All you need is a weekend to enjoy a new city – sure, more time would be great but not everyone has that much time off. I love that you can hop a flight and a few hours later enjoying a new sights, sounds, and cityscapes anytime you want.
Find the Flight Deals
Chicago had been on our wish list for a while so I started to scour the flight deals. Tuesdays are when the new flight deals are published so it’s just a waiting game to see when a deal will pop up for a city you are looking for. I receive email alerts for flight deals so I kept my eye on the weekly email to see if Chicago was included. We got lucky as there was a Seattle to Chicago flight deal that came up for travel over Veteran’s Weekend that was hard to pass up. It meant taking the late flight Friday and leaving early Monday but it was perfect timing for a weekend trip.
Take Advantage of Hotel Perks
I highly recommend joining the hotel rewards programs. For us, it means getting a room upgrade or offered a better room at check-in. It’s totally worth it and you can rack up points for a free stay. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency Chicago which had great proximity to the downtown tourist attractions. We booked a room on the club access level because it offered us a daily breakfast, happy hour and snacks/drinks throughout the day.
Take a Walk in the Park
Most of our weekend consisted us walking around the beautiful Chicago downtown. I hadn’t been to the bean in person yet so it was our first stop but there were plenty of other sights to see along Millennium Park.
Deep Dish Heaven
After having visited New York last month and getting NY style pizza, this trip to Chicago was all about Chicago deep dish pizza. We made our way to Gino’s East to enjoy a taste of deep dish heaven. It was glorious. We also appreciated the sign hanging up inside Gino’s.
Museums are a Must-Stop
We only had time to visit one museum and it was very difficult to choose which one. We ended up selecting the Museum of Science and Industry located in South Chicago. I saw that they had a Science of Pixar display which really interested me. It was one of the coolest exhibits I’ve seen. If you had any interest in animations or a career in animation, this was the spot. We could have stayed all day in the exhibit. We did explore the museum and found it packed with educational, historical, and interactive sights to see.
