Once kids get to college, spring breaks possibly start not matching up. That happened this year, so the college student requested visits to cities and the others wanted a beach. The college student got to visit Chicago and NYC and the other spring break was a visit to Charleston, S.C.

We did an overnight in Chicago, leaving Dayton early the first morning. We saw a pretty sunrise on our flight. We dropped our bags off at our hotel and then headed to the train station. We took the “EL” to the station closest to the Bean. It takes about 30 minutes to get from the airport to downtown Chicago. We first stopped at The Goddess and the Baker for coffee and breakfast. It was crowded, but we got seats and enjoyed some very good coffee and a croissant. 

Then, we headed to The Bean and got some good reflection photos. You can see most of the skyline in The Bean. It’s worth going underneath to see the optical illusion it creates. 

We headed to the Navy Pier next and walked the entire thing. It would be a neat place in the summer when everything is open. There’s lots of stores and restaurants. We took a ride on the permanent Ferris Wheel and enjoyed the views. We could see the green from the river being dyed entering the lake. There’s other rides on the pier, but they weren’t open that day.

Next up was lunch and we had pizza at Lou Malnati’s. We had to wait a little bit, but it was worth it. We got bruschetta and a pizza to share – delicious!

After lunch, we walked around downtown and found the Riverwalk. The river had been dyed green a few days before for St. Patrick’s Day and it was still bright green. We found a building that had stone in it from buildings and places all around the world. It’s the Tribune Tower.

We then visited The Roastery – the largest Starbucks in the world on the Magnificent Mile (Chicago’s shopping street). It has four floors and a rooftop balcony. You can see coffee being roasted and do their coffee labs there.

We shopped for a bit and then went to Chicago 360 to see the views. (It’s the old John Hancock Building.) The elevator is fast and there’s an “open” section of the observatory where there are screens so you can hear and feel the city. We didn’t do the TILT where you’re “dangled” above the city. You can definitely understand how big Lake Michigan is from up high.

We ended the day with dinner at Ramsay Burgers – a Gordon Ramsay restaurant. We got truffle fries and the “Idiot” burger. Both were delicious. We took the “EL” back to our hotel, got settled and fell asleep quickly. Our flight was early the next day, so we took our time getting ready and heading to the airport to fly back home.