Today is full of activity. You have to make the best use of the time you have for an extended weekend.

The Starbucks lady butchered my name and when they called Roana, we howled. For the rest of the day I had Rosanna replaced with Roana as an ear worm.

First up was the architectural boat cruise along the Chicago River. The guide providing us with the facts was enthusiastic, knowledgeable and a sheer pleasure to listen to. The buildings tower to the river’s edge and some are just beautiful.

The sky was brilliantly blue with barely a cloud in the sky. A perfect backdrop for these giants. 90 mins floating on the water, passing under bridges, learning about different ages of architecture and we were ready for the next activity – lunch at Al’s Beef.

There is nothing ladylike about eating an Italian Beef sandwich. It was an amazing meal and sloppy as hell but worth every drip of gravy. The melted provolone cheese topped with a spicy giardiniera mixture, a pile of beef on a fresh bun and then dipped in gravy. Wet and wild! Wowzers! It was unbelievable!

After that meal we needed to walk it off and headed to Millenium park where as you enter, you see this sign.

We are not in Canada anymore! Do you really have to put up a sign?’!!! Crazy!

The place has many art installations but this one was cool with faces on columns that spouted water for adults and kids to cool off.

Oh and a trip to Millenium Park is not complete without a visit to the Bean!

Back to the flat we went to rest up for the next item on our itinerary Chicago deep dish pizza.

Back into the Uber we head to Pequod’s as recommended by our drivers. Lou Malnati’s and Giordano’s were also discussed but they are both chain restaurants. We wanted authentic. We rolled up to Pequod’s in the Lincoln Park to a lineup between 90 and 150 minutes; standing room only at 7:30 pm. People were spilling on to the street. This is definitely the place to be.

We were all in, and not leaving Chicago without trying this. We put our name in as Roana (giggling like school girls) and went in search of a beverage to wait for our phones to ring.

Walking past abandoned buildings and closed gyms we found this place call Kibbitznest Books Brew & Blarney. People were playing games, sitting at the bar reading books. It was so quiet until we arrived. LOL Very quirky place and a wifi-free zone. It also sold ice cream. Did I say quirky?

2 hours later we find our way to a table at Pequod’s and we were told pizza would be another 45 minutes. We were starving so we ordered some appetizers and a beverage. You know when you go past the point of hungry, well that was us. The pizza arrived with all its flourish, we had a slice and took the rest to go. 10:15 pm we headed back to the flat.

Was it worth the wait? – let’s just say we waited, we ate it and we conquered!