Last weekend, we took a short weekend getaway to Chicago, Illinois. Our original plan was to stay at downtown Chicago because that’s where we were going to spend most of our days. But to the last minute, we decided to booked a hotel in a nearby suburb by downtown Chicago and we were sooo glad, we made that decision. Because we couldn’t handle the traffic in downtown and it was too crowded for us. So although, I love the energy in the big city. It’s nice to go back in a quiet, serene environment of a suburb. It makes us feel more at home. The Le’ Meridien Hotel in Oakbrook met exactly that criteria. It’s a new, nice and cozy contemporary style hotel situated in Oakbrook,which is forty minutes away from downtown (if you count traffic). It’s not bad at all. The hotel is right next to Oakbrook Center, a beautiful outside shopping mall. They have everything from affordable to luxury stores. They also have snack bars, coffee shops, quick meals and full service dining. The hotel we stayed at, is right next to Cheesecake Factory. Right when you step outside the hotel door you can actually smell the aroma of yumminess and I love it! Now, I’m hungry.
credits : Le Meridien Oakbrook
Before I go on to share to you our mini getaway in the Windy City. Let me do a quick review of Le’ Meridien. Two words: Clean and Beautiful. What you see on the pictures is what you get. I can’t stress enough of how clean it is. I may be a messy person in my house because there are just days that I just can’t keep up at all, but that’s okay because its our house, our mess. But when it comes to hotels, I am very very OCD. I check everything. You know, when you’ve heard and seen a lot of scary stories and somehow at somepoint you’ve experienced it yourself. It’s traumatic and it’s life changing. I also always check reviews at Expedia , that’s our go to website for travels.
Now, let’s talk about things to do in Chicago. There are tons, a weekend is not enough if you wanted to do EVERYTHING . Let’s just say, a trip to a museum alone is one day and if you have plans to visit every museum most especially the big ones like the Shedd Aquarium, Adler Planetarium, Museum of Science and Industry and more, you have to allocate your whole day . We were planning to go to all three but we only get to go to one and that’s the Museum of Science and Industry. There are a lot of cool, interesting,amazing and obviously educational stuffs that is going on there. They have exhibits that are interactive and its what we enjoy the most. My husband is not really into museums, when I told him we are going to this museum and that museum. I can tell he got bored already. But he knows it’s good for the kids and our son Lucas likes museums, so he just agreed to it. For Mr. K (my husband) his definition of fun with the kids is amusement parks, water parks ,pools and beaches. There is nothing wrong with that, I love it too, I really do. But lately, It seems like it’s what we do every getaway/vacation. So that’s when I suggested that we should get to experience something else, at the same time educational and informative for everyone. So I was glad that he enjoyed it and most especially he get to spend that moment with the kids, it’s precious. For more information of things to do in Chicago, City Pass gives you details of where to go, what to do, where to eat and also they offer amazing deals for your visit.
Driving around downtown Chicago is not like a walk in the park, if you are like us who are not used to driving around big downtowns like Chicago or New York. It’s hard to navigate the roads and finding a parking spot. But its not that bad, Chicago downtown is very nice, there are a lot of things to see, the tall skyscrapers are amazing, the parks are beautiful.Our awesome friends from Chicago introduced us to Spothero app, it helps us find a parking spot and also gives good deals on parking fees.
One of the most things that my and my husband look forward to in Chicago is the food. I’m talking about Giordano’s famous Chicago style deep dish pizza. It is so good ! For me, It’s the best pizza ever yet. We can’t leave Chicago without having a box of it and of course, we didn’t forget Garrett’s popcorn either, the most delicious popcorn I ever had in my life. Unfortunately, we never got a chance to take a picture of the food because we were so tired and hungry. We just can’t wait to eat!
Even though we didn’t stayed that long in Chicago, it’s a time well spent with the family.
Thank you so much for reading !
