Playing Tourist Around Town

Meet the cast! From left to right: Abby, Kayla, me, Stephanie, Megan. My closest girlfriends from Orlando, FL came to visit me this summer! What began as a solo trip for one, turned into nearly a week-long girls trip. I was able to take a few days off with them to play tourist and show them my favorite spots. If you have a girls weekend in Chicago coming up, I highly recommend the following places that we visited. Here we are!

Kayla!

Megan!

Steph!

Moi!

Abby!

First stop: Lush Wine Bar

My uncle is a wine distributor, and my cousin is the Ema on this wine bottle! So of course, we had to have this wine with our dinner. I love this place to take girlfriends and moms. It's got a great menu of small plates and items to pick on like popcorn - perfect to pair with after-dinner prosecco.

Next: Green Mill Jazz Club

Amazing jazz. I wish I was as good at anything as good as they are at playing their instruments. We enjoyed some really amazing music, and I can't wait to go again.

Next: The Architecture River Boat Tour

It was a rainy day, but I love this tour. It's the best view of the city and you learn so much about Chicago.

Next: Fox Bar

Upstairs inside of the Soho House, a members only lounge, there's Fox Bar. One of the bartenders won best bartender in Chicago this year! We all got the same drink - the Cat Damen. We sipped our cocktails at a corner table and enjoyed the very chill atmosphere. The coziness of this bar reminds me of a library.

Next up: Chicago Athletic Association

We stopped for drinks and burgers in the lobby. I love this hotel for it's gorgeous decor. The lobby is full of comfortable couches for you to rest your feet after a day of walking. All of the wood work, the fireplaces, and the books everywhere remind me of a Hogwarts common room.

Next: Black Dog Gelato

Best gelato flavors in town! My favorites are the sesame fig gelato, and the goat cheese cashew gelato.

Next: Small Cheval

Best burgers, hands down. Au Cheval typically has at least an hour wait - even on a weekday. It's great that they have their sister restaurant, Small Cheval, that only sells their tasty burgers so that you don't have to wait.

Next: Exploring Downtown

The Bean!

The Art Institute!

Buckingham Fountain!

Next: 90 Miles Cuban Cafe

Love their goat cheese empanadas! They've got a great lounge area for you to hang out in while you wait for a table - this makes it great for large groups. Also, it's BYOB! We brought white wine and red wine and they have sangria pitchers for you to pour it in!

Next on our list: Goose Island Brewery

We went beer tasting at Goose Island Brewery! We all loved Gillian the best, and many of our favorites were their sour beers. We bought some hoodies, which we later got complimented on all around Chicago!

Next up: Mahalo

A Hawaiian restaurant with delicious coconut shrimp and pina coladas. And I'm from Florida, so I've tasted many coconut shrimp and pina coladas! But this put a lot of Floridian restaurants to shame.

Next up: Lost Lake