Staycation at The Freehand Hotel
I’d first come to The Freehand because my wonderfully talented friend was featured in a pop-up gallery there a month back. I loved its cute haphazard style so much that I knew I needed to stay there. The building held a certain mystique for me as it used to house the
ultra-creepy Tokyo Hotel before being renovated into The Freehand. 
I’d never been inside when it was the Tokyo Hotel, but always passed it and wondered what went on behind its dingy exterior. A month later, there I was checking in at the upscale hostel/hotel. I had walked over after work on Friday; it was just a short jaunt over to the River North Neighborhood. The check-in process was casual and easy, and after a brief orientation of the property, I was on my way up to the tenth floor in a painfully slow elevator. I chose to stay in one of their private rooms, which they offer along with shared and private bunk-bedded rooms.
The room was straightforward and charming, with a queen-sized bed, small armoire containing hotel robes and a small safe and a desk facing the city-view window. The desk had 
two small shelves of books ranging from “The Help” to “The Mammoth of Best New Erotica”, as well as a house phone, hotel guide, and a mini bar in an interior cabinet. The blue-tiled bathroom featured a stand-up shower, hairdryer, fluffy
white towels, and beautifully packaged toiletries. After getting settled and changing out of my stuffy work clothes, I met up with my boyfriend to go out on the town, staycation style. I was dying to try The Purple Pig, which I had never been to, despite living in Chicago for seven years. We walked over there only to find out they had an hour wait for a table. We put our name down anyways and went off in search of appetizers. After pinging back and forth across Mic
higan Avenue, looking at menus and turning them down, hunger forced us to stop into Doc B’s Fresh Kitchen. Right off the bat, I wasn’t crazy about this decision. It seemed like an upscale TGI Fridays, only without the moderate prices. We sat down and ordered a couple of beers and decided whether or not we should bail. Again, hunger won and we had our beers and a kale and artichoke dip which was good in the way that artichoke dip always is. After we paid, we walked back up to Michigan Avenue just in time to finally be summoned to The Purple Pig because our table was ready. We were sat at a table inside and immediately made work of reading and translating their extensive menu of share plates.
The Chorizo Stuffed Olives, Whipped Feta Dip, and Pork Belly Rillon looked best to us. They brought each dish out separately, which made for optimal enjoyment. We started with the feta, which was served with thick slices of delicious bread. The feta had cucumbers and peppers brunoise on top and was so tasty. For me, there is literally nothing better than cheese and bread so of course I loved this dish. Next came the olives, which were a little too salty for me, but my boyfriend very much enjoyed them. Finally, the Pork Belly Rillons, which were the perfect mixture of crispy and melt in your mouth. I only wish the serving was bigger.
After we finished the decadent dinner, we walked the few blocks across the river and walked down the steps to the River Walk. The brightly lit river-adjacent sidewalk was vibrant and teeming with the after-dinner crowd. We walked down a-ways and doubled back to pop into The Hideout for a beer.
The music venue/bar had an industrial feel; the area it occupied was fenced off by the green tarp covered fence that’s usually reserved for road work. The furniture was mismatched inside and there were picnic tables and highboys outside. The bar offered beer, wine, shots and snacks from Bridgeport Pasty. We sat outside to enjoy our beers before walking back to The Freehand to have a nightcap in their bar, The Broken Shaker. I immediately wanted whatever drink was encased in the enchanting golden pineapple that I saw other patrons holding. It turned out to be Chicago Politics, a delectable and spicy cocktail that kicks you right in the throat.
There was an extravagant process to making it that ended with lighting the garnish on fire with a blowtorch. It was a hefty portion of booze worthy of two cocktails and priced accordingly. The bar was crowded, but not uncomfortably so. The bartenders were very attentive and continued to craft creative cocktails without the pretension of other “mixologists”. We spent a good amount of time enjoying the cozy atmosphere of The Broken Shaker before retiring to our room for the night.
The next morning we rushed down to catch the complimentary breakfast located in the sitting room next to The Broken Shaker. It was a free-for-all. There was quite the crowd milling around the tables containing coffee, tea, juice and baked goods. We fought to get our free muffins and hightailed it over to Café Integral, the in-house coffee bar/café. I had a latte and my boyfriend ordered an Americano, both were superb. The apple muffins were also very good, and we were happy to find out they were brought in from Lovely
Bake Shop, which is in our neighborhood. We also ordered from Café Integral’s “on toast” menu, and chose the Avocado Smash.
I would gladly eat that every day if I could, it was that delicious. It was served with thinly sliced radishes, pickled shallots and sprouts on top and a slice of lemon on the side.
