It finally happened! After years upon years of promising to visit Emiola, Sade and I finally did it! Personally, I think we picked the perfect year to venture over to Chicago, there was so much to celebrate.

Chicago was everything I expected and more. I ate, I drank and I grinned from ear to ear pretty much the whole time. We spent a lot of time focusing on family and like I said, celebrating so there wasn't much time left for being complete tourists, so don't expect this blog post to tell you about my time at the Bean or Willis Tower because it didn't happen (but we are hoping to do all of that on our next trip so look out for a part two to this blog post).

What To Do:

Architecture tour:
The first and pretty much the only real touristy thing I think we did was go on the famous architecture boat tour which everyone recommended to us once they found out we were tourists. The tour is definitely a must do! It was a hot day so you can imagine how welcomed the breeze was when we set sail. The architecture in Chicago is amazing, in London I rarely look twice at the buildings but Chicago? I was like a kid in the candy store. Simply amazed.

The tour guide apart from the distracting hole in his t-shirt and terribly landing jokes, was amazing! Chicago is somewhere I don't know much about other than the fact that its the home of deep dish pizza, so learning about the fact that Chicago was a city that was on fire at some point and has been rebuilt was amazing. If you're looking for something that all the family would love, I highly recommend.

Ditch the car and use public transport:
On our last day we decided to travel using the bus and trains and boy was it an experience. Their system seems pretty simple but I guess I would say that when I had someone who knew how it operates. If you want a real experience of Chicago and the people who live there I recommend ditching uber and cabs. From selling candy on the train, to conning people out of 100 dollars, to someone announcing on the bus they were our "ghetto news reporter" you're sure to have a entertaining journey.

Cruise around at night:
The Chicago skylines are seriously out of this world, I can't even word just how beautiful they were. The closest explanation I can give is, if you could feel Break from Toronto in person, that's what it felt like riding around and looking at the skyline at night time. Dare I say they beat New York?

Go to the beach:
I've never experienced a beach day during a holiday, until Chicago!  It was an amazing to feel the sand on my feet and waves rushing over my toes. We went down early in the morning, one towel between the three of us and just enjoyed, doing nothing.

Where To Eat:

Prior to us going to Chicago, you know I had to save a folders worth of things to do. Visiting Landbirds was one of those things and boy they did not disappoint. The service was...entertaining to say the least. But the food? 10/10 on flavour, texture, seasoning, everything! If we had more time we definitely would have gone back. I can hand on heart say we all scraped our plates clean because it was that good. If you don't believe me just look at the photos.

Original Rainbow Cone:
This was another place on my list after scrolling through the Timeout Chicago instagram and again, it didn't disappoint. There are so many ice cream places in Chicago but we decided to go to Original Rainbow Cone where I tried their bubble gum and pecan flavoured ice cream. Little did I realise that they put the actual items of the flavour in the ice cream, I found out the hard way when I choked on a piece of gum and suddenly became overwhelmed by the amount of pecans that was in my small serving.

I have three words to say to you all: spicy chicken sandwich. The hype is right, I promise you if they had this in the UK I would have one everyday without fail. Two times was not enough and I'm counting down the days until me and that sandwich are reunited.

I was feeling for Thai and my cousin recommended Snail which was a Thai restaurant that did the best drunken noodles I have ever had. Guys I kid you not, I hoovered these noodles down. I literally couldn't believe how good the noodles were, I was in shock with every bite I took. The service was beyond amazing, the man was so sweet, I literally wanted to put him in my pocket.

If I told you I didn't eat good in Chicago, that would make me a liar.

Where To Drink:

Z bar:
If you're looking for views as well as good cocktails then I highly recommend the Z bar. We went there for Toyosi's birthday and I loved it. Pictures galore and amazing service. I highly recommend the Tutti Frutti cocktail, it was a favourite. Also its location is perfect for a spot of walking afterwards.

Punch Bowl Social:
Amazing cocktails and amazing activities in one place. Picture this: cocktail in hand, buffalo wing in the other whilst playing bowling? Only in punch bowl social. I found this place on instagram and knew we had to go when I saw people taking pictures against a wall that looks like a old laundromat. A fun place to go out with lovely staff and good prices.

Ace hotel:
Again, a great place for good views and good cocktails that are strong. I hate long island ice teas and I just had to mention that there's takes first place for the worst tasting one I've had because all the alcohols were that strong. So if you want a long island that lives up to its name? This is the place for you. The music was terrible though I have to mention, it caused us all to leave and go somewhere else.

Okay I know what you're thinking, Starbucks really? But it is crazy how many different options they have over in Chicago to London, every time I went I tried something new and loved every single one. I tried the famous youtuber pink drink and I get why they love it so much, sweet yet refreshing.

Chicago was nice because it was just good vibes from start to finish, full of kind words, love and happy tears. I'll be back next year before you guys know it as it's a second home to me. I have a whole family out there who I love so much and miss incredibly already.

until the next post,
with love yossy.

What's your opinion?

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