BONUS: A Dad's Travel Guide to Chicago (ft. Tom Phillips, @toomuchtom)

**Transcript is Auto-Generated**

00:00:00:08 - 00:00:19:00
Matthew Krekeler
Welcome to Girl Dad Nation. In this bonus episode, Chicago influencer Tom Phillips, also known as @toomuchtom on Instagram, shares his top travel tips for visiting Chicago with kids.

00:00:20:22 - 00:00:25:05
Matthew Krekeler
Hey, Tom, welcome back.

00:00:26:06 - 00:00:27:03
Tom Phillips
It's nice to be back.

00:00:27:22 - 00:00:47:03
Matthew Krekeler
So you're an influencer from Chicago, or at least you've lived in Chicago for a number of years now and and profile at too much. Tom, where you post a lot of pictures about Chicago and other things. So from your perspective, what is your dad's travel guide to Chicago?

00:00:47:17 - 00:01:12:07
Tom Phillips
Yeah. So I think the one thing that we do a lot with the kids, even with the twins, we brought them there when they were like two years old, is going to the Lincoln Park Zoo. It's a free zoo that you can walk into very kid friendly. So a lot of stairs or anything like that. Everything's very much out in the open.

00:01:12:17 - 00:01:38:12
Tom Phillips
It's also kind of in the middle of the city. And if you want to, you could walk over to the beach. That's on the other side of Lake Shore Drive there. But yeah, even when we have an opportunity to go to some other zoos, we always kind of tend to go back to the Lincoln Park Zoo because it is we we will go ever since my wife and I.

00:01:39:01 - 00:02:00:02
Tom Phillips
It's cool to be able to bring the kids back there and have them see everything that's going on. And then another free thing you can do is at Millennium Park, there is a art structure that's called the bean. And it's technically I've.

00:02:00:02 - 00:02:01:10
Matthew Krekeler
Seen those pictures.

00:02:01:16 - 00:02:10:13
Tom Phillips
Yeah. So you can see your reflection and really discuss in people go and kids that are like it, which sounds like a horrible idea.

00:02:11:14 - 00:02:13:05
Matthew Krekeler
Yeah. Especially post COVID.

00:02:13:09 - 00:02:43:10
Tom Phillips
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So we go get monkey pox and like the being for the grand picture. But I taken some pictures there. I think it's really cool to go when there's not a lot of people, which I think you can't do as much now because of COVID. They have like lines to get in and all this stuff. But I would I would go before work at like 630 and go take pictures and just kind of sit there.

00:02:43:10 - 00:03:07:19
Tom Phillips
And it was very relaxing and surreal to see the city before it exploded for the day. You could just kind of sit there and enjoy the peace and quiet by yourself and maybe see a runner going by. So that's something that's really cool. Another kid friendly you can do is go to the shared aquarium, even though they've now just started to nickel and dime you for everything.

00:03:08:14 - 00:03:38:02
Tom Phillips
It's really cool. The kids can go and see penguins and they can see whales there and learn about jellyfish. My father really likes jellyfish for some reason. That's kind of weird, but that's a really cool place. That one's also on the water downtown. And so it's it's really cool. You've really great views of the city there too, that you can see or you can walk along the lake a little bit as well, which is something that's really cool.

00:03:39:03 - 00:04:09:00
Tom Phillips
You know, most people would then say, hey, you know, the Sears Tower, but I don't think that has the best skyscraper view of city after I think it's the Hancock building have a viewing observation tower for whatever. Oh, that's cool. 360 Chicago, which actually gives you a view of all the skyscrapers in the city being looking south out onto it.

00:04:09:11 - 00:04:46:13
Tom Phillips
Where? Sears Tower, you're just kind of looking out onto the lake and looking down and everything. It kind of gives you like a better perspective because it's only 94 floors up instead of 113 or whatever it is. Yeah, I think that was personally better and insider too. If you're going to go, you can go to the what is it that there's there's a bar that is it's called signature room.

00:04:47:09 - 00:05:08:05
Tom Phillips
If you can go there, you don't have to pay the admission price. All you have to do is buy one overpriced drink. Yeah. And you can pretty much get the same view of the city and and see it there. So if you want to try and avoid paying, you know, the $20 to go up, to go and spend 10 to 12 on a drink.

