Chicago For Christmas: Part 2
Part 2. Food Crawl, Friend Named Kyle, Little Neighborhoods, and Rain
We also love eating local food and lots of it when we travel. We woke up ready to rock and get out of downtown. Well actually first we stopped at Intelligentsia on our way out of downtown. Ethiopian Yirgacheffe chemex for me, espresso for Zach.
We saw our friend Kyle's new loft apartment and rooftop (above) on the edge of the West side of the city. And then we headed to:
Wicker Park
Stop #1: Stan's Doughnuts
They have all the things I like. Pink tiled floors and marble counters, SO MANY doughnuts and treats, and street facing window seats. I got the pistachio lemon.
AND THE BEST THING HAPPENED WHILE WE WERE THERE!
Backstory: my friends tell me my look alike dog is a blonde haired Saluki (see here). My friend, Courtney, has a gift in which she takes physical characteristics and personality traits and tells you what kind of dog you are. SHE'S ALWAYS RIGHT.
My dream dog is a weimariener. I fall in love with every weim that I see.
While sitting at the window, I see a weim, and then we see a long haired dog peak out, and I run outside because I cannot believe there is one owner to these two parts of my life.
They were extremely nice and let me tell them all about my connection to the two dogs-I'm sure they thought I was wild and crazy. The dog was actually an Afgan, super similar to a Saluki-however, I still have never witnessed a Saluki.
Stop #2: Bongo Room
We sat wedged up in the window and ate omlets, bacon, and potatoes.
Stop #3. Frank and Oak Men's Store
Stop #4: Timbuk2
Zach's Christmas gift was a long desired backpack (with lots of little compartments) for shooting photos, everyday cargo, and traveling.
Stop #5: Scotch and Soda
Stop #6: Big Star Taco
Stop #7: Jeni's Ice Cream
I had the sweet potato pecan praline ice cream. Oh my stars.
Stop #8: Wormhole Coffee
Stop #9: Furious Spoon
A long dark restaurant that serves only ramen and plays only 90's hip hop.
Many of the shops we had on our list were sadly closed, so we ate so much food instead. We napped, left Kyle and headed back to the Mile.
I picked up a couple of things at Zara, and we headed to the best find of the trip!
Recommended by a couple of my friends, we checked out the Chicago Athletic Association Hotel. Built in 1890, it was recently renovated and opened to the public for the first time with its vintage athletic league styled guest rooms and lounges.
We ate and drank in the Game Room.
I had a martini along with a Chicago dog on sourdough toasted bun and apple relish. We shared lime salted frinch fries, served in rustic camp styled enamelware.
You can check in with the game master to get on the list for bocce ball, shuffleboard, chess, checkers, and cards.
We woke up Sunday and grabbed more Intellegentsia, and headed to get tattoos! We went to Great Lakes Tattoo and I got a little trio of pine trees above my elbow (because it's our first Christmas, get it?!)
Zach got an anchor with "High Ships" on his forearm.
He and his friends have toasted at every party and wedding for the last however many years, "There's high ships, there's low ships, but there's no ships, like friendships."
Last stops were in Logan Square.
Stop #1: Longman & Eagle
Post tattoo brunch. I had magnificent homemade granola, smoked blueberries, banana-caramel purée, horchata gel, and goats milk poured over top. I died. Never will I ever have better granola.
Stop #2: Bang Bang Pie
My friend begged me via text to go here. We had amazing treats. It's this cute little bakery that serves savory or sweet pies and coffee and it's just good.
I had tart cherry pie.
And we hit the road! I really like Chicago! This will be the 4th time that I have been in the winter, never in the summer. But! The cozy neighborhoods were good to us. Happy First Christmas, Zach :)
Hope you had a great New Year's Day! Here's to 2016 (and celebrating it's first long weekend)
-Emily
