Last December, we decided to use a credit card perk to spend a night in Chicago, doing fun, festive activities. We ended up having such a great time that I think we inadvertently created a new family tradition!
Our visit this year included some of our prior favorites, along with some cool new ones:
L7 Chicago
For the past year, since staying at L7 Chicago by Lotte, our kids have regularly brought up the “hotel in Chicago with the window seat”, asking when we’d go back. Because of this, I only considered other hotels for a very brief time before booking us another River View room at L7 Lotte!
Just as last time, the kiddos spent basically the entire time in the window seat, playing with stuffies, drawing pictures, and just pointing out everything they could see from so high up.
Quick FYI for fellow skincare lovers: last year, there were sheet face masks in the room upon arrival. This year, the masks weren’t there, but when I asked at the front desk if they still provided them, they hooked me up with a couple 🙂
Lincoln Park Zoo Lights
Our first festive stop: the Lincoln Park Zoo. Most of the time, the Lincoln Park Zoo is free to visit (yes, really – free!), but during the Zoo Lights event, there’s a small cost per person. For the 4 of us, purchasing tickets ahead of time, with fees, it came out to about $50 total.
The idea of wandering a zoo in the middle of a Chicago winter can be a tough sell, but there are definitely indoor spaces available where you can warm up while looking for some animals and, of course, hot chocolate for sale.
If you check out the Zoo Lights, I’d recommend keeping your animal-spotting expectations pretty low; many of them are sleeping or hard to see at night. Go for the lights, which are fun and pretty! (And try to talk your kids out of the ferris wheel – buying tickets for it and the carousel cost as much as admission, haha.)
Homeslice Pizza
After the zoo, we met up with city friends for dinner at Homeslice. The restaurant was decked out in the lights and ornaments I had hoped for, but I also loved its actual decor, which felt like a cozy wood cabin.
Cold beers and tasty pizza, definitely a good stop – the Nadene was my fave slice!
Museum of Illusions
The next morning, we all slept in then fueled up on pick-up bagel sandwiches from down the street (Holy Bagels, yummo) before visiting the Museum of Illusions. The kids have been very into puzzles and jokes lately, so I thought the Museum of Illusions might be in a similar vein and something they’d like.
We bought tickets online ahead of time, so we quickly checked in at the front desk and then were on our way. The museum is pretty small, just one floor that you just walk through and explore. There are bigger hands-on exhibits along with smaller ones lining the walls, making it easy to always find something to check out.
I would say we spent 45 minutes to an hour at the museum, though we probably would’ve stayed longer trying out things in the puzzle area near the exit, if we didn’t have another reservation coming up. We had a good time (and some great pics). I actually learned a lot too – lots of cool visual tricks that I hadn’t seen before!
Maggie Daley Skating Ribbon
Another repeat on this visit was the Maggie Daley Skating Ribbon. This time around we snagged an afternoon spot instead of an evening spot like last year. Comparing the two, I think I preferred the evening time slot! Skating with the Christmasy music playing and the buildings all lit up around you is such a magical experience!
No matter what time of day, it’s a fun thing to try! The weather was warmer this year (40+ degrees), making the ice very choppy, so be mindful of that possibility if you’re not a strong skater. Our 5 year old was struggling with the ice, so we opted to take a long snack break for hot chocolate and a hot dog.
Parking tip: the Millennium Lakeside Garage is directly below the skating ribbon, which was convenient for us, since we brought our own skates! When you buy your skating tickets, there are details about discounted parking in that garage as well.
Play Garden and Millennium Park
Once we changed out of our skating gear (and watched the Zamboni do a couple laps), we decided to wander for a bit and wait for traffic to die down.
We walked over to the Maggie Daley Play Garden first. The kids had fun burning off some energy, trying out all the slides and different things to climb. Then we took the pedestrian bridge and visited Millennium Park, proudly showing off ‘The Bean’ to our kids. They could not have cared less (kids, man – lol), which told us we needed to grab a bite to eat and wrap up our fun day.
Was the 2nd Annual Trip as Fun as the First?
Yes! We had a great time. Chicago has so many awesome things to do this time of year, and I like coming up with an itinerary that I hope the kids will love!
