Chicago Blog, Photos, & Insights

Arrival Day (Thursday, 11/20)

This trip started out interesting, as our original plane got swapped out by a brand spanking new one that had just been flown there from the factory. A HUGE, posh, nice one, might I add! As soon as we boarded, you could tell it was brand new, and it smelled new.

Upon boarding, I noticed my seat had been changed. I always sit exit row, so I asked if my new seat was still exit row (thinking that, of course whoever did the seat assignments on the new plane would’ve compared apples to apples). These are the things autistic people pay attention to. 🙂 They told me no. I said, “oh okay. Well I paid for an exit row seat, so I either want a refund for the difference or to have it changed to my old seat equivalent.” To say the least, I did not get my exit row seat, and I wasn’t exactly happy about that. Whoever did it, which wasn’t the person at the boarding gate, put me in a regular row window seat. I was trying to be godly about my response, but I WAS frustrated. I am 5’10, and regular seats on planes just aren’t comfortable for me. I always sit exit row. The Lord had my back. I asked twice if I could move to the middle exit row seat, and the flight attendant kept saying no, even though it was clearly my seat, and it was empty. I could clearly see my equivalent seat was available and empty 2 rows in front of me. I looked down again at the app and boom! My correct seat (on the new plane) had populated. So, I just got up and moved. I’m more of an ask for forgiveness not permission person. 🙂

This plane was gigantic and super nice. So much so, that a few of us had to ask how things worked!

Thursday evening when I arrived at my hotel, I ordered a caesar salad with grilled chicken and greek fries, which were gigantic. lol!

Day One (Friday, 11/21)

Friday, I had a full day and two events planned. I got a slow start to my morning, got dressed, and went down to the hotel cafe to have breakfast. I got to wear my new pair of riding boots, and they were SO comfy all day and chic too! Shout out to DSW for saving me when I had ordered some online I ended up not liking when they arrived. These are my fav boots now.

I stayed at the Talbott Hotel, Autograph Collection. I LOVED my room and room location for this trip (it was quiet and a high floor, which I prefer), but that is about it. The beds were very uncomfortable, and I was charged $100 for a meal I didn’t eat or order upon checkout, and it has been a nightmare trying to get that fixed. As a Mariott Bonvoy member, I’ve NEVER had this sort of issue when traveling and staying at Mariotts. If you go to Chicago, stay somewhere else like The Gwen, The Viceroy, or Thompson Chicago by Hyatt (where I originally was scheduled to stay and changed it last-minute and regretted it). *Side Note: This hotel has been removed from Mariott’s entire website! I tried to link you, and they have removed it. Maybe they got a lot of complaints this past week?! Yikes!!

At noon, I had scheduled a river architecture cruise, and it was wonderful. It was also COLD. At one point, I got too cold and took a break down in the galley where they had a full bar and hot chocolate available. That’s about the best hot cocoa I’ve ever had in my life! It had Mezcal in it (Mexican agave) and Toasted Marshmallow syrup. I will be making this at home over the next few months! 

The cruise was 1.5 hours, which was the perfect duration. While we were out on the river, I saw a restaurant called Porter Kitchen & Deck and said, “yep. That’s where I’m eating lunch.” 

The cruise concluded, and it was a success. We even got to see a (rare) barge come down the river carrying tons of building and construction materials. It’s rare that barges use the river anymore, so that was a nice treat. I thoroughly enjoyed the river cruise and highly recommend it to anyone visiting Chicago. 

From there, I headed to get some lunch, as I knew I’d need some energy for the next thing I had booked, which was a 2-hour architecture interiors walking tour. I ate at a place called Porter Kitchen & Deck.

I have to admit this wasn’t quite what I was expecting, but it was great anyway, and we had a great group! Our tour guide (shout out to Spencer!) was really knowledgeable and friendly. Enjoy some of the gorgeous interiors photos below from that tour.

As we started to finish up the tour, it was about 4:30 or so, and traffic had doubled, it was getting dark, and we finished up our tour at the Palmer Hotel. I was exhausted, just wanted to get back to my hotel, and get some dinner. It took over 20 minutes for my Uber to arrive, and there were people gathering nearby but I didn’t know why. Traffic was awful, and there were people everywhere! Once I was in the Uber, I had a conversation with my driver, and she told me they must be having an event, so I looked it up online and sure enough, they were having a tree lighting that night. Glad I was NOT out there for that, as I saw on the news later that a riot broke out against the police that night and it turned into a disaster! God literally protects me on all sides. I had JUST left that area. 

Day Two (Saturday, 11/22)

Saturday started out great and disintegrated fast. I started my day slow, as I had nothing necessarily “planned.” I did want to go down by the coast to spend some time listening to the water and grab some photos.

That part of my day was heaven. Had I known what was ahead of me though, I would’ve made different decisions! lol! 

