Quenching Travel Urges Without Leaving Chicago

Now that I've been living in Chicago for about 6 weeks, I figured it was high time to visit our local sushi restaurant. Coming from the suburbs of D.C., I'm thrilled by the prospect of being able to walk to dozens of new restaurants. Bob San is on the up-and-coming strip of Division Street in Wicker Park, and is surrounded by funky boutiques and lots of fantastic, original restaurants (in between some soon to be updated homes and a hardware store). There's an outdoor seating area with really cool padded chairs that look like they're from the Jetsons (and are uniquely comfortable). Inside, the decor is natural toned, with high backed couch/benches along one wall and about 15 to 25 tables. Of course, there's also a sushi bar if you prefer to watch the chefs do their thing.

We sat outside, despite being only a few yards away from passing traffic. Service was great - we had ice water in less than a minute, followed by hot damp towels to clean our hands. We ordered steamed shrimp dumplings (about $5.95), which weren't fabulous, and they take awhile to steam, so order another appetizer if you're starving. I got a California roll (can't resist - $4.25) and a fresh Philly roll, and my boyfriend got a spicy crab and unagi avo. All were fabulous, except for the weird, sticky sweet fish sauce they had poured over the unagi. I'd never had unagi like that before, and I'd definitely suggest requesting it without the weird sauce.

After we finished, our waitress brought out orange wedges for us, which I was appreciative of. It's the little things that count, and what makes this otherwise fairly average sushi restaurant stand out from others I've been to. Between the reasonable prices ($35 for an appetizer, 4 rolls and tip) and the proximity to our new pad, I'll definitely be back.

If you're visiting Chicago and staying in the city, to get to Bob San, just hop on the blue L line heading towards O'Hare. (Or, you can take a bus west on Division from the Gold Coast.) Get off at Division and walk west along Division until you get to Bob San. Along the way, peek into the windows of the funky shops, and feel free to people watch!

No tourist can come to Chicago and miss out on Millennium Park--it has some of the most people-friendly works of art I've seen as well as the requisite lawns and trees. One of Chicago's icons is the giant "bean," a huge silver sculpture on the edge of the park facing Michigan Avenue. It's hard to resist taking photos of your reflection in the smooth silver surface and playing "Where's Waldo?" Be sure to walk underneath it and get the kaleidoscope effect of seeing hundreds of your own face. During the summer, it seems to get pretty crowded, but it's also a good spot to people watch. There are picnic tables and benches surrounding it, as well as a refreshment stand, so it's a good place to take a break on a hot day.

My second favorite part of Millennium Park is the face towers, two tall towers of glass cubes that cover some kind of digital screens that display various faces of Chicagoans. It's fascinating to watch these faces as they change expressions and look right back at you, then purse their lips as a fountain of water shoots out of their mouth. I could watch it for hours! Guidebooks will tell you the details of how it all works, but I'll tell you that it's a great experience in a relaxing sense. It's almost interactive (and really can be if you feel like joining the kids splashing around in the shallow water between the two towers).

Other than that, check out the huge silver stage structure, then kick off your shoes and lounge on the lawn. Grant Park is all towards the south of Millennium Park, so head that way and get your snapshots in front of another great Chicago icon--Buckingham Fountain. Of course, it's all free!