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Chicago {Part One}

I took a little weekend trip to Chicago the end of September.  I had never been to Chicago, and it had always been on my list, but the real purpose of the trip was to see Hamilton.  My friend Suzanna joined me.  We left late on Friday evening and arrived about 10:45.  By the time we got luggage and made it to the hotel, we crashed.  The next morning we woke up to this view from our hotel room.
 First, we headed for Donuts at Do-Rite.

 Vanilla Bean, Meyer Lemon & Pistachio, & Chocolate.

 Planning ahead...
I had several cupcake places I wanted to try, but this was the only cupcake I managed to fit in.
 We made our way up to the river and walked along the riverwalk.  
The bridges were fascinating and Saturdays are one of the two days a week that they will raise them for boats.
 We walked to our brunch spot... The Hampton Social




After lunch, we took an Uber over to the start of the Magnificent Mile and shopped Michigan Avenue for a few hours.  I was having bad eye issues this trip, well that started before the trip.  My eyes had been super swollen due to allergies, and then on Saturday I woke up to the driest under-eyes you could imagine.  Part of the shopping was stopping at Neimans and visiting the Kiehl's counter for some 911 help on my eyes.  I also happened to stop at their Christmas shop and this adorable ornament had to come home with me!
 We had early dinner reservations because we had Hamilton tickets at 8:00 and the restaurant tried to convince me that dinner there took 3 hours when making reservations (Narrator: It did not).

Dinner was at Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab.

Suz had the Dover Sole, I had a filet and lobster tail, and we split some yummy sides.  We got half slices of their Havana Pie and Key Lime Pie for dessert (the Key Lime was amazing).
 We were so excited to finally be in the "room where it happened".
 I can't even put into words how wonderful it was.  
If you get the chance to see it, RUN, don't walk!
Sunday morning we tried Stan's Donuts, but I didn't get pics of the ones we tried.
We took an Architecture Boat tour on Sunday morning.  We had a 9:30 time, and it was nice because the boat was not crowded at all (later boats we saw were).  There are many tour companies to choose from, but we selected the Chicago Architecture Foundation's River Cruise.








 This piece of property had been limited for use because the train tracks go by the river, but then this building was built and is just a marvel.  



 The Apple Store...

 Navy Pier...

Stay tuned for the rest of Sunday and Monday's activities in Chicago {Part Two}

We stayed at the Fairmont Millennium Park
 We had a basic double room on the 25th floor...
 It had a pretty big closet, and a second mirror area that assisted two girls in getting ready
 The bathroom was pretty large with a shower and tub, and a potty room.



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