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As my last two posts said, I was in Chicago this past weekend for the Rock n’ Roll Festival Weekend. Make sure to check out the posts about the races: My 5k Turned Accidental Half Marathon and Meeting My Running Idol & My First Spectating Experience. I’m pretty sure that this was one of the best weekends I’ve spent in Chicago, and it was the first time I’ve actually slept in downtown. Melissa and I stayed with her friend Jill, who lives in the John Hancock building- all the way up on the 66th floor. How insane are these views:
I’m pretty sure I said “The view is just unreal” over and over throughout the weekend. It was fun to watch the fireworks over Navy Pier from her bedroom window too.
view from the living room. unreal.
When we got to Chicago we picked up race packets, unloaded the car at her place, and then headed off to Riverview Tavern for dinner. This was my first experience using Uber, which we ended up using multiple times throughout the weekend. It’s so convenient, easy, and the cars are much cleaner than taxis, which is awesome. Melissa had been looking forward to her Taco Pizza for days, and I ended up getting sweet potato friends and a Turkey and Avocado Club Sandwich, which also had bacon on it. Delicious!
The next day after the girls finished their 5k, we headed off to Einstein Bagel to get a quick breakfast before we headed off to Aerial Yoga. We had been looking forward to doing this for weeks, so I was pretty excited. We got to the location about 7 or 8 minutes before class started, but the door was locked. We pulled on the door and someone came and opened up, informing us that we were actually looking for the other studio. Ummmm…. they had two studios? Nowhere on the registration did it give us an address of a different location, and it was not clear in any way. We were really frustrated because we were each out a chunk of money- they really need to change their system to let people know what studio they need to go to. And of course they won’t refund us either. Bummer 🙁 We headed back to Jill’s apartment to quickly shower, and then she went off with her family and Melissa and I set off to explore the city.
First we headed down to the beach to walk around a bit in the sand- it felt fantastic, and the water was great, especially since it was so warm (and not windy at all). We sat down there enjoying the water for a bit before heading off to Navy Pier.
After that we just walked around downtown for a few hours, logging a few miles on our feet (probably not the best idea, given that we would each be running 13 miles the next day), and it was really fun.
Once we got back we spent some time with our compression sleeves on and our feet in the air. Necessary after being on our feet all day and knowing we had a race to run the next day.
What? You don’t spend time with your friends like this?
We ordered dinner from the Cheesecake Factory, which is in the bottom of her building, and went down to pick it up. We ate watching Pitch Perfect, and Melissa and I both ended up falling asleep to it.
The next day after the half marathon, I iced my knee a bit, showered, and then we walked to lunch. I devoured some chips and salsa, along with a Chicago style hot dog and a few cups of water. Clearly I was in need of salt!
Overall the weekend was SO much fun, and I really enjoyed my time there. I am already anxious for my next trip to the Windy City– and this time I’ll bring beach attire as well 🙂
Now it’s your turn to share! Have you ever been to Chicago? What’s your favorite part of the city?
That view is absolutely ridiculous? I would have said the same thing a hundred times. I have only been to Chicago once for a psychology conference and spent a lot of time by the waterfront and exploring the parks. Chicago on a sunny, non-windy day is absolutely breathtaking!
The weather was absolutely ideal! I’ve been down there on a windy day in the winter, and that’s not so ideal. What psych conference were you at?