00:05:08:20 - 00:05:14:17
Tom Phillips
Yeah. And get the same view because it's actually just one floor below it, below the observation deck.

00:05:15:15 - 00:05:18:18
Matthew Krekeler
Yeah. That's a great tip.

00:05:18:18 - 00:05:50:16
Tom Phillips
And then I'm a Cubs fan. My grandma and grandpa grew up in Chicago, so they were Cubs fans and pass that along to me. So that is something that was cool too. Like my first time at Wrigley Field. Now it's all commercialized, like a lot grimier ground here. And I was really fun. You could like go walk into the bleachers because the Cubs were terrible for really cheap and now the cubs are terrible and it's really expensive to go sit in the bleachers because everyone wants to do it.

00:05:52:15 - 00:06:23:22
Tom Phillips
So that that's something that's really cool because it's unique to, I think Chicago and Boston where yeah, all of a sudden you're in, you can be in a car just driving in the neighborhood and then bam, there's a baseball stadium. And yeah, those are the only two that I've ever really felt like that. And I think that that's that's really to Chicago, especially in Boston.

00:06:23:23 - 00:06:40:00
Tom Phillips
But, you know, the stadium has like so much history. Even though they renovated it a lot, it still has the ivy and has that has that cool feel of, you know, going to or apart, even though some of the things have been updated.

00:06:40:21 - 00:06:45:01
Matthew Krekeler
Yeah. And you were living in Chicago when they recently won the World Series. Yeah, I.

00:06:45:01 - 00:07:10:23
Tom Phillips
Actually so I was at a a bar that was like a mile and a half away. And we were we were there the whole game. You know, it ends at 1230 at night because of the rain delay, everything. And I have a friend who's just the biggest Cubs fan ever and he's like, he's crying. They're spraying champagne there.

00:07:11:12 - 00:07:42:01
Tom Phillips
And I told my my girlfriend, who's now my wife at the time, I go, we got to get down there, we just got to go. So we just yeah, that's the bar. And we just took off. I was like cutting through back alleys to try and sneak in because the cops were shutting it down and we got to get a picture in front of it that the Wrigley Wrigley Field signed champions and then I had a buddy who was a bouncer at a bar that is right across the street, and we knew we were going to get into that one.

00:07:42:01 - 00:08:05:02
Tom Phillips
So yeah, I heard before the game, but I went to go see him and so he let me in. And so we were talking and we could see the police horses coming down right now. And the cops came in the bar and said, Everyone out they go. It's only employees here. And they go, We don't care. Everything is shut down.

00:08:05:02 - 00:08:24:04
Tom Phillips
So they couldn't plead or anything that night. They had to get out. And so yeah, after that I think we just walked home because we left. I mean, we live less than a mile away. So yeah, it was, it was super cool.

00:08:24:12 - 00:08:28:01
Matthew Krekeler
Yeah. And that was before kids. It would have been no way with.

00:08:28:01 - 00:08:29:00
Tom Phillips
Kids we would have been.

00:08:29:00 - 00:08:30:00
Matthew Krekeler
Have it impossible.

00:08:30:00 - 00:08:35:18
Tom Phillips
There's no there's no way we would have been able to do anything like that. So it was awesome.

00:08:36:09 - 00:08:38:16
Matthew Krekeler
But maybe in another 100 years when you're.

00:08:39:18 - 00:09:13:19
Tom Phillips
When they would sort of and then that's great my food recommendations for deep dish and fun last year Domino's and it's or Giordano's or I can't even think of the other one Gino's east and those are fine that other you know local people will say PE quads that I think they burn the craft a little too much for my taste that's just personal preference.

00:09:13:19 - 00:09:45:16
Tom Phillips
But Lou Malnati is I think anyone who is from Chicago knows that that's the best chain, the place that you can go to. And really, if you're from Chicago, you don't get deep dish a lot. You get it like maybe once a year. We really like the tavern thin crust. That's kind of interesting. Yeah, that's the pizza we will normally get because it's just too heavy.

00:09:45:16 - 00:09:57:17
Tom Phillips
If you were to have actually had a roommate. Yeah, my first year in Chicago who is getting deep 2 to 3 times a week and he gained like £30. Yeah, it was gross.

