Once a year my friends and I go to Chicago to shop.
There is a big shopping area that we spend all day in.
We go to the name brand stores to pick out our favorite stuff. We then stayed in a swanky hotel right in the city. The costs of the hotels are obscene. You also don’t really get that great of accommodations. I started looking around for something better. I didn’t like the noises of the city and being in the middle of it. I then found that Elgin is right near Chicago. Sure we had to rent a car, but it was a short drive to the city. We found parking and then when we were done, drove back to our rental in Elgin. The rental pricing was so much smaller than a crap hotel in Chicago. The girls and I were able to spring big for a nice accommodation. After one day in the city, none of us wanted to leave Elgin. We really liked the small town vibe and eating at the local places. We enjoyed that it was much quieter, safer, and our rental home was fully furnished. We bought a bunch of groceries, made a fire out back and drank wine for most of the evening. That was honestly the best part of the trip. We are going to do the same thing next year. I think eventually we will stop going into the city all together. Elgin has shopping too and that isn’t why we get together.