Chicago on my Mind - New Years 2025-6
Once again, we spent some New Years time in my favorite city in the world, Chicago. We had a good time. In fact, we had a great time. Truth be told, we had too good a time. We've been home for a day and I can not shake how our Chicago trip was this year. So rather than wallow in the reality of returning to our normal lives in suburban Iowa, I figure why not write down what was great about our time in the Windy City before it leaves my body and I forget why it is and was so good. I'll start with the lowest point.
Wednesday, December 31 - Drive into a Party
Last minute on Wednesday, we decided to leave a day early for our trip and 5 hours later we rolled in our Oak Brook hotel in prime New Years partying time. We stayed in Oak Brook as it was close to our planned Christmas lights event at Brookfield Zoo and almost always we're cooked after those dark, cold outings. The bummer with staying in a hotel on New Years Eve is it is a roll of the dice as the environment and the lobby for our Holiday Inn was bumping. Actually that's putting it mildly. The bar connected to Oak Brook's Holiday Inn was rocking at a decibel level I was certain we'd be vibing in our room. Somehow we landed on the seventh floor, and 95% of the party was silenced. Only the occasional bass or melody could be heard. We lucked out, but I fell asleep thinking how anyone trying to sleep in the floors below us must have been losing their mind.
Thursday, January 1 - Chicago
Days like this are why I love Chicago. Core memory stuff. I had a goal; take our girls into the city, have an epic adventure, and rely only on our feet and public transportation. It went perfectly.
Before I get into the play-by-play, I realized something riding the train home on New Years Day; cars are a safe space that limit joy. Riding the train, bus, and walking we absorbed the city. Emmalyn is the perfect age to have an experience like this and form a lifelong love of travel, adventure, the potential of cities, and hopefully the City of Chicago. My only regret from this day was we couldn't do more!
After we got all our ducks in a row, we drove over to Harlem Ave in Oak Park and hit our old L train, the Green Line. I love sharing living parts of our family history with the girls and riding a train through our old neighborhood to a fun downtown is exactly what I'm looking for. The girls love the L and NYD was no different. We saw a lot of Chicago, crossed the river, into the loop and got off on an elevated platform to start our adventure. At Washington and Wabash we took a swift walk through 20 degree air to Goddess and the Baker, Marieta's breakfast spot of choice. Her egg and ham croissant was incredible, my burrito was fine, but the vibes we great. Real thick with happy and hungry people enjoying a fresh year.
From there we took the 26 CTA bus north on Michigan towards the John Hancock. For the days leading up to Chicago, Emmalyn said the bus was her most anticipated part of the adventure and she got a handful long rides through the heart of town. That first ride dropped us at Water Tower Place where we ended up having an hour to kill before lunch. Wouldn't you know it? We weren't aiming for the American Girl Doll store but fate had other plans. Apparently the store moved a while back to Water Tower and therein, my girls experienced what I have been calling second Christmas. Marieta loves her girls and when we can afford something special for them we do it. American Girl dolls aren't cheap, but our ladies were enthralled and now they each have a memory wrapped in a very special doll purchased in what was probably their Grandma Linda's favorite mall. How could we say no?
After a miscommunication (my fault), we met Dan and Sydney at the original Gino's East Pizza. For those who are uninitiated, Gino's is famous for their cornmeal bread pizza crust that grew to fame from the Chicago taxi army bringing tourists there for decades and as the pizza place in town where you could draw on the walls. In the mid-90s my siblings and I drew on the walls and this trip my kids followed in my footsteps. The pizza was great too.
Following lunch, the girls and I once again hopped a bus, except this time our destination was Navy Pier for a Winter Wonderfest, a seasonal carnival of skating, inflatables, rides, and lights. This event was a late addition to our plans. Apparently it's been off & on for decades. I overheard many people talking about coming to it when they were young. It was a blast.
