Chicago, IL: Day 2

After some donuts and coffee for breakfast, we jumped in the car and headed for the Bahá'í Temple. This is the only Bahá'í temple in North America! The Bahá'í believe that all religions follow the same God/higher being (among other things).

Throughout the building there was symbolism for all the different world religions and inside was very light with the big dome. By using a combination of quartz and concrete, the building is sturdy and very white. The gardens also had a lot of symbolism and were very beautiful.

After the temple we went to the OG Lou Malnati's for deep dish pizza. This was definitely a tale of redemption because the pizza was amazing! We had a thin crust pizza as well, but Allan and I definitely preferred the deep dish.

Down the street, Brandon mentioned there was a Rita's, and I totally couldn't pass that up! We got gelatis, and Allan even had Swedish fish, leaning into the American flavors. It was just as good as I remember!

We went back to Matt and Brandon's, and left shortly after to get the metro back into the center of Chicago to go to the Starbucks Roastery. Brandon decided to stay back, but planned to meet us later. Apparently he’s not a fan of the metro.

The Roastery was massive. It was spread over four floors and each floor was dedicated to something different. There was a floor for roasting, pastries, coffee drinks, and cocktails. We started at the top and worked our way down. The three of us shared an espresso martini flight: chocolate orange espresso martini, mole espresso martini, and cherry lemon. Each time we tasted them our preferences changed! I think the mole one was my favorite.

After the cocktails, we went down a level to the coffee drinks. Matt had a whisky barrel coffee milkshake - it was nice! Allan and I shared a coffee flight. Apparently I'm pretty good at picking out flavors in coffee. All those years drinking good coffee served me well (maybe blessing and a curse).

Brandon drove and picked us up from the Roastery so that we could go and meet Prongs (DnD friend) in Chinatown for dinner. It was nice to meet them from all those years ago doing DnD. Sometimes I miss it; it was very cathartic and fun.

We went to a noodle place and had dry ramen. It was pretty good. We had a small walk around Chinatown before heading back to the apartment and playing with Trudy. We turned in shortly after getting back as it was a school night and Matt and Brandon had work (mostly Brandon).Baca lagi