Chicago Visit

So March ended on a high note. Tim and I took a trip the last weekend of March to visit my sister and her husband in Chicago. We had a great time and saw lots of new stuff.

We started out our trip leaving after work on Thursday and first stopping a night in Des Moines, visiting Tim’s sister and family. We had a great time and an awesome dinner with them. The next morning we were up with only a 5 hour drive away, which was also awesome. And to make the drive even more enjoyable, we stopped at Cedar Ridge Vineyard Winery and Distillery, near Swisher, Iowa, just a short drive off the Interstate, for lunch. If you ever need a place to break up driving across Iowa, this is the place to do it. We enjoyed tasting their wines and had a delicious lunch of flatbread pizza and chicken salad in a great atmosphere.

I highly recommend it, and Tim also highly recommends their bourbon.

Next up was Sallie and David’s! We stayed in our first night, and got takeout from Bien Trucha. I’ve mentioned this Mexican tapas in Geneva before as we’ve eaten here a few times. We absolutely love it!

The next morning, we got on the train in Geneva and made our way to the Frank Llyod Wright Home and Studio in Oak Park. I highly recommend making this a stop on your next Chicago visit. It is easy to get to by train and then just a 6 block walk, while enjoying beautiful downtown Oak Park.

After the tour, it was time to hit the city and explore Eataly! What is Eatlay one might ask? Well, think eating and Italian and you’ve got Eatly! Combine that with some really good wine and shopping and you have a whole afternoon of fun and entertainment! We spent a couple hours here, enjoying wine, cheese, meats and shopping.

I also had to stop at the Nutella Restaurant for a Saccottino con Nutella as well. Yes, I did say the Nutella Restaurant, one of like 15 different restaurants, ranging from sit down to stand-up-and-nosh, scattered throughout the superstore. Definitely worth a visit.

After Eataly, we did some shopping on Michigan Avenue, which is an easy walk from there. Then, we made our way down to Three Dots and a Dash, where we had reservations for happy hour and Hawaiian tapas.

Now, Tim and I were most excited about this place. As you know, we have a little fascination with tikki bars! We’ve been to the Tonga Room in San Francisco, La Mariana in Honolulu and plan to visit a couple more this summer, which I can’t wait to tell you about!

So, this was the entrance to this bar, which actually is located off an alley, in a basement:

We made reservations like a month in advance, and got a cute half-moon booth for the four of us. We ordered drinks and also enjoyed the thai fried chicken, crab rangoon (which were really good and made with fresh blue crab), coconut shrimp and curry chicken skewers. My favorite was probably the crab rangoons, followed by the thai fried chicken. Don’t come hungry as the tapas are pretty small. Luckily we’d been eating all afternoon at Eataly. ha!

But really, one doesn’t come to Three Dots and a Dash for its food, one comes for its drinks, which are presented just as wonderfully as they taste.

I recommend the Painkiller No. 3.

After this, we made our way back to the train station for the ride back to the burbs, where we spent most the day Sunday shopping — Fashion Outlets and Ikea. Then, it was dinner at The Turf Room before calling it a night. Monday we did a bit more shopping — this time the Chicago Premium Outlets, with lunch at Lou Malnatis before heading home.

Another wonderful trip!