I believe we did inflatable and road every ride. Emmalyn and I ice skated for 30-40 minutes and were in the top 10% of competent skaters on the ice, that was pretty cool to see how much she had retained after not skating for over a year. Hopefully we'll get back on the ice soon. We spent four hours here before prying the girls from the rides and hit up the massive ferris wheel outside, thankfully our capsule was heated.
Friday, January 2 - Fluffy Fluffy & Brookfield Zoo
How do you top a great city adventure? Spend time with families and embrace the holidays. I am a product of the Northwestern Suburbs. It is where I lived, where my mother was born and raised, and normally where we stay when we visit family. This trip we switched it up, but still made a run up to Schaumburg to meet family for lunch. Looking for something fun, Marieta found Fluffy Fluffy Cafe, a Japanese pancakes spot where we meet my Aunt Roseanne and her posse of Steve, Will, Sam, and Erving. The food wasn't perfect for me (got a waffles and chicken thing, syrup doesn't work for me on chicken), but Marieta loved her pancakes. The food wasn't really the point, it was more about meeting up with family we don't get to see enough. We took our sweet time at Fluffy Fluffy, like two hours. It was excellent. I love Chicago, but the foundation of that affection is my extended family. Always a good time, always heart fuel, and it's clear that has passed on to my daughters. They were climbing all over Will and Roseanne.
After the pancakes wore off, we got some boba tea and drove south again too Brookfield Zoo. Nearly every holiday we make the drive over, we hit up a holiday lights tour. This year we tried Brookfield Zoo for the first time. This zoo is like a wonderful phantom memory from my childhood. We went to Brookfield, or the "Aunt Jeanne Zoo" a lot. To return with my kids for some animals and some lights was a real treat. It was dang cold, but our foursome came prepared with layers and snowpants, everyone else was freezing in jeans.
We ambled around, saw a few animals, got some Mold-a-Ramas, and the kids had fun until they were toast. We got a carousel ride out of them and a few fun pictures, but two hours of cold and walking wore us out quick. It was fun to check out, but truthfully the Brookfield Zoo has some work to do before it can compete with the holiday lights at Morton Arboretum or the Chicago Botanical Gardens.
As we loaded up and looked for something to eat before calling it a night, it felt like the day was losing steam. But then, we lucked into Fat Rosie's, a tex-mex spot in west Oak Brook that had the best restaurant salsa I've ever had. I ate a foolish amount of chips and salsa as I was absolutely infatuated with this stuff. My tacos were pretty good, not as good as Navy Pier's taqueria, but that Salsa was so good I asked to take some home. The whole crew was loving this restaurant. Elli was dancing to the music, Emmalyn was in great spirits, and Marieta was loving the salsa like me but also had a great margarita. We will be going back to Fat Rosie's next year.
Saturday, January 3 - Catanzaro Christmas
Does not matter the occasion, any time spent with my Chicago family is a blast. I've edited together plenty of Catanzaro family Christmas adventures and they are always a mix of the same greatest hits; gifts, laughs, loudness, food, and fun. I don't feel required to recap the day other than to say it was 6 hours of pure joy. I found myself watching my kids enjoy their family independent of me and I knew we were in heartzone. I took a few moments to reminisce on the people missing; my mom, Aunt Mary Kay, Grandma Connie, and Grandpa Joe. Its not the same without them and I wish each of them were alive to join in the fun and hug my kids, but thankfully the party goes on. My Mom would have had a ball at this years Christmas party, she was did. I'm so thankful we continue to get together. It's not about the gifts or the food, or even the holiday, it's just about the collective "us." I love that.
Sunday we drove back. There were high points including hitting up our regular brunch spot, WildBerry. Also, getting Marieta some Peet's coffee. And eventually I got an italian sausage and hot beef. But it all ended back in Iowa. Man, what a trip. Literally and metaphorically, a trip. I filmed a lot of it too, so be on the lookout for more of that over at our family YouTube channel. But I can easily say these trips are why I love to go back to the land of Lincoln and my birth town. Looking forward to next year's trip, here's hoping 2026 rides that vibe for 12 straight months.
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