24 hours in chicago
I just spent 24 hours in Chicago with my best friend Haylee and we had a BLAST… so here’s everything we did!!
After traveling to Chicago early Saturday morning, our first stop was the Chicago Architecture Boat Tour at 10am! This tour was so cool and absolutely breath taking! The boat takes you all the way around downtown Chicago and the tour guide was insanely knowledgeable about all the architecture from who designed it to the type of material it was made out of. The boat left at 10am sharp and we returned back at 11:30am sharp which is exactly how long the tour was expected to take. They had a bar and bathroom on the boat which was super nice considering it was pretty long. I will say the 10am time was a little chilly and windy so a light jacket would have been nice and Haylee got a little sunburnt so make sure you wear sunscreen. We got some SUPER awesome photos and I would definitely recommend this tour to anyone! Click here if you wanna check out the Chicago Architecture Boat Tour!
Our next stop was brunch at the I|O Godfrey Hotel which is also where we stayed the night. There is a rooftop lounge on the 4th floor that is super cute and the views were INCREDIBLE! We ended up chilling here for almost 2 hours because the vibes were immaculate. I will add they do have a “smart” dress code that they ask you to adhere to but we saw both casual and fancy so I don’t think they’re too strict. They have a HUGE drink menu and their brunch menu had a lot of options! We got the Chilaquiles and the Chicken BLT with Truffle Fries and Beignets for something sweet. Our entree’s were both delicious but we agreed we could have done without the Beignets (New Orleans Style is WAYYY better). I also got a Rainbow Sangria off their cocktail menu and it was SO yummy. The ice cubes were all different colors and the sangria was super fresh and crisp! Overall a good pick if you’re looking for a Chicago rooftop experience!
Our next adventure was a little bit of a hike (about 3/4 of a mile) from the I|O Godfrey Hotel which honestly was not bad AT ALL and we were super happy we walked because we got to experience the city. The next place was an experience that everyone traveling to Chicago should do, the 360 Chicago Observation Deck. If you want to do this I would definitely advise getting tickets before hand and expect to wait a HOT minute even if you show up during your time slot. Once you go through the main entrance there is a long line before you get to the elevator where you actually go up, it’s basically set up where only one elevator is going up and down so it takes awhile to get big groups up there. However, once you get to the observation deck it’s AWESOME! Basically it’s a huge circle with floor to ceiling windows that overlook the city in every direction. There were a TON of people so be prepared for that but we still got some incredible photos and there is also a BAR with what looked like fun drinks (we did not partake). There isn’t a time limit for how long you can stay up there but we were done in about 45 minutes and had to wait in a long line to go back down the elevator. Would absolutely recommend and you can get tickets here!!
After walking back to the hotel we were in need of a little relaxation so we chilled in the room for about 2 hours until we had dinner reservations at an adorable little Italian restaurant across the street. Also, forgot to mention we made all the reservations 2 months in advance because summer time in the city is insane and full of tourist so we wanted to make sure we were able to get in easily everywhere. Our dinner restaurant was called Etta and it was 10/10! Every single dish we got was SOOO yummy and delicious. We got the Diavola Pizza, Papppardelle Alla Bolognese, and the Robuchon Style Whipped Potatoes….. so basically ALL carbs but we weren’t mad about it one bit! We also saw some other dishes come out that looked equally as yummy. We finished off our meal with Basque Cheesecake which was absolutely TOO DIE FOR! Highly recommend this place and the prices were not bad!
I hope you enjoyed reading about our trip and if you want any outfit deets you can find those on the fashion tab or click here!
