Traveling with the Jones

Take a look inside of Room 1635 of the Hilton Garden Inn on Grand Ave in Chicago’s downtown River North neighborhood.

This is the first look when you enter the room We stayed here last weekend, Saturday and Sunday nights.

A closer look out the window.  This hotel is located near Michigan Ave, among a sea of high rise buildings around the Mag Mile.

The bed’s comforter and pillows were somewhat wimpy but the nightstands on each side of the bed featured  lamps with plugs for charging our phones/alarms.

The desk and flat screen television — adequate for getting work done and watching the NCAA Final Four.

A homey touch we didn’t use — a “pantry” with refrigerator, microwave and coffee maker.

The bathroom featured a standard shower/tub/ combo — small but adequate.

The towels were thin but the generic-brand toiletries surprisingly included mouthwash.

The 12th floor housed conference rooms, a business center, a fitness room and an indoor pool and hot tub in a greenhouse-like environment.  Kids loved it.

Just off the lobby, the hotel is connected to the Weber Grill Restaurant.  This is where the Hilton Honors breakfast is served.

The bottom line: 

This is the first Hilton property that we’ve experienced having to sign a “contract” on check-in that we agreed to adhere to the no-noise rules after certain hours.  We didn’t experience any noise issues, perhaps that means the “policy” is a good thing.

There wasn’t a room ready for early check-in when we arrived, we were granted a late check-out, which we appreciated.

Under the new Hilton HHonors awards, this hotel is a category 7 award, the same as top world-class Conrad properties, prior to the recent devaluation of HHonors Award Points.

We paid about $130 per night for this room; we wouldn’t use 50.000 HHonors points for a night in this hotel.

It’s a nice location, but nothing special like the Conrad just down the street, the Wit, or the Palmer House Hilton — some of our favorite downtown Chicago Hilton properties.

What’s your favorite place to stay in downtown Chicago? We’d like to know so please share in comments below. 

You also may be interested in these other hotel posts”; 

• A Peek Inside the Four Seasons Hotel-Denver
• A Peek inside the Stanford Court Renaissance Hotel – San Francisco
• A Peek Inside the Hilton New York Fashion District Hotel
• Photo Friday: The Infinity Wedding Chapel
• A Peek Inside the Prague Marriott Hotel

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A sunny Sunday in Chicago = Vitamin D.

A walking tour of about 1.5 miles over three and a half hours = exercise.

History of Chicago’s Gold Coast and Old Town neighborhoods = culture.

Seven stops to taste a variety of local Chicago foods and drinks = lunch.

What’s not to like?

On Sunday we signed up at the last minute for the Near North Food Tour given by Chicago Food Planet.

The tour / progressive lunch began at Lou Malnati’s Deep Dish Pizzeria on State Street. After meeting our guide and fellow tour members, we headed inside for the first tasting.

Salad first. Then a slice of deep dish pizza with the thin butter crust.  Served up with the history of deep dish pizza in Chicago, and what makes this one so special.

We were ready for a nap. But onward we walked to the next stop, a German tea merchant.

Julie, our tour guide explained the difference in teas, as our Teagschwendner hosts prepared for their part of the presentation. As you can tell, this was a fun and informative tour.

Next we walked about six blocks, through the Gold Coast to the Old Town neighborhood, stopping for sights such as the original Playboy mansion.

Once in Old Town, our first stop was Kamehachi, Chicago’s first Japanese restaurant to serve sushi.

The sushi tasting was excellent.

The ladies room was as impressive as the food.

Next up, a chocolate lesson and a sweet treat at The Fudge Pot.

Just down the street, Old Town Oil offered a unique tasting experience …. a variety of extra virgin olive oils and balsamic vinegars.

We loved the world map on the wall; it would look good on our wall at home.

The Spice House provided a fragrant stop.

We walked north towards Lincoln Park, pausing by the infamous Second City comedy club.

Our last stop at the multicultural  Delightful Pastries was sweet and savory. We tasted two different kinds of Polish pierogies and two different French macaroons, which sounds like a bad combination but both were excellent, even at the end of more than three hours of eating.

The tour and online booking fee cost $50 per person, including all of the food and tea at the seven tastings.

Have you taken a food walking tour in Chicago or some other city?  We’d like to hear about it. Share your experience in comments below.

Other posts on tours that you may want to check out…..

• A Sunset Cruise with a Rumologist: Goslings Taste of Bermuda Shore Excursion
• Touring Two Iconic Atlanta Brands: Coca-Cola and CNN
• Up Close with an Alligator in Honey Island Swamp, Louisiana 
• Exploring Bali With Nyoman Sulastra

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The Final Resting Place of 17,201 American Military in Metro Manila

The cemetery with the largest number graves of U.S. personnel who lost their lives during  World War II is located in the Philippines.

The Manila American Cemetery and Memorial is located on 152 acres in a prominent plateau in metro Manila.

17,201 headstones are arranged in circular patterns.  Most of those buried here lost their lives in New Guinea, during the 1941-1942 Battle of the Philippines or during the recapture of the islands by the Allies.

The memorial honors 36,285 Military who are Missing. 

Marble tables contain inscriptions of the name of each Missing, their military unit and their home state. Rosettes mark the names of those since recovered and identified.

Carved in the floors are the seals of the American states and its territories.

Twenty-five mosaic maps detail the battles of the American armed forces in the Pacific, China, India and Burma.

The American Battle Monuments Commission maintains the memorial.

See all of this photos for this week’s Photo Friday Challenge: ‘At Rest’ here. 

You also may be interested in these Friday Photo posts”; 

• Photo Friday: The Andes From My Window
• Photo Friday: the Countryside View from Amtrak’s California Zephyr
• Photo Friday: The Human Form at Vigeland
• Photo Friday: Stepping out on the Ledge
• Photo Friday: Terminal 2E, Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris

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