Monday, August 22, 2016

Biking Chicago

rent divvy bikes chicago
During our first day in Chicago, we noticed that everyone was traveling by bike. And biking just happens to be one of our favorite ways for getting around. We loved biking the Golden Gate Bridge while in San Francisco and pedaling along the sand in Nantucket. So we knew we had to bike Chicago too!
chicago theatre
On Day 2, we set out to rent bikes for ourselves. The easiest and least expensive option was to go with Divvy Bikes. You will find Divvy bike stations all over the city and rentals are just $10/person for 24 hours. We couldn't pass up such a good deal.
biking chicago
First stop of the day was Millennium Park
millenium park sunrise
 If you ever visit Chicago, you can't miss a trip here, especially since it's home to CloudGate aka The Bean. Tom didn't understand the appeal at first, but I told him if you 
build shiny things…people will come!
cloudgate bean
chicago bean engagemnt
Gorgeous morning views around Millennium Park…love this place
After biking all through the park, we headed over to the Chicago Cultural Center, one of the city's FREE hidden gems. Really though, the architecture here is jaw-dropping. 
chicago cultural center free Tom explored the galleries around the building, but I was perfectly content to gaze up at this gorgeous Tiffany Glass Dome. I laid down right on the floor, sitting up just long enough to sip my Starbucks and nod at the only other person in the room-who just so happened to be playing the grand piano. Not a bad way to enjoy your morning coffee.
Thank You Chicago
Humbling to spend a quiet morning in a place that has hosted presidents, diplomats, and world leaders. But finally, we had to leave {we got kicked out}, so we biked over to the Art Institute of Chicago. Without a doubt, this is one of the best art museums I've ever been too!
chicago citypass art institute
But after walking around the art museum for nearly 4 hours, we were happy to get off our feet and hop back onto our bikes.
lakefront trail blog
We headed to the best place to bike in the city---the Lakefront Trail. It's an 18 mile path that sits right alongside Lake Michigan. On one side of the trail is sparkling Lake Michigan dotted with sailboats and beaches. On the other side is the Chicago cityscape.
 B-E-S-T  B-I-K-E  R-I-D-E  E-V-E-R!
bike lakefront trail
Navy Pier Ferris Wheel <--- Enter Stage Left 
plus following along behind the cutest biker 
bike lakefront trail
bike lakefront trail
We decided to follow the LakeFront Trail to the Lincoln Park Zoo. As far as zoos go, this one is pretty small, but the zoo and the surrounding conservation area are also completely FREE. Of course we had to take advantage of this. 
lincoln park zoo free
Then back onto the bikes and headed towards the main part of the city…over to Willis Tower. Willis Tower is one of the tallest buildings in the world and offered up perfect sunset views of the City of Chicago.
What an amazingly busy day. We visited 
Millennium Park and The Bean ---> The Chicago Cultural Center ---> The Art Institute of Chicago ---> Lake Michigan + The Lakefront Trail ---> Navy Pier ---> 
Lincoln Park Zoo ---> Willis Tower 
The only reason we were able to see so much of the city in a single day is because we biked. 
And since we had a 24 hour rental, we still had time to bike more of the LakeFront Trail the next morning! 
bike in a dress
Random Sidenote: I think I deserve a little credit for biking while managing our clunky camera and maneuvering through other bikers/pedestrians {without hitting anyone} all while making sure my dress didn't ride up. Who knew I was so coordinated?
bike lakefront trail If you ever visit Chicago, please don't miss out on chance to bike this gorgeous city. You won't regret it. 

Linking up with LaurenonLocation//BLovedBoston

6 comments:

  1. I am so glad you rented bikes, it's my favorite way to see any city and especially Chicago. It's so bike friendly and beautiful. You lucked out with being almost the only people by Millennial Park, how early did you get there?

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    1. Yes Chicago is extremely bike friendly and thankfully not hot at all. And we definitely planned it so that we would have the Bean to ourselves. It was our first stop of the day so we were probably there around 8:30. With only 3 days to spend in the city, we definitely had early mornings and late nights.

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  2. That is an awesome deal on bike rental! Okay, so I'm dying to know why you were kicked out! Did they close? Or did they just think you guys had overstayed your welcome?

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    1. Haha I think the grumbly and elderly security guard just took himself a little too seriously. He told us that he'd been watching me on the security cam (creepy) the whole time and that he didn't know what I was doing down there on the floor but he didn't like it and thought we should "move along". He was so suspicious. I can't really blame him. I was literally laying on the floor for a good 45minutes. Basically, we were totally weird and that place was too classy for us, so we deserved to get kicked out.

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  3. Such a great way to see the city and makes me realize that I really need to learn how to ride a bike!! xo, Biana -BlovedBoston

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  4. What a great way to see the city and cover lots of ground! I love that with cycling, you also get to see lots along the way :) Unlike the metro where you are underground. I also especially love your photos of the Tiffany Glass Dome, wowwww!!

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