Keeping up with the Grays: CHICAGO

We woke early this morning to cram in some more Chicago festivities! We started the day with that wonderful french toast (I spoke about in the post prior) and a little bit of coffee and we were on our way. First stop was Millennium Park. Like everything else it was a short walk from the hotel and we wondered around for a bit looking at the sculptures, amphitheater, and lush garden areas. My favorite was Cloud Gate (the bean)!! It was such an interesting piece of art and so fun to take pictures. It is a 110 ton structure of highly polished stainless steel plates (looks like mirrors) which reflect the city's famous skyline. You'll see pics below. Then we made our way to the Magnificent Mile, which is filled with upscale stores, luxury hotels, restaurants, and businesses. Let's just say we didn't step foot in many of the stores, but we (well, I) had a great time window shopping and walking the streets.

Later that afternoon we met up with 16 others for a Chicago Tasting and Cultural Walking Tour. When looking online for things to do this of course caught my eye since Ryan loves to cook, taste, etc. So, I chose the Near North Tour, which took us through the Gold Coast, Old Town, and Lincoln Park neighborhoods. Along the 2 mile trek we tasted delicious foods from seven one-of-a-kind specialty food stores that were "off the beaten path". The tour lasted over 3.5 hours and was also probably one of our favorite parts of the trip. It was so fun to tour the neighborhoods were the locals live that we probably wouldn't have even ventured out to if not for this tour. We had many tastings and listened to short presentations in an authentic Jewish deli (Reuben sandwiches), a specialty tea shop (yummy tea that warmed us up too), the Spice House (cinnamon and salt presentation), Old Town Oil (olive oil and balsamic vinegar- OUR FAVORITE), Catering Chocolate (gourmet foods and cheese), the Fudge Pot (fudge and butter toffee-YUM), and finally Bacino's Pizza (famous spinach stuffed pizza). It was such a neat experience and unlike anything we have ever done before. Our favorite was hands down Old Town Oil. That was actually the one I was least looking forward to, but it was awesome! Even inside during the initial presentation I was very skeptical since sipping oil and balsamic from a little cup didn't sound appetizing, especially since there was no bread involved since that is "an insult to the quality of the oils". Boy were they right! I actually hurried around in that shop to taste as many combinations that I possibly could! First you choose a olive oil and mix with a balsamic vinegar. There were so many flavors! Ryan and my top two favorites were walnut extra virgin olive oil with red apple balsamic vinegar... it would make the perfect salad dressing! The other is garlic evlo and I think it was the 18 year aged balsamic... perfect for a steak marinade. All the combinations were so tasty though... the flavors ranged from Cinnamon pear, tangerine, fig, basil, lemon, cilantro/onion, blueberry, and on and on. We loved making up our own pairings.

After our lunch, we went on a search for something for our home to take back and remind us of our fabulously fun trip (a tradition we've started). We found the perfect purchase at a cute shop in Lincoln Park. It's a framed print/drawing of guitars in different (subtle) colors. We were immediately drawn towards it and knew it would tie in to our Nashville home perfectly. It is now hanging in our kitchen and we love it!

More pictures of our hotel lobby