Chicago (July 2010)

My spouse and I visited Chicago for a long weekend in mid-July 2010. My spouse was working the previous week in the city, so I flew out myself to join him. After I arrived on Thursday evening at the Embassy Suites Lakeview, we had dinner at Marcus Samuelson's C-House. My spouse worked on Friday, so I visited the Ohio Street Beach myself. In the late afternoon, we took an architectural cruise on the Chicago River, then we had dinner together at Big Bowl. On Saturday, we visited the Millennium Park (Cloud Gate and Crown Fountain), then went to the Art Institute of Chicago (where we last visited about 9 years earlier). We had reservations to dine at Charlie Trotters in the evening, but my spouse was feeling very sick all day. We did manage to eat some lunch at Terzo Piano (at the Art Institute) and then some dinner at Emilio's Sol y Nieve. The next day, we visited Navy Pier (and the Smith Museum of Stained Glass) and had lunch at Riva Ristorante before we flew home together.   

Hotel:

• Embassy Suites Chicago Downtown Lakeview Link to my review

Restaurants:

• C-House Link to my review
• Big Bowl Link to my review
• Terzo Piano Link to my review
• Charlie Trotter (aborted!)
• Emilio’s Tapas Sol y Nieve Link to my review
• Riva Ristorante Link to my review

Activities:

• Ohio Street Beach
• Architectural Cruise on Chicago River
• Art Institute of Chicago (George Seurat's Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, Vincent vanGogh's Self-Portrait, Pierre-Auguste Renoir's Two Sisters (On the Terrace), Winslow Homer's The Herring Net, Henri Touluse-Lautrec's At the Moulin Rouge, Claude Monet's Water Lillies, Watery Lily Pond, Stacks of Wheat (End of Summer), Arrival of the Normandy Train at the Gare Saint-Lazare, Poppy Field (Giverny)
• Millennium Park (Cloud Gate and Crown Fountain)
• Smith Museum of Stained Glass
• Navy Pier