The Winsome Windy City
Kelly Morris
Denver is a great city, but sometimes it feels a little small. (I mean, can a girl get a cup of coffee without running into someone who knows what she did at Charlie’s last night? Anyway, I digress.) If you’re looking to get out for a weekend and immerse yourself in a city with a bit more anonymity, Chicago might be the one.
Chicago is the third largest city in the US and the coldest — or at least it felt that way when my girlfriend and I chose to go in the middle of February. However, even the negative windchill couldn’t take away from the beauty of the massive city that houses more than 200 theaters and 550 parks — and the lakefront views don’t hurt, either.
My girlfriend picked the Hotel Allegro Chicago. Located in the theater district and ranked in Gay Chicago’s top 10 gay-friendly hotels, it seemed an obvious choice. (Their website even featured a lesbian couple.) Though located a few miles from the gayborhood Boystown, the hotel was extremely close to Millennium Park, museums, and restaurants.
If museums are your thing, Chicago has plenty to offer. We were feeling adventurous after sitting on the plane for a few hours and decided to trek a mile to the Field Museum of Natural History. After standing in line long enough to regain feeling in our limbs, we finally made it in. Inside we explored Ancient Egypt, learned about the sacred powers of Haitian Vodou, and met Sue, the largest and most complete T-Rex ever found.
Just down the road is the Shedd Aquarium which houses more than 32,000 animals from frogs to sea lions to dolphins. You don’t have to just look at all the ocean life — Shedd allows you to get up close and personal with some of the exhibits. There you can catch an aquatic show, experience a 4-D movie, or touch some stingrays.
If strolling museums doesn’t float your boat, fear not: Chicago has much more to offer.
From the 94th floor of the John Hancock Center, you can see views of Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Michigan on a clear day. If that’s still not exciting enough, you can check out TILT. From the observation deck, you can lean out of the building at a 30-degree angle. Open for nearly a year, TILT lets you walk onto a moveable platform that holds eight people. It then extends out, allowing you to look a thousand feet below at the city for about a minute.
Another thrill-seeking option is the Skydeck at the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere. From the 103rd floor of the Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower), you can step onto a glass balcony that shoots out more than four feet off of the tower, putting you at 1,353 feet off the ground.
Being such a huge city, Chicago has tons of eating options to please even the pickiest of tastebuds. As a vegan, my vegetarian girlfriend and I were pleasantly surprised by the many options we had. We had dinner at the vegan restaurant Karyn on Green, which featured the most amazing (fine, only) four-course Valentine’s Day dinner I have ever experienced.
If you’re feeling homesick, Chicago also has their own Hamburger Mary’s with Mary-Oke, trivia, and bingo nights. If you want some drag with your dinner, catch a show at Kit Kat Lounge and Supper Club, or head to Catch Thirty Five if you’re a seafood lover.
Chicago has 117 bars that stay open until 4am or later, and with at least 27 gay bars in Boystown, you can surely find a bar suitable for your liking. Whether you’re looking for a dance club like Berlin, a leather bar like Cellblock, a gay sports bar like North End, or the familiar country bar, Charlie’s, Chicago offers a variety of nightlife for everyone.
So when you start to feel claustrophobic in Denver, remember: Chicago is merely hours away and full of people who don’t know what you did last night.
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