We used to do a big Friday St Paddy’s Eve dinner then home to bed, usually a fairly calm night in the city. I remember a St Paddy’s that was like 70 degrees in 2013 or so- one of the biggest benders I’ve ever been on
That was my favorite SPD. The amount of people in their 20s completely passed out on the L platforms was hilarious at the time.
our Cocaine dealer ran out of cocaine, dude literally was with the cartel- he was like everyone is out that was an absurd 24hrs, bars were out of beer & vodka by 6pm legendary day in Chicago degenerate history
As others have mentioned, Friday is always fine. There will be a bunch of extra tourists in touristy spots, but the people with hotel rooms aren’t a huge issue. Chicago gets ridiculous on Saturday from all the people living or staying outside the city taking a train in.
Will be my first Chicago st patty’s but I’m old and not really one to celebrate anyway I’m sure I’ll get drunk though
Either same exact year or close I was out there and was hanging out with a couple of strippers I was friends with from LA that went out there to work the weekend. One ended up throwing up in a plant in the hotel lobby (before her scheduled shift) and got me kicked out of the hotel so I had to try to scramble to find a hotel at like 9pm on Saturday of St. Paddy's.
Just me and the gf. We're hitting Indiana Sand Dunes National Park and going to her friend's wedding. Plan on hitting a tiki bar I think. Really kinda winging it.
If you haven't done it before, jump on the Architecture Boat Tour. It's fantastic and the one touristy thing even locals do.
https://www.brokenshaker.com/location/chicago-hours-and-location/ someone else posted it previously but they've extended the residency - it's one of the best ranked bar programs in the world.
2013 was a ridiculous St. Pat’s and I missed most of the party…. Got wasted in the AM watching the river dyed green from my boy’s condo on the river, changed into a suit and sweated my balls off at my aunt’s funeral on the south side, made it back downtown at 8pm to drink at a hotel bar with my only two friends from earlier left standing, got ourselves kicked out of there (they were sloppy af), went to a bar in Wicker Park to meet up with the only friend I knew was still out…where I randomly bumped into and hooked up with a co-worker. She’s now my wife.
Have a quick trip this Thursday night - Saturday afternoon. Originally was just the wife and me and we were staying till Sunday and were going to partake in some St. Paddy's fun but decided to bring our 7 year old daughter with us and get out Saturday afternoon. Plan so far is to do the Griffin museum Friday morning, play the afternoon by ear (open to any kid friendly suggestions here), dinner at Gibsons, Saturday morning breakfast at Beatrix, and then again play it by ear before our flight out at 5pm. I love Chicago though and excited for my daughter to see it for the first time.
Maggie Daly Park has an awesome playground that's in the middle of other touristy stuff that is great. Like the Bean ect.
That's good to hear, that was my #1 for trying first. Weather is supposed to be great Friday so she'll love that.
Assuming you don't have young kids if you're going to a tiki bar. Hit up Three Dots and a Dash on Clark and Hubbard and then walk to Millenium Park. The Art Institute is right next to it and is top notch. If you have young kids with you, you'll probably want to uber to the museum campus where you'll go to either the Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium, or the Adler Planeterium, depending on how old your kids are and their interests.
The Shedd to me is always amazing for kids from the Wild Reef with the sharks to the beluga whales and penguins I don’t think you can go wrong. it’s probably booked out but you can do an experience where you feed the belugas and get in the water with them on a ledge. It’s incredible and I would highly recommend for anyone.
Three Dots and a Dash is the tiki bar I was turned onto by a buddy. Staying down the alley from it so we can stumble home for the night. Any recs for breakfast/coffee in that area or near the Art Institute? We are going to do some breweries Thursday getting into town before check in and then hit a museum/park Friday morning. And yes blessed with no kids (thanks to certain Illinois state laws )
Lil man is skipping school to head to the art institute Thursday. If you see him you have my permission to slap him.
Unfortunately we are seeing in real time the most Chicago news story of all time, this generations Parking meter deal, the bond issue that doesn't pay principal until decades later.
https://abc7chicago.com/post/ohare-...aves-man-wounded-chicago-police-say/16011052/ Off to a strong start to the midweek here.
We’ve tried to stop so many times and he wants to know where we are so much more than we need to know where he is. I get texts when I get to the grocery store on all the things he wants. He has an alert set up.
Hop Butcher was fine. Knew it would lack diversity in their lineup. Fat bear week gave us a couple interesting stouts at least. Came to Maplewood because I saw they make their own fernet which I'm a sucker for. Best fernet I've had that wasn't the OG. But their lineup is lacking too. Hopefully Off Color can get me right.
Yeah, I mean HB just does their NEIPAs with some sweet stouts thrown in. Maplewood is usually more diverse but they stay within their path which isn't a bad thing. What kind of beers are you looking for? And now you're making me miss the Mouse Trap. It's been oddly long since I've been there for whatever reason.