Girls’ Day Trip to Downtown Chicago

Chicago, IL

My sister, sister-in-law, and I decided to go downtown Chicago for a girl’s day. Shopping, sightseeing, and eating were all on our list. We hadn’t been downtown together in a few years due to the pandemic. We took the train in so we didn’t have to worry about driving. I forgot how easy it is to get to the city. It brought me back to the days of working in the city.

Our first stop was Water Tower place for shopping on Michigan Avenue. It was beautiful seeing all the decorated trees around the city.

The next stop was the Starbucks Roastery. The line of people to go in was wrapped outside, but the wait went quickly. This Starbucks has five floors and is a work of art.  We walked around each floor to see how each floor is unique.

In the middle of the building is a 56-foot cask that stands as the centerpiece of art. It is a sculptural that acts like a multisensory hourglass with roasted beans as the grains of sand. Out of the cask, and into smaller tubes, beans would sail across the room through the small tubes.

The drinks and food options vary from floor to floor. We decided on the second floor for getting coffee and a pastry. This floor is the authentic Italian bakery created by Rocco Princi. The food looked delicious and was much more than what is at your local Starbucks. We enjoyed our coffees and people-watched on Michigan Avenue.

We lucked out with temperatures near 60 degrees, it even smelled like Spring. This made walking around the city and taking in the views very enjoyable. I did not need my winter coat!

We had lunch at Cindy’s Rooftop, which is located int he Chicago Athletic Assocaition Hotel, right on Michigan Ave. The menu is family style so you can share. The drink menu was fun too!

The restaurant has a glass ceiling and opens outside to panoramic views of Millenium Park and the lake. There are fire pits on the balcony to stay warm on colder days.

We ended our day looking at Macy’s Holiday windows and the tree in the Walnut room.

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