Lake Placid, New York

Both John and I had only been to ski resorts within a few hours drive of Washington, DC, and everyone kept telling us how much better the conditions were out west and up north.  Well, if we were going to do this, we were damn well going to DO IT!  After a few days of trying to convince John, and then chickening out at the price tag, we finally said "What the hell!" and ended up going for it; staying 3 nights at Lake Placid Lodge in the Adirondacks of New York.  We were there during the winter Olympics (in Sochi, Russia), which Lake Placid actually hosted back in 1980.

February 8, 2014:  Arriving in Lake Placid

Landed in Burlington, Vermont and took a scenic drive over to Lake Placid, NY.  The drive was just as good as the destination! 

Here's the road you take to get to the hotel.

We passed this street.

The hotel provided sleds, cross country skis, and snowshoes.

 

Great woodwork as you enter from outside.

We were greeted with a glass of champagne, and the concierge gave us a tour of the property.  

Lobby

Click below to see more!

Chicago Day 4

Met up with John for one last deep dish at lunch.  This time we tried Giordano's.  It was worth the wait/weight.  This was way better than Lou Malnati's.  

Damn.

Kimpton Hotels have this perk that you can borrow a bike from them, so I took them up on it.  I grabbed a bike and pedaled to the Navy Pier.

They had a bunch of painted fire hydrants all around the water fountain.  Here are a couple shots of my favorite:

The fountain shot jets of water up into the air at different intervals, making it seem like a choreographed dance.

 Along the Pier, boats were lined up on one side and restaurants and amusements along the other.

 You can faintly see a big ship with mast sails in the distance.

Zombies.  They're everywhere.  We would just miss the grand opening of "The Fear" Haunted House at Navy Pier.

Great view of the skyline from the end of the pier.

From there, I biked along Lake Shore Drive and stopped at Millennium Park.

 You can see the Art Institute.

A cool amphitheater...

…and The Bean!

 I wonder how often this thing gets Windexed.

View from under the bean.

Art installations in the park.

This was pretty cool.  It was a fountain, but the projected image on the tile would change very slowly.

Painted sculptures from Jun Kanko.

 Biked to Buckingham Fountain.  You know, the one in the Married With Children theme.

Love and Marriage...

 Then on towards the aquarium.

Another perk of Kimpton Hotels is their wine hour for guests.  Biked back to the hotel and hung out in their lobby with my exercise clothes on drinking free wine and eating delicious free pizza.

For our last night in Chicago, we went back to The Chicago Diner (yet again) for dinner!  

Then went swimming on the rooftop pool.  Well, John swam.  I got in up to my waist and was too chicken to dunk all the way in because I was cold.

Chicago Day 3

It was Meg's last day in Chicago, so before she left, we went to The Chicago Diner for lunch…this time, in Boys Town.  She ordered the massive Country Fried Steak (and she ate it all!) and I got the Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich. 

The size of the steak compared to a sugar packet.

   

"Chicken" Philly with sweet potato fries

We shopped around the neighborhood for a little bit, and ended up going to a costume store where all the drag queens go and I bought a pink wig for my Marie Antoinette costume.

After lunch, Meg got in a cab for the airport, and I continued to the Andersonville neighborhood to check out all of the antique stores.  I fell in love with this neighborhood filled with unique shops and cool restaurants.

One of my favorite stores was Brimfield, with lots of vintage outdoorsy items and lots of plaid upholstery.

Brimfield

Brimfield

Jameson Loves Danger, a cool pet store

 I had to stop at the Swedish Bakery and get some goodies.

 

Found some cool gnomes and decor at Room Service.

But one of my favorite stores was Roost.

 

 

I didn't end up buying anything, though.  If I had lived there, I'm sure it would have at least one of Brimfield's larger pieces of furniture.  Speaking of living there, I just loved this tree-lined neighborhood of historic homes within walking distance to Andersonville and metro.  If only the winters weren't so brutal!

For dinner that night we went to Karyn's Cooked.

 

Traditional southern fare - collard greens, beans, and cornbread!

Green enchiladas

 On the walk back to the hotel, we passed a cool vintage burger joint that had advertising on the side.