Part of the beauty of a staycation is that every new thing that you discover and enjoy is easily accessible for revisiting. And I plan to go back to Café Integral often, specifically for the Avocado Smash.
Before we checked out, I wanted to explore the basement of the hotel, which is where the guest laundry and kitchen was located. The kitchen was brightly lit and happily buzzing with a few other guests preparing their meals. In addition to these in house amenities, The Freehand offers an activity calendar for their guests including workouts, walking tours, and other special events much like the pop-up gallery my friend was featured in.
We left the hotel at noon, after walking around and popping into a few shops in the area. We walked the two miles back to our apartment, across the river and over the line that separates blissful staycations and real life.
A big thank you to The Freehand for having us and giving us such a wonderful staycation experience. I will definitely be back!
Have you ever tried a staycation? How did it compare to other vacations?
We walked by the Perry’s Stage, which features exclusively DJs, and dropped by long enough to feel too old to be there.
Then Tame Impala, who were so, so good. Their crowd was up and dancing and full of good vibes.
We heard there were metallic temporary tattoos at the XRT tent, and that’s just not something I could turn down.
We headed to the Sprint Stage for Brand New, making my 16 year old self’s dreams come true.
It was nearing the last few acts, so we ran over to the bar in preparation to see Metallica, a band I never thought I would enjoy as much as I did.
entered the Visitor Center only to grab a map and hit the restrooms before we began our hike. Originally, we wanted to hike up to the Lodge first, to get some lunch and figure out which hikes we wanted to do. What actually happened was we wound up on the Wildcat Canyon overlook trail. The paths were muddy due to days of rain prior to our visit, and my Chuck Taylors proved to be a poor hiking footwear choice. Actually, my whole outfit was ill-suited to nature and now I know better. Please note that jean shorts are not a great choice for four hours of humid hiking through the forest. What can I say? I’m a city girl. Luckily, the scenery was so gorgeous that I soon forgot my wardrobe woes and was able to focus on the views. We reached the outlook and noticed there were people hanging out in the canyon below, basking in the sunlight and playing beneath the waterfall, with no indication of how they appeared there. I made it my personal mission 
for the day to be one of those people. The weather was perfect, and everything was so green and gorgeous. It was nice just to be outside. Eventually, we found a sign pointing us towards the Lodge. The area surrounding the lodge was crowded with hikers and overnighters, staying in either the Lodge Hotel or the cute little cabins in the same general area. The lodge itself was a stately and beautiful large, wooden structure. I instantly wanted to stay the night there. We decided to have lunch in the “Dining Room” instead of the small café in the lobby. The dining room was also very large, with an outdoor deck attached. It had a romantic feel with the dark wood, soft lighting, and large fireplace holding court in the back of the room. The lunch menu included comfort food entrees, salads and sandwiches. We both ordered the Illiniwek Chicken Sandwich. The waitress was not the friendliest person we’d met that day, but the
service was prompt and the food was delicious so we overlooked her surly demeanor. After lunch, I stopped at the front desk to inquire about vacancy and room rates. Unfortunately they were completely booked, but the good news is their prices are completely affordable with their standard rooms starting around $100 and their cabins starting at $125 (depending on the season). We vowed to come back and stay in a cabin in the near future. We hiked up to the park’s namesake, the actual Starved Rock, and the stairs up to the overlook were no joke. The view from the top was breathtaking (minus the huge dam that was visible on one side of the Illinois River). The path at the top of Starved Rock wound in a circle, through trees and wildflowers looking lush from the summer rain. We meandered back down the way we came, past other hikers huffing and puffing up the many, many stairs. From there we hiked up to the Lover’s Leap overlook, which offered an amazing view of Starved Rock and the river 
below. It was finally time to complete my mission of the day and find the way into the canyon that we had seen from the trail above. We found the path and made our way along the river to the canyon. We could hear its current visitor’s voices bouncing off the rock face in what could only be described as shouts of glee. When we finally reached Wildcat Canyon, it took some maneuvering to get over to the waterfall, through the water and mud. Once we were finally in the main clearing, I took my shoes off and stuck my feet in the water. It was cloudy with the sand beneath, but cold and refreshing. The waterfall was gorgeous; it flowed into a small pool teaming with happy little hikers. Though the area was crowded, there was a solidarity among the visitors in the canyon; everyone was admiring the view. It was hard to leave such a beautiful place, but it was about that time to head back to the visitors center. Overall, we hiked about five miles through the forest, up and down stairs, and on gorgeous overlook boardwalks. By the time we made it back to the car, I was exhausted, but already planning our next visit. Even with how much we had already explored, there were still so many other paths, overlooks and canyons to see. I’d imagine that not too much time will pass before I’m back for more.
rebeccawanderlusting 