Hi friends! It’s Wednesday already, but I still want to share what I did this past weekend! I wish I had done so earlier but you already know I just LOVE procrastination. So here ya go!
Originally, my friends Lizett and Mariainés and I had planned to spend the weekend in a water park resort in Wisconsin Dells: the rooms were extremely cheap, the water park was indoor and we thought it would be a lot of fun in general! However, when we woke up on Saturday morning, we found out that it would be pouring all day, according to the forecast. Therefore, we decided that with all that rain, it would be dangerous to drive three hours to the Dells.
We thought about another fun way to spend the weekend together, and we came up with the idea of having a staycation. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the term, a staycation is a “vacation” in the city where you already reside, usually either at home or in a fancy hotel. It was my first staycation, so I didn’t really know what to expect, but it turned out to be so much fun!
We got a room at the JW Marriott, a beautiful hotel downtown Chicago. We were kind of balling on a budget, but we also had an amazing discount so the room ended up only costing $133, aka roughly $44 each, which was nothing compared to what we would’ve originally paid for. The hotel itself was beautiful, and the amenities included a fitness center, a spa, an indoor pool and a Jacuzzi. If you follow me on Instagram (here) and followed along my Instagram stories over the weekend, you know just how nice everything looked! However, if you missed it, here are a couple of pictures from their website:
As soon as we checked in, we went upstairs, raved about our room and put the bottle of wine we had brought from home into the ice bucket. Then, we explored the hotel, which was filled with other groups of young women, as well as so many guests who were there for a wedding. We then got out in the pouring rain, went to McDonalds, got some food off the McPick 2 menu, got drinks and snacks at 7 Eleven, then went back to our room. We spent hours just eating, drinking and watching movies on Netflix. Lizett even brought candles (SO extra), so the mood was extremely cozy! I loved it.
After that, we decided to wear our white robes (that’s even more extra than bringing and lighting up candles, I know) and go to the indoor pool, which is located right next to the spa and the fitness center. The whole spa area looked incredible.
Even though there were a couple of kids there, the mood at the pool was very relaxed. We enjoyed laying on the chaise-longues and chilling in the Jacuzzi. Lizett streamed the Cubs game on her phone because that’s who she is, but other than that, everything was so relaxing.
After the pool, we all got ready for dinner. Since we were technically on vacation, we decided to treat ourselves to a high-class dinner at Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak and Stone Crab. This place is kind of an institution in the city: it serves seriously amazing seafood and some of the best steaks in Chicago; it’s a classic.
We had a $50 gift card, so we were down to splurge a bit. We ordered the tuna tartare to share as an appetizer, then a lobster tail each, then a filet mignon, and a lobster, shrimp and crab pasta to share.
The tuna and the lobster tail were to die for, really. The filet mignon was good, but not our favorite and the pasta was so great but at that point we were seriously so full.
Our dinner ended at around midnight, which gave us an excuse to go out since we were already in River North – aka a lively neighborhood full of nightlife, clubs, and cocktail bars, for my non-Chicagoans. We went to Joy District, where we met up with Lizett’s cousin and her friends, had drinks and danced for a while.
Our night ended at about 2am: by 3am we were in bed watching Moana like kids. What.
We spent the morning after just chilling in the room, until it was time to check out and leave that beauty of a hotel!
Once home, I actually continued my staycation: since it is a “vacation” in your own city, a staycation is also about exploring the attractions that your city has to offer. I spent my Sunday afternoon not with my friends, but with my mom. We took advantage of Open House Chicago, an initiative that goes on in the city every year, for only one weekend. Many buildings around the city simultaneously open their doors to the public for 48 hours, giving people a chance to see the architecture and secret spaces of otherwise private buildings.
My mom and I decided to explore a 1920’s hotel in Lakeview called Old Chicago Inn. I pass it everyday on my way to school, and I always wondered what it looked like inside. Turns out that not only the hotel is so beautiful and cozy, but it also holds a secret speakeasy bar in the basement, which was open to the public during Open House Chicago. So cool!
So that is all for my staycation weekend! I have to say I loved this idea of vacationing in my own city, it is so convenient, so relaxing and so fun! I hope you’ll be inspired by what we did and come up with your own idea of staycation. Have you had any fun experience with staycationing? Have you ever done it? Let me know in the comments below!