Our annual neighboring conference we’ve attended for about 15 years in Seattle moved this year to Chicago. Wanting to still attend, but not too excited about flying to Chicago just for a weekend, we decided to stretch it out a bit and go for a full week and see the city. We had heard the end of April had a good chance for good weather.
Our day started at about 3:00 am in order to get to the airport for our flight. As always, I start with a quad-shot chocolate latte. Even more so at 3:00 am. Brenda’s brother graciously offered to shuttle us to the airport, saving parking fees and/or Uber costs.
By leaving when we did, it allowed us to arrive in the Windy City around 4:00 in the afternoon. We did not rent a car (after our experience in Boston with absolutely insane traffic) because we had heard the transit in Chicago is good and we could buy a 7-day unlimited pass for $20 each. Way cheaper than renting a car and paying for valet fees.
Our hotel was old, but had been renovated. The most important thing was the bed was comfortable. This was a huge plus because we were only staying one place the whole trip. I booked it in the Theater District partly because it was about two blocks from a major transit hub for the L. We were able to board the Blue line at the airport and arrive within a block of our hotel. We exited the train and when we walked out to the sidewalk, our hotel was directly across the street.
As is my custom, I rely on Yelp for dining. I found an Indian restaurant (Maharaj) just a few blocks walk from the hotel. The weather was perfect so we walked.
It. Was. Incredible! A perfect start to our trip.
Arriving on a Wednesday and with a Friday start to our conference, we booked tickets to Riverdance 30 for Thursday night at a theater two blocks from our hotel and dinner at a restaurant across the street.