00:09:59:13 - 00:10:01:14
Matthew Krekeler
Yeah, that's just heavy pizza.

00:10:01:14 - 00:10:27:01
Tom Phillips
Yeah, a really cool pizza spot called Chicago Pizza Oven Grinder. The only issue is there's always a long wait, so have kids. That'll be rough, but it's really cool. It's almost like a pizza pot pie. So how they cook it, they have one of the issues that are like this and then they put the crust around it and then, Oh, that's cool, flip it over and they take the shot off.

00:10:27:01 - 00:10:55:09
Tom Phillips
And then it's like this. So it's like a round ball. Wow. That's one of the first places my cousin took me when I moved here. And it's a really cool spot. It's hidden in the Lincoln Park area. It's literally underneath a townhouse in the basement of it. So it's a really cool, unique spot. A lot out of town people don't know about, and that's cool.

00:10:55:15 - 00:11:25:12
Tom Phillips
If you're going to get a beef sandwich, go to Portillo's. You can get hot dogs there. They're vegan hot dogs right now, which I think is super cool because I eat beef anymore. And that's so I don't mistake. I'm in Chicago beef sandwiches, but that was a decision I made so tils. That's the big star. So they have they make really great margaritas, the really strong margarita as well.

00:11:25:12 - 00:11:52:13
Tom Phillips
You get a giant pitcher with a wooden spoon. They mix it for now and they they only have five or six things on the menu. They're all tacos, but they're really good. It's like street tacos that they serve to you. You can get a love. They can also get a walking taco, which is just all the taco stuff and a free bag and eat it.

00:11:53:19 - 00:12:18:21
Tom Phillips
That was always my favorite. And they opened the one across from Wrigley Field that you saw on TV in Wicker Park, and now there's the Wrigley Field. And then for a grown up dinner, I would recommend going to publican. They have maybe the best mussels I've ever had in my life. Like this white wine tossed. It's incredible. They're so good.

00:12:18:21 - 00:12:44:07
Tom Phillips
It's interesting because it's communal style seating, so they just have two giant tables that you can sit at. Or you go into these like cow pens where people before can sit otherwise. Otherwise you're at the big long tables where you're at the bar. They have really good oysters. It's all toppings, so it's all shared plate, but it's, it's really good.

00:12:44:07 - 00:12:51:20
Tom Phillips
And it's in West Loop and I highly recommend the awesome.

00:12:52:17 - 00:13:05:23
Matthew Krekeler
Man that also you're making me hungry now. It all sounds great. And yeah, I've actually never been to Chicago, so that's some place that I really want to visit, especially now like and all of these insider tips. So thank you so much.

00:13:06:04 - 00:13:23:04
Tom Phillips
Yeah, no problem. You should definitely visit. It's awesome city. I was I was really upset when we made the decision to move, but yeah, I can't wait to move back on the 18 year.

00:13:23:04 - 00:13:30:20
Matthew Krekeler
Yeah well it will be awesome to like when your kids are older too and take them back to the city and yeah. Be able to experience the city.

00:13:31:04 - 00:13:33:04
Tom Phillips
Like in a very they.

00:13:33:04 - 00:13:34:11
Matthew Krekeler
Can appreciate it more. Yeah.

00:13:34:14 - 00:13:35:12
Tom Phillips
Yeah, exactly.

00:13:37:04 - 00:13:39:11
Matthew Krekeler
Great. Well yeah. Thank you so much again for sharing.

00:13:40:03 - 00:13:51:12
Tom Phillips
Yeah, thank you for having me on.

00:13:51:13 - 00:14:15:14
Matthew Krekeler
Thank you to Tom Phillips for sharing his travel guide and being part of Girl Dad Nation. As I said in the interview, I've never been to Chicago, but I look forward to visiting with my family someday. You can find links to the places Tom mentioned in the episode description. And if you have more helpful tips, please leave a comment on social media or send me an email to girldadnationpodcast@gmail.com

00:14:16:00 - 00:14:23:20
Matthew Krekeler
And if you haven't done so yet, hit that follow button. It means a lot to me. Thank you for listening. Until next time, go be a dad.