Chicago is complete without pizza. Tracy recommend we put our names in for Giordano's, one of the top-rated, ultra-famous, can't-miss- it pizza joints of the Windy city. After waiting for two hours and nearly passing out from hunger, we are finally presented with the most glorious cheese pie I have ever put in my mouth. 

Pizza if definitely a religion, and I was converted in Chicago. That night, we went out in Wrigley Field. It was pure St. Patty's day madness. 

The best part of the night was catching up with old friends and celebrating to the wee hours of the morning. After barely sleeping that night, I found myself on a early flight back to DC already missing Chicago's energy, seediness, and of course, it's green rivers and unbelievable cheesy noms.