Chicago

Here's a detailed, photo-heavy account of our recent trip to Chicago:

On Friday, Denaye and I spent the day in downtown Chicago. We took a self-guided walking tour of some of Chicago's beautiful outdoor art. 

Marc Chagall's Four Seasons

The Chicago Picasso

Miro's Chicago

Along the way, we shared an Elvis cupcake at Crumbs. It was a vanilla cake with banana filling and frosting, a dollop of peanut butter, and peanut butter chips. The flavor was good, but the cake was pretty dry.

Crumbs

We stopped by the controversial Marilyn Monroe statue while walking along the beautiful Chicago River, before heading up the Magnificent Mile for some window shopping. 

Marilyn Monroe

Chicago River with the Trump Tower and Chicago Tribune Building

On Friday night, Denaye and I enjoyed a nice meal atop the John Hancock Center. This was the view just to my right out the window. Incredible, right? 

View from the John Hancock Center

On Saturday morning, I started the day by catching up with my dear friend, Lindsay, who had studied with me in Spain and now lives in Chicago. After a long chat over coffee and pastries, just like old times, I was off to meet George at the airport with Denaye and David. 

After welcoming George to the windy city, we all headed to Oak Park to check out Frank Lloyd Wright's work. It was an incredible neighborhood to explore. 

The Robie House

Frank Lloyd Wright's Home and Studio

We worked up an appetite for Chicago-style pizza, so we stopped for lunch/dinner at Giordanos.

Giordanos Stuffed Special

On Sunday, we all headed back downtown to check out the Cloud Gate, aka The Bean.

George decided to point at our bean (now avocado-sized) while at The Bean.

Cloud Gate from below

We stopped at the aquarium and field museum, and we scored some great views of downtown and Lake Michigan. 

For lunch, we had incredible BBQ at q. I was so excited about the food that I didn't remember to take a photo until only scraps were left on our plates. 

Cornbread, coleslaw, pickled onions, pulled chicken

Babyback rib bones

Then, we stopped at the Baha'i House of Worship. It took me by surprise because we were driving through a residential neighborhood and then - boom - it was like the Taj Mahal came out of nowhere. It's incredibly beautiful, peaceful, and ornate, inside and out. 

Baha'i Temple, Wilmette, IL

Baha'i Temple, Wilmette, IL

After a bit of a rest, we headed out to an incredible dinner at Next, which I'll discuss in a separate post because this post already has 39,845 photos. 

On Monday, George worked from G's Chicago office and David went to class while Denaye and I checked out the baby supercenter that is Wonder! It was incredible, and I picked up a few tiny bits and bobs. George and I flew home on Monday night with big smiles on our faces. Needless to say, we had a fantastic time in Chicago.