I left there and really needed a restroom, so I stumbled into a mall of some kind. A super nice, 5-story Bloomingdale’s with other stores.

But what I really wanted was a Sephora. This place didn’t have one, but I saw there was one a few blocks away, so I walked to it. I got a little lost along the way somehow but finally found it. On my way there, I found a gorgeous church I stopped to snap some photos of.

This was one of the most stocked and awesome Sephoras I’ve ever been to. They had brands and products I use that Sephoras in Dallas DO NOT CARRY. I repeat, DO NOT CARRY. I was excited, got what I needed, and left there on foot. So many people were gathering outside. I was like “why are there SO MANY PEOPLE?!” But when you don’t do your due diligence, look up what’s happening around you, and answer your own questions, please note that you will pay severely for that. 

There was a Christmas parade happening I was unaware of, and they were actively blocking off my route to get back to my hotel. I effectively got trapped on the wrong side of the street on the other side of downtown Chicago. For the next 3.5 hours, I tried to call 4 separate Ubers who couldn’t get to me, walked what must have been over 10 miles, got lost in some dark parking garage, and it was a nightmare. Not gonna lie, I was almost in tears multiple times. 

I finally stopped and prayed, and the Lord started telling me what to do. “Start walking again.” “Okay, Lord.” And somehow, I ended back up in an area I recognized (finally). “Stop and ask that police officer where you can cross.” “Okay, Lord.” I did that. She said “up two or three lights at Oak.” I got to Oak and was able to cross, but I had to cross again, so I just kept walking. Effectively, I had to walk in a circle and cross the street twice, because my hotel sat right down in the middle of one big circle around downtown that was blocked off. 

Oh. My. Gosh. 

I finally made it back to my hotel at around 6pm. I had been lost and walking since I left Sephora. And it was COLD. My body was numb. My mind had to recover. My feet were hurting so bad and my back and legs. I felt like I had just completed an unplanned marathon. I had also ordered a pizza that just never showed up that I had to get a refund for. 

Needless to say, my Saturday unplanned did not go as swell and flowy as expected! lol! 

Day Three (Sunday, 11/23)

Sunday, I got up and went to church at Soul City. I really am impressed with this church and the things it does for the community. The worship was awesome as well. I wish I would’ve known it was baptism Sunday though. I probably would’ve spent my Sunday morning resting and watching that from my hotel room. But I enjoyed it overall, and I would probably attend there if I lived in Chicago. 

I left church and went back to my hotel, then ventured out on foot again – once to Walgreens around the corner to re-stock up on water and deodorant I was out of and then again to Restoration Hardware Chicago, which was just a few blocks from my hotel.

A local had recommended it to me the night before while I was eating at the bar. (I paid for her drinks by giving her one of my drink vouchers). And ohhhhh boy, she was right that I would love it. I had told her I loved interiors and had been on a tour, so she had a feeling I should go. And of course, I was already familiar with Restoration Hardware. 

What a STUNNING, 5-story building full of beautiful RH goodness! Enjoy all the MANY photos I took in Restoration Hardware, which includes a gorgeous cafe and terrace garden. 

Day Four (Monday, 11/24)

Monday was my last full day in Chicago, so I purposely planned to have a full day at the spa (about 5.5 hours). And oh. Kohler Waters Spa in Burr Ridge, Illinois did NOT disappoint! With it being a “no technology” spa or zone, I couldn’t take photos or videos, but I will share some from online below. 

I booked two separate treatments. One at 12:00 noon called Lavender Rain, a 50-minute hydrotherapy body treatment where lavender and eucalyptus exfoliation is applied (full body). Then, a warm Vichy shower over my body with warm water was turned on for the duration of the treatment. I HAVE NEVER. I repeat NEVER had that type of spa experience in my LIFE. After the exfoliation & warm rain shower, they applied a moisturizer all over and I got a hot stone massage on my back and feet. 

Prior to that, I had arrived at 11:00 a.m., so I could spend an hour in the Thermal Suite, complete with a eucalyptus steam room, cold plunge, heated whirlpool, and sauna. By the time my first treatment time came, I was already so relaxed. 

After my noon treatment, ending around 1pm, I spent another hour in the thermal suite, then made my way to the cafe for a bite to eat. My next treatment was at 2:30 p.m. and was an 80-minute Deep Sleep Massage, which is one of their new services. 

By the time I left this place around 4:30, I was so utterly relaxed, it felt like I had detoxed and given my muscles a nice, warm drink. This spa is world-renowned and rightfully so.

I needed this. And it was WORTH the investment. I would do it again. And again. And again. And thanks to one of my good friends suggesting it, I did look for something comparable in Dallas and found it! So, this will be a new treatment that I consider normal each month to combine with my monthly massage.

That’s all I have to share. Thanks so much for hanging out with me, and you can also check out the corresponding Chicago Vlog I just posted on YouTube.

Love, T