Our final full day in Chicago did not disappoint. We headed out early to see the natural history museum, The Field Museum. This is one of the largest museums of its type in the world and is not only a beautiful architectural building but the exhibitions are brilliant. We checked out a very interesting Tattoo exhibition that was enlightening. We also checked out dinosaurs, elephants and buddhist statues to name a few.

After spending the morning here, we head over to Eataly to have a bite to eat and explore a bit more without the crowds. A few glasses of wine and a lovely charcuterie & cheese plate, we are ready to hit the next stop.

We walk along Michigan Avenue (The Magnificent Mile) and manage to keep our credit cards tucked in our wallets - well, almost. The afternoon has flown by and we need to head home so that we can get ready to go out again.

We head over the West Loop, an up & coming area full of great restaurants and bars. Our chose for tonight is Au Cheval, where we have been told that the burgers are so fantastic that this is where Alinea's great, Grant Achatz eats when he is not at work. We put our name on the wait list (the only way to get in) and are told that it will be a mere 1 1/2 hours before we can dine. No problem. We figure while we wait we'll check out the neighbourhood and see that another of our 'we want to dine here restaurants' is across the street.

We head over to The Girl & The Goat, orchestrated by Stephanie Izard (with Top Chef & Iron Chef Gauntlet fame). We find a place in the bar area, order cocktails and then eventually settle in on a comfy couch for some appies. We try the wood grilled broccoli (OMG goodness), goat liver mousse & goat carpaccio. All brilliant and if we weren't set on our burger coming later in the evening we would have tried even more of her dishes. So wonderful. Following our wait in line on an app called NoWait. From 31 to 23, to 6 and finally we were next in line.

We head over and settle into the chaos. At 8PM, the place is hopping and the vibe is welcoming, energetic and we sense that we are in for something special. We order their famous burgers (some of us tried it with the added egg & bacon). The 80's playlist, Bloody Mary's and 'Horse & Neck' cocktails have us ready to spend the entire evening here. Burgers arrive and now we understand what all the fuss is about. Delicious and satisfying, we head out with silly smiles on our faces ready for our next stop.

Our final stop of the evening is at a Green Mill Cocktail Lounge. This jazz club has been around for a while, since 1907, and was a favourite hang out for Al Capone and his gang. There were even tunnels built below the restaurant that he used to evade the cops when they raided the club. We get our drinks and settle in for tonight's show, a jazz musician Patricia Barber and her quartet. We stayed for one of her sets and thoroughly soaked up the history of the place. As we exit, the rain comes down and we are grateful that we are hopping an Uber home. What a great night.

Our final morning we do one final walk around the city. It is still cold and windy. What can I say, this will be one thing that I will remember about the city. But the overwhelming memory that I will take away was a brilliant time with brilliant friends sharing brilliant memories. What fun. I can't wait to figure out our next adventure together.