bellacielo7

We went this past May for our 6th wedding anniversary. We stayed in the suburbs for four days (Schaumburg, IL). Then, we moved downtown on the Magnificent Mile for the last four nights staying at the four-star Intercontinental Hotel which faces the Mile and is on the corner of Michigan and Illinois. What a fabulous hotel. We saw two broadway tour shows (“SPAMALOT” and “Wicked”) at the Ford Theater and Oriental Palace respectively. Both musicals and theaters I would recommend whole-heartedly. Besides visiting our fav restaurant, Geja’s, we also frequented the Grand Luxe Cafe which is great fare and ambience is spectacular if you can get seated in the round room with enormous collection of pendant lamps that create a marvelous chandelier. The cafe overlooks the Mile and Ohio Streets and is one of the few restaurants that is open late at night. Also, we found a hole-in-the-wall locals burger joint called Boston Blackies. It’s not extremely great for it’s service, but burgers are excellent and the prices are great for a budget. If you’re starving, tired of fast food, hard-pressed for time, and don’t care about being treated like royalty, Blackies is a great place.

I’ve been here more times than I want to admit. There is no worse place to be in August. Because of the pollution, the heat is hot and wet and sticky! One of my best friends lives there and says that it is scientifically proven that an hour of breathing the air is the same as smoking two unfiltered cigarettes. My question is why is she still there? It can’t be that it’s the restaurant capital of the nation. I’ve been to a lot of different restaurants there and I can tell you that I can’t find one better than the midnight picnic that my boyfriend and I had in Transco Park near the wall fountain. Must have worked because we have now been happily married for almost 6 years! There are many memories that I have of Houston, but none that couldn’t have been made somewhere else! I’ll have to go back, but it won’t be because I want to do so.

Nashville is a great city to visit, especially if big cities scare you. The people are friendly, “down-home” even, and it’s fairly clean and safe downtown.

I would recommend going to the Grand Ole Opry even if you don’t like country music, but like good entertainment. The musicianship is very good and you get a lot of bang for your buck!

Nearby Music Row is a great restaurant (The Sunset Grille) that stays open late and requires reservations. It’s worth the splurge!