Discovering New Chicago Neighborhoods with Chase Freedom Unlimited

This post was created in collaboration with Chase Freedom Unlimited. As always, all opinions are 100% my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that make Sophisticaition possible!

Time for another neighborhood to explore! If you’re new around here, I’ve teamed up with Chase Freedom Unlimited to work towards a goal to explore Chicago. With my card, I’m able to earn cash back on every purchase, giving me even more incentive to seek out new-to-me areas of my city. This month, in between meetings in River North, I took some time to check out a little lunch spot. 

River North is named rather creatively (hahaha) because of its location north of the Chicago River. It is bordered by Lake Michigan on the East, the Chicago River to the South, the Chicago River to the West and to the North.

It is a business district with major shopping, residential and leisure areas as well. Way less “work minded” than the Loop, River North is a fun blend of the best of Downtown Chicago. I rarely make my way all the way downtown and when I do, I quickly try to get back to the relative peace and quiet of my neighborhood. The Magnificent Mile, which is