Chicago Adventures

Zach and I took a quick trip to Chicago for our birthdays and to see Lewis Capaldi in concert! I’ve never been to Chicago, and we had so much fun exploring the city and spending time with friends.

Selfie on the plane

O'Hare airport

We stayed at the Hampton Inn Chicago Downtown/Magnificent Mile (Note--there are three Hampton Inn Downtown hotels. So if you go, make sure you end up at the right one!

He considered reenacting Buddy the Elf with the elevator buttons.

Our room

We flew in on my actual birthday, so we *had* to get a birthday coffee at a Starbucks!

Two things I love to do if possible when visiting a new place are: river boat tour and a view from up high. We got to do both on this short trip! We did a Chicago River Boat Architectural Tour the day we arrived, and it was marvelous. You know it's going to be good when the tour guide says "Let's go back to the 1600s."

Beautiful weather for a river cruise tour!

The tallest building designed by a female architect

Navy Pier. Chicago was home to the very first Ferris Wheel. I also knew this because I read Devil in the White City (a nonfiction Erik Larsson book about the World Trade Fair and a serial killer)

Complimentary drinks because it was my birthday!

We visited our friends Katya and Carlos this trip, and Katya had great ideas to help plan the visit! I spent a long time picking the hotel, and almost as long deliberating about where to eat on my birthday LOL. But we decided to go to Bar Mar, a Chef Jose Andres' restaurant. The restaurant served seafood tapas, and the interior had giant windows to make it feel like a patio. The food and drinks were so good, as was the company!

Fancy drinks! My salt foam margarita and Katya's Floral Cloud.

Neptune's Pillow.

Octopus!

Our group. Look at that giant octopus chandelier!

Y'all, I really love food. This was a deconstructed key lime pie and a flan. We shared amongst the table.

On Saturday, we had the day to explore before going to the Lewis Capaldi concert. So we walked around the Magnificent Mile.

Tiffany!

Our hotel was very close to a new Harry Potter store. It was very cool inside.

We planned to go to Hancock Tower, but wanted to wait for clouds to burn off, so we took the bus down to Millennium Park.

Mandatory pic with The Bean.

This art installation is interesting from every angle.

We decided to get pizza at Giordano's for lunch! First time to have Chicago deep dish; and I’m so glad we listened to our waiter to try it. This pizza was excellent (look at his cheese pull!) and I fear I’m ruined on deep dish pizza forever. Will have to come back

LOOK AT THAT PULL

We had a timed entry reservation for the 360 Chicago floor in the John Hancock Center. Unfortunately it was cloudy all day. :-/ No refunds! So we went anyway.

You can't see the top of the building!

View from the 94th floor. This is the place that has "Tilt" where you can lean out further than the wall. We only paid for the observation deck--good thing. You really couldn't see anything worth doing the Tilt for! Even so, just the observation floor is really cool.

Cocktails in the clouds

The clouds did blow away a bit.

Later that evening, we went over to Katya and Carlos' house, and had a yummy charcuterie board before the concert.

Sparkling rose from Angers, France, where I studied abroad!

Headed to the concert!

The concert was so good--I have loved Lewis Capaldi for years, and the first/only time he's gone to DFW, it was right after the Eras Tour in 2023 and I couldn't swing a ticket, even to a small venue. Later that year, he struggled with  Tourette's syndrome and had to stop touring altogether. It's been three years, and after finding the right therapy and treatment, he's back touring. He was only visiting a handful of cities, so we decided to go to Chicago to see him. New city to us, we have friends who live there, and it was my birthday weekend. It was a wonderful way to celebrate both Zach's and my birthdays!

Katya was both Wilder and Felicity's kindergarten teacher before she moved to Chicago. We love you Miss Sido! :-)

Sunday was our last day, and we packed up to visit Zach's college friend Eric before heading to the airport.

We rode the L there!

I did not get a photo of Eric! We went to brunch, and then the airport, and I only took a pic of his and Jackie's sweet cat. 

We had a wonderful time, and thought the whole time that we'd love to bring the kids. Chicago is a great city with a lot to do and see, and I am sure we'll be back.

The Boatwrights Abroad: Itinerary

 

Here's a recap of our trip, for easy reference!

