My partner and I took a trip to Chicago! We had some flight credits expiring and a friend willing to host us for a few days, so off we went!

Now, I’m not huge into traveling. I go to a few furry conventions, but generally they are the only events that get me to travel. That said, if the stars align, I should try to change that. This trip has proven to me that visiting new and interesting places expands my world in a way that isn’t really comparable. For instance, it’s one thing to see a city in media, but it’s another thing entirely to go there and truly experience it. To which one might say, “duh!” But that’s a basic lesson I am still learning as I expand my world beyond the relatively narrow borders it’s had the last few decades. But let’s talk about Chicago!

Public Transportation, Walkability, and Bike Lanes 🚆

These are top subjects from my trip. I grew up in a rural area with zero (0) public transportation. I currently live in a public transit desert. So if you plop me in a city where I can meet my needs either by walking or riding public transit, I’m gonna get a little starry eyed. We flew into O’Hare, and I did not touch a car until we returned home. This isn’t the first time I’ve had that experience, but it’s still novel enough to make me go “woah.” A life without a personal passenger vehicle is possible in the right circumstances, and that blows my little draconic mind.

There were a couple snags. One, the brown line briefly trapped us due to a door malfunction. Two, it rained a little bit. Little glimpses into how things can be inconvenient or go wrong. I can also imagine walking from a station or stop to wherever you live in the dead of winter gets old real fast. But where we were staying, cars are next to impossible to park, so it’s not like a car would have reduced the amount of time we walked in the rain.

One thing I didn’t anticipate paying attention to was bike lanes. One of our hosts, Regal, talked with us about bike lanes, their benefits, and their difficulties with a focus on the Chicago area. Even without that primer, the sheer amount of folks on bicycles would have forced me to pay attention. Shoutout to folks riding in unprotected bike lanes during busy parts of the day in the city; y’all are braver than me, and I wish for better for you.

In short: public transit and bike lanes are good, and cities could use fewer cars.

Coffee & Food ☕

If you know Regal at all, you know coffee is one of his things. Through his lead and suggestions, I had some utterly ridiculous coffee. Two places stand out to me for coffee, and one place for food:

Milli by Metric

Check out Regal’s in-depth review here!

I felt greedy, so I had two items: the espresso cream soda and the decaf huila rainbow pour over. I could go on about both items and what I thought of them, but I’m putting down Regal’s reactions.

First, he tried the soda and found it delicious, stating that he couldn’t believe he never thought of espresso and sparkling water together. And that’s all it was: espresso, sparkling water, and a bit of vanilla. It was a warm day, so having a refreshing drink was more than welcome. As something he would have never ordered for himself, I’m so glad I did as I was able to watch his coffee world grow a little bit.

Second, the decaf. How good was the decaf? Well, he got up and bought a bag of beans to take home with him. That’s a pretty glowing review if you ask me.

Allez Cafe

Regal doesn’t have a full in-depth review for this one, so I guess I’ll use some of my own words!

A hoppin’ place, we were lucky to find a little spot for us to sit and enjoy our orders. And enjoy, we did.

I ordered the single origin espresso and a chocolate-cherry sourdough donut. The donut was great, as it was very measured in its sweetness. No one flavor dominated, allowing each of its parts to come together to create a whole experience. Probably the first time I’ve sat down and gone “huh, neat!” at a donut. Usually they’re just sugar bombs which, while tasty, aren’t that interesting.

I’m still recovering from the espresso, however. I have never had anything like it. The only espresso I had up to that point was on the level of chain coffee brands throwing hastily made shots into milk. I should have recorded the flavor profile at the time, but my world expanded upon sipping from that little ceramic cup. It was espresso, so it was intense, but not in a “ew bitter” kind of way. It had a bit of bitterness to it, sure, but it was jam-packed with other unique flavors that had me smiling for the entire shot. Truly just a lovely little concentrated cup of coffee!

LÝRA

A Greek restaurant in Fulton Market, Val and I decided to stop here for my birthday dinner! It ain’t cheap, but it is worth it if you want some fancified Greek food. And oh my gods we had so much food. All of my experience there with Val was a highlight, so it’s hard to pick out one thing about our experience I liked the most. What I will comment on is that the staff are equipped for celebrations, coming out with sparklers if you tell them it is an occasion. It’s very dramatic and extra and I am thankful we did not inform them of the celebratory nature of our meal as I do not trust myself with pyrotechnics!

Conclusion 💭

Reflecting a little, I’m remarkably lucky to have the friends that I do, lucky that I have the means to travel, lucky that I get to share these experiences with an amazing partner. And there were so many amazing experiences beyond what I’ve talked about here! So yeah, I’m one lucky derg.

I do not know if I am compatible with living in a city; living in a suburb can be a little “much” for me at times. But having experiences like these makes me want to consider it as a possibility versus something I definitely would not try. I think it’s neat to have experiences that open up new future possibilities and avenues of thought.

Chicago is in our sights this December for Midwest FurFest, and while I look forward to the convention, I am also looking forward to dragging friends away from it to share a bit of the city with them.

Thank you again to Regal and his partner for hosting us, taking time to show us around, and also play board games with us! Y’all made a special weekend even more special with your hospitality.