Happy Birthday to Me!

Wow, and my birthday was already over a month ago! Here's how Maggie and I celebrated:

We started the evening with a burger from the best burger spot in Chicago: Au Cheval. It was in the West Loop and we got there before the dinner rush, so no waiting (obviously the line to get in can be crazy). It's not a very large restaurant, a counter (where Maggie and I sat) and a row of booths on the other side of the walkway. The walkway opens to a small area with tables and chairs. They have a simple menu - a burger and what you would like on top. We got a burger topped with bacon and a side of fries to split, thank goodness, because it was filling. The bacon was a quarter inch thick! For dessert, a root beer float with delicious, locally made vanilla ice cream. This nearly caused us to bust a gut, so it was alarming to see the couple next to us devour a burger each, salad, fries, a side of bacon and some enormous layered dessert concoction.




From the restaurant, we walked to a bus stop that took us directly to Navy Pier. There, we rode in the Centennial Wheel and, contrary to what I had heard, got to ride in a car to ourselves. Afterwards we had some time to kill until the fireworks were to begin (that's right, the City of Chicago was lighting off fireworks for my birthday). We walked down the pier a little and found a beer garden with live music. It was a bluesy kind of band and we thought they were great. Just before the fireworks we got a funnel cake and enjoyed it as burst of colored light sparkled over Lake Michigan (ok in reality, Chicago lights fireworks from Navy Pier each Wednesday and Saturday evening; my birthday happened to land on a Wednesday this year). Overall, it was a wonderful Chicago birthday!



 


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