Downtown Tourists

Part of the fun of having guests come to visit is that it often forces us to go downtown.  Don't get me wrong, I adore downtown Chicago...but typically during the week I'm hurrying home from work and on the weekends, I don't want to go downtown (about a twenty minute El-train ride) because I go downtown for work on the weekdays.

 

This past Saturday was the perfect sunny and warm day to play tourist with my family.

 

My family drinks wine and doesn't eat meat; Ben on the other hand is a beer advocate and carnivore. I'm somewhere in the middle. Lucky for me, when I looked up Howells and Hood, a new restaurant at Chicago Tribune Tower on Michigan Avenue, I found that we could all be accommodated, as well as make reservations on Open Table and get patio seating. Score!

The service was a little bit rocky, (my sister was given the wrong wine and the check took longer to get than our meal) but I'm willing to overlook the bad for the good: food, beer list, ambiance, and location.  The prices may be steeper than your average entree for bar-type food ($15+), but the portions are large, its not really bar food and it's delicious.

Just look at these fish tacos!

At least once a summer we find ourselves headed with friends or family to Navy Pier.  It's a crowded, confusing tourist trap, but it's worth navigating the crowds to go on a boat tour.




In the past we've done the Architectural Boat Tour, which runs along the Chicago River and points out some of the citiest prettiest feats, but this time we decided on Shoreline Company's Skyline Lake Tour, which took us out into the "play-pen" of Lake Michigan for some great (although hazy) views.

And what would be time spent as a tourist in Chicago without walking Magnificent Mile?  We stuck around the south end (Michigan Ave and Chicago River), which offers some fabulous views.

Wrigley Building Skybridge

 

You know what they say....Chicago, my kinda town.