CHICAGO

Looking north from Sears Tower

So first off, sorry! I realize it is Thursday already, but Rachel and I both have been extremely busy the last several days in CHICAGO! We just finished a five-day trip that was packed to the brim with things to do. We pretty much spent every free minute sleeping and I’m still way tired. When planning our trip five days seemed like plenty of time, but when you have a huge list of things to do, foods to eat, and your family to visit, five days can fly by pretty fast.

We did plenty. Our first day there we spent a good while driving around the southwest side of the city so I could show Rachel the places I spent growing up. We spent a good amount of time around my neighborhood and also my old neighborhood before heading up to Bobak Sausage Company, a maker of Polish sausages, where we got a good look at several types of encased meat and ended by eating a few different Polish foods. That night we went to my friend Christina’s wedding where we met a lot of people and had fun pretending to be able to dance to Latin music. We decided it was time to go once I started falling asleep on the dance floor.

We spent the next morning taking a tour of the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio in Oak Park. We were given an hour-long tour by a knowledgeable guide in a beautiful home (and studio). 

In front of the Frank Lloyd Wright Studio in Oak Park, IL

We then went downtown to meet up with my friend Dan who I met my freshman year of high school. Dan is a 7^th-generation Chicagoan who is very proud of his city and hesitant to do anything touristy. We dragged him along to Millennium Park and had him take a few pictures of us along the way as we did several more touristy things. Dan played like a Champion.

The Bean

After walking around quite a while we decided to get hot dogs at Portillo’s, likely Chicagoland’s most famous hot dog chain. As always is the case at Portillo’s the lines were long and the restaurant was loud with hot dog-loving Chicagoans. Rachel and I ordered the classic Chicago hot dog, a Maxwell Street Polish, cheese fries, a Coke (Dr. Pepper is apparently hard to come by in Chicago eateries), and the Chocolate Cake shake (which came highly recommended by Dan; we later found out the Chocolate Cake shake he ordered was his first). Our food was delivered to us by a loud and colorful lady who sang/rapped when your food was ready. The food was great as always at Portillo’s. This was Rachel’s first Maxwell Street sausage. Along with deep dish pizza and Chicago-style dogs, the Maxwell Street Polish sausage is synonymous with the City of Chicago. It’s a tasty yet simple dog made with grilled Polish sausage topped with grilled onions and yellow mustard. It’s probably my personal favorite way to eat a hot dog. The chocolate cake shake was also very good. Writing about it is making me want one right now.

Portillo's Hot Dogs

A Maxwell Street Polish Sausage

The rest of the trip was spent mostly with family. We had some thing crust pizza from Barraco’s, ate White Castles, went to a family reunion, spent the day at Six Flag’s Great America, walked around downtown Chicago some more, stood 1451 feet above the ground in Sears Tower, made a short trip across the border to Indiana, and spent even more time with family. It was a great trip and it was fun to share my hometown with Rachel.

Standing on the ledge, a cantilievered plexiglass box that juts out from Sears Tower. 

Sitting on the ledge

There are several Portillo’s locations across Chicagoland. We visited the one at 100 West Ontario Street in Chicago.