Introduction and planning the trip

March 8: Fly to London

March 9: London - Harston visit

March 10: London - double decker bus tour, Thames river cruise tour

March 11: London - Harry Potter Studios

March 12: London - Tower of London, Churchill War Rooms

March 13: London - British museum, chocolates and dinner with Harstons

March 14: London -> Paris - Seine river cruise

March 15: Paris - Visit the Powells in Versailles, dinner with Claire and family in Paris

March 16: Paris - Galeries Lafayette, visit Charlotte and Maxime

March 17: Paris - Arc de Triomphe, Louvre museum

March 18: Paris - Photo shoot, Musee d’Orsay, Musee l'armee

March 19: Paris - Marche President Wilson, Tuileries, dinner with the Gulledges

March 20: Paris - Notre Dame, Deportation Memorial, Montmartre

March 21: Paris -> DFW, final thoughts and sharing portrait gallery

The Boatwrights Abroad: Harry Potter Studios

Photo heavy post ahead!

We had a long journey to Warner Brothers Studios: The Making of Harry Potter on March 11, so we walked to the nearby Aldgate East stop to take the Tube, then a train to Watford Junction, where a Harry Potter-wrapped double decker bus picked us up for the 15 minute drive to the studio. Everyone on the bus was eager and excited to get there—and that vibe continued at the studios. My research suggested allotting 90 minutes to get from London to the studio, but I over prepared and gave us 2 hours. It went very smoothly, we got there in plenty of time, and when we arrived were immediately put at ease by the staff about our schedule and timed entrance.

Our chariot awaited

I want to say at the onset—booking Harry Potter Studios was one of the first things I did after booking our flights. So nearly 2.5 months before this trip, there was only ONE day available during the week we were in London to get a reservation. Luckily it was for the day I had hoped for. But if you are wanting to go to Harry Potter Studios, I would 1) secure your tickets a soon as possible and 2) give yourself plenty of time to get through the space. We were there from 12:30 to 6 pm, and could have spent more time there!

Giant Elder Wand

It was also special because: 1. Wilder is 11, the same age Harry was when he arrived at Hogwarts and 2. We went on March 11! 

We had booked a Harry Potter-themed afternoon tea at 12:30 in the food hall, which was decorated to look like the Great Hall in the movies. Wilder has a pizza, Felicity had a burger - both from a Dudley Dursley-themed menu. Zach and I had tea, coffee and themed treats / sandwiches we shared with the kids.  

Afternoon tea with Harry Potter-themed foods!

Felt like the Great Hall!

These four are no longer with us. I did actually tear up.

We entered the studios for our tour at 1:30. This tour was expensive, but we think it was more than worth the money. All four of us have read all of the books several times and of course, watched all the movies. We got to see the actual sets, and recreated sets, for many scenes from the movies. We took in lots of facts and trivia, and there were many interactive elements that made it fun for all of us. My favorite part was the actual miniature (that is huge) of the exterior of Hogwarts. They used it to film exterior shots of the school throughout the movies before rebuilding it inside the studios for this tour. We each got a wand, some souvenirs, and I got this journal and a coffee mug with Hedwig on it. 

Here's some photos from the studio - there's more to the post after our tour--at the bottom!

The cupboard under the stairs

Preparing to enter the Great Hall set

The Great Hall

Hermione's dress from the Yule Ball

Slytherin's room

The Mirror of Erised

Gryffindor Tower

Their actual outfits!

Wands

potions

Professor Trelawny

Aragog

BUCKBEAK! Felicity was most looking forward to seeing him.

We made howlers!

The actual train cars on the Hogwart's Express

Butterbeer

They both liked it. VERY sweet.

The actual bridge to Hogsmeade

Ford Anglia! Wilder loves this so much

Mandrakes screaming when you pull them

triple decker bus!

The Burrow

Inside the home on Privet Dr.

A Thestral

Gringotts

Diagon Alley!

This miniature of Hogwarts was originally built outside and used for all of the external shots for the movies. Seeing it kind of made me emotional!

We stayed till 6 pm, and then did the reverse journey of bus -> train -> underground -> then walked to an Italian restaurant in our neighborhood called Emilia’s Crafted Pasta. The inside was trendy, yet cozy, and all of the pastas were handmade and DELICIOUS. I had a cocktail called a Hugo and an amazing carbonara with bucatini. Zach had lamb ragu ravioli, and we had sourdough bread with burrata. The kids devoured their pasta with tomato sauce and the bread!

A delicious Hugo

Carbonara

ravioli

Sourdough bread with burrata

On our way home in our neighborhood we stopped at Mehmet Efendi, a Turkish bakery with all kinds of treats and tea in little tulip glasses. Felicity loves Dubai chocolate, and we loaded up on baklava.

Dubai chocolate

Baklava of all kinds

Next up - our visits to the Tower of London and Churchill War Rooms!