Jeremy scheduled to run a half-marathon in Chicago on 9/11. My girlfriend, Kate, would be there running, as well. I didn’t have plans to run, but decided last minute to run with her. I’m talking 5 minutes before registration closed the day before.
Kate decided to start running and tells me that I inspired her. How humbling to be the inspiration of someone’s accomplishment! This was going to be her first marathon, so I decided to run with her, and get her to the finish line. Her goal was to finish at 3 hours, I pushed her to the finish at 2:25. She didn’t stop once, a great time for her first!! I’m very proud of her accomplishment!
The Half was very enjoyable for me. It was the first race where I wasn’t running my race pace and it was so enjoyable that I’m thinking about becoming a pacer for future races.I loved being the one to encourage someone to thefinish! Thanks, Kate, for helping me find another passion!
So … since we would be in Chicago for the race, we decided to stay an entire week to soak up the city! It is our first time in Chicago. The weather is at its best, and Chicago reminds me of a mini-Manhattan … more modern, less congested.
This picture was taken from our table at the Signature Room on the 95th floor of the John Hancock Building. Beautiful!!
Gino’s East
The pizza here was sooo good, and the line to get in was sooo long! The crust was flaky, and had a cornmeal taste to it. Very different, and very tasty! We may need to visit Gino’s again before the trip back home. This was my favorite deep dish pizza.
Eggsperience Cafe
Two miles from our hotel on Michigan, but well worth the short cab ride. I had the apple, pecan, caramel pancakes, and Jeremy had the norm: eggs and potatoes. He’s a potato kind of guy.
Giordano’s was the other famous deep dish pizza we tried, voted best by NBC. Gino’s was definitely my fav, but Jer liked Giordano’s the best. The pizza tasted “fresh” and very yummy!
The Purple Pig
The saying goes, If you give a pig wine, it’ll turn purple.
Some of the menu choices:
* Pigs Ear with Crispy Kale, Pickled Cherry Peppers & Fried Egg
* Sardines with Shaved Fennel Salad & Lemon Vinaigrette
* Purple Pig Platter
* Pigs Tails Braised in Balsamic
My husband would call this heaven … me, not so much. I settled on Roasted Bone Marrow with Herbs, Prosciutto Bread Balls, and Braised Pork Shoulder with Mashed Potatoes.
DMK Burger, grass-fed beef bar
My kind of meat! Absolutely the best burgers and fries I have ever had! Hands down! I had the Roasted, Hatch Green Chile, Fried Farm Egg, Sonoma Jack, Smoked Bacon Burger with Amish Blue and Smoked Bacon Sweet Potato fries. Jer had the Holy Guac-Aioli Burger. Chorizo Guacamole, Sonoma Jack Cheese, Chipotle Aiolo, Cilantro and onions with Sweet Potato Fries w Lemon Tobasco Aioli. The picture does no justice as the lighting was so dark inside.
Good thing we’re runner’s, or we would be on a diet! 
Overall, I LOVE Chicago! We were there for a week, and can’t wait to visit again!
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