Chicago for a Night

The Hotel InterContinental is located in a prime location on the Magnificent Mile. It is located right across the way from a Westfield shopping center with all the usuals: Nordstrom, The Body Shop, Ann Taylor Loft, and similar shops.

The walk up rate for a standard room is $299 per night. I was fortunate to book the room through Hotwire for $170.71, including taxes.

Parking was an exorbitant $41 per day and valet-only. Parking at the nearby Hampton Inn was $35 per day, which is a nice discount if you are staying more than one night.

The hotel has many amenities, including a couple restaurants, a workout facility, and an indoor pool, though to use the workout facility and the pool, you must pay a $12 to $16 per day use fee.

We stayed in room no. 2154 on the 21st floor of the "newer" section of the hotel. The hotel also has a historic section you can stay in for an additional $50 per night.

The room was well-appointed. There was a large decorative mirror that made the room seem larger than it was. The lighting was also very decorative and hip.

There were two cloth bathrobes for guest use in the closet.

The bathroom had conditioning shampoo, lotion, and a shower cap. There were also oversize towels.

Overall, we liked the hotel for its location. It was really close to shopping and a quick walk to the river. We would stay there again if there was a discount rate offered and we had occasion to be there.

Morton's Original Gold Coast location on State & Rush is a true steakhouse. We visited the Morton's Phoenix location 5 years ago and remembered that the steak was phenomenal, so we decided to visit the original location on the Gold Coast.

The restaurant is located in the basement of an office building (no windows), and there is low lighting. I guess this could be perceived as mood lighting, but I think the lighting had to be low as a cover for the outdated furnishings. I was not impressed by the decor.

Our total bill was $190, including two glasses of wine, one NY Strip, one large rib eye, one side of sauteed mushrooms, one order of mashed potatoes, and a chocolate souffle for dessert. The NY Strip and rib eye were impeccably cooked with just the right amount of char. The mashed potatoes were creamy and lumpy at the same time, with little or no seasoning. The sauteed mushrooms were delightful. The meal was MADE by the chocolate souffle. As always, this is the best part of the meal. At $14 for a souffle to share, I recommend it highly.

I am glad we visited the Gold Coast location because of its history, but I wish we had gone to the downtown location on Wacker, because the atmosphere had to be a little better there. I just feel like a $200 meal should be served in a nicer-looking place.

The Goose Island Brewpub is known for its on tap beers, with 10 draughts to choose from every day. The taps were really cool-looking, with gooseheads and phones instead of boring regular taps.

We came for lunch and were pleasantly surprised with the offerings. For an appetizer, we ordered Goose fries ($2.95) with Parmesan and garlic on them (an additional $1.45). They were good, but they could have used tons more garlic. My hubby had ordered them on a previous visit with a lot more parm and garlic; I guess it just depends who makes them.

We ordered from a Mini Munchie menu that had mini versions of popular menu items for $3 to $3.50 each. I had the portobello "burger" and the Goose Dip (their version of a French dip). My hubby had the Paulina Market Brat and the Walleye.

My favorite was the Goose Dip, hands down. It was flavorful and the meat was tender. Our least favorite was the walleye, which was essentially flavorless, with the exception of the tartar sauce on it.

The portobello had goat cheese and marinara on it. It was good, but it mostly tasted like marinara. Next time I would have it with cheese only. My hubby liked the brat, but he removed the sauerkraut that was on top of the beer onions. It was too much goo for one sandwich.

All in all, it was a good lunch.

This architecture cruise has to be one of the best in Chicago. The double decker boat of Chicago's First Lady definitely provides an advantageous view of 50 of Chicago's beautiful buildings.

If you go during the week, the price is $25 per person. It is $27 on the weekends. While some other tours are less, they don't have the backing of the Chicago Architecture Foundation as this one does. Also, the $20 Wendella Cruise Tour uses a single deck boat, so you may not be able to have as good a view of the tops of tall structures. Some of the other cruise tours even have some sort of plastic covering on top, which may pose a problem for picture taking.

You can book your tours through Ticketmaster or go directly to the deck on the River under Michigan Avenue. On the weekends, it might be better to book in advance, as this is a popular tour.

On our tour, our guide gave us a lot of the history of all the buildings and of the Chicago River. It was very informative and interesting.

Another perk to the trip was the full bar on the first deck of the boat. However, bring some money with you. A margarita and a Captain and Coke set us back almost $20.

If we ever have visitors, we will bring them on this tour. We also got a great tan by sitting on the second deck! If you are not a fan of the sun, you may sit in the covered first deck with tinted windows. However, I believe your view will be obstructed.

All in all, a great tour.