For Valentines Day we decided to head south to Chicago.  One of the great things about living in SE Wisconsin is the proximity to the great Windy City to the south.  There is lots to do and if you don’t run into much traffic you can be down in the loop after an hour and thirty minutes by car.  Valentines day is a special day and we knew that Chicago would help make the day a memorable one.  Here is what we managed to see and do:

• Get ring polished at dimend SCAASI

When I got engaged to Lisa I bought her a ring at Wal-Mart for under 20 bucks.  I told her that I wanted to pick out a real engagement ring together.  Well, those of you that know my wife also know that she will do research to educate herself and make the best possible decision.  Well dimend SCAASI was one of those decisions that truly marks what great taste and judgement my wife has.  Did you know that Chicago has a dimond district?  Well, we didn’t until we actually went to pick out a ring at dimend SCAASI .  There is a whole building dedicated to the diamond and jewelry trade.  Well, Issac Gottesman is the owner of this particular establishment and we couldn’t be any happier with our purchase.  My wife likes to drop off the ring for a professional polish when we are in town.  When we get it back it looks like new!  Worth the extra effort to make the stop.  If you are looking to buy an engagement ring I would not hesitate to encourage you to make an appointment at dimend SCAASI and find out how great they are for yourself.

• Walk The Magnificent Mile on Michigan Avenue

While waiting for the ring to be polished we went ahead with the rest of our day.  We like to walk The Magnificent Mile and check out the different stores and such.  The girls love to window shop and people watch.  We went into the water tower building and saw the photo exhibit: ANIMALS ARE OUTSIDE TODAY.  By the time we were done getting info on where the Snow Days events we were getting hungry.  However, not hungry enough to pass up going into the Museum of Contemporary Art Store and check out all their unique offerings.  We must have spent 30-40 minutes checking out everything.  This is the first time in the store and I must say that it was worth the stop.  Many times we will go to L’Appetito next to The Cheesecake Factory at the John Hancock Center but once we got there we decided to go……

• Eat at Chicago Burger Company

The Sheraton Chicago has several restaurants to try but we really like the Chicago Burger Company.  Yes, nine bucks may be a bit pricey for a burger but it’s well worth it.  They even give you these adorable 1.8 oz glass bottles of Heinz Mayonnaise.  Choose your meat, choose your toppings, and sink your teeth into what may be one of the best burgers I have ever eaten.  We left full bordering on stuffed.  But my wife was on a mission……

• Get garrett popcorn

Yes, the garrett popcorn shops live up to their infamy.  Again, while it’s a bit on the expensive side, it’s well worth the splurge.  We always get the Chicago mix which is a blend of cheese popcorn and carmel popcorn.  Either on their own is great but together is where the magic happens.  There is usually a line and Saturday was no exception.  The line was inside the store at least so our wait was not too terribly long.

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• See Snow Days Chicago events and activities

So Snow Days Chicago was going on and we wanted to check it out.  There were a ton of snow sculptures to see and even one from the Franklin area of Milwaukee County.  While we missed the actual sculpting we were able to see all the beautiful results.  There was also a ramp for a snow board competition/demonstration.  We watched a little of that and then headed over to the dog sled area to see the the dogs.  We were too late to see them hooked up but didn’t feel like we missed that much as there was no snow on the ground anyway.  Well, back to food…..We had picked up the ring and wanted to get some Chicago style pizza to take home.  So we headed back north on Michigan Ave.  On the way we stopped in Millennium Park at Cloud Gate.  This is probably one of the neatest sculptures I have ever seen.  I can only describe it as a large silver bean shaped object.  There is lots to do in the park and even more during the summer months.  Well, Julia our 10 year old was getting tired so off to find pizza………

• Get frozen Giordano’s Pizza to bring home

Well, we usually can’t manage to eat more than 1 large meal in a day so we like to stop and get a frozen pizza or two at Giordano’s Pizza.  I know I saw one just up the street off Michigan Avenue so off we headed.  Some how I missed it and we ended up at the one on Rush Street about 100 blocks out of our way.  Two pizzas and $50 bucks and an hour or so later we were headed back to the car.  On our way we ended up with a really pleasant surprise……

• See Toast fireworks display over the Chicago River and Michigan Avenue

Apparently, these fireworks happen every Saturday evening at 6:30pm in February.  We waited about 2 minutes and the fireworks display started.  What a nice way to end the day.  We watched the fireworks and continued our journey back to the car.  Guess what we found along the way?  You guessed it, the Giordano’s Pizza that we had walked by just an hour or so earlier.  Oh, well, if we would have gotten our pizza there we would have missed the fireworks.  Well, that is our exciting day in Chicago.  I wonder what our next adventure to this great city will bring.  Lisa says we need to go in the summer some time as we always find ourselves visiting in the winter months.

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