Over Memorial Day weekend we took advantage of the Monday off and flew up to Chicago for a short trip. We spent half the time in the city (using up a free night certificate) and half the time with my sister in the ‘burbs.

Friday

We had reserved tickets for the Shakespeare Improv show at the iO Theater for 8pm, so after checking in to the Hyatt Place at Chicago Rover North we braved the rain for ramen at Slurping Turtle [permanently closed]. Dinner went quick so with a bit of time before the show started, we decided to stop at the Old Town Pour House for a pint.

The show was as expected, hilarious and entertaining – can’t wait to go back. We got two of the last ‘full service’ seats so we were able to order a beer halfway through the show without getting up to go to the bar, which was nice.

Saturday

Our first order of business was a trip to Lincoln Park Zoo. The weather was lovely, so we walked the two miles from River North up to the park area. Neither of us are ‘zoo people’ but it’s free and we enjoyed the people and animal watching. The Lincoln Park Conservatory was a good experience and we even found a few Cubs fans.

We had worked up an appetite so we went in search of deep dish pizza. Bacino’s was relatively nearby so after a quick photo of the Tin Man in Oz park, we rested our feet with a tasty pie and a beer each.

Our next stop was Burnt City Brewing where we got a few samples. The dark beers were my favorite with the
Duncan MacCoconuts leading the pack.

We had time for one more stop before getting ready for dinner so Beermiscuous was our next choice.

After a lovely dinner at Bistro Campagne we walked to Fountainhead for some scotch and cocktails then grabbed an Uber back to the hotel.

Sunday

Apparently we did not get enough walking in the day before as we again walked several miles to Millennium Park and onto the famous Buckingham Fountain, passing lots of public art on the way.

After a quick lunch at Wow Bao we collected our luggage and met my sister at a birthday party so she could drive us into the ‘burbs for the second half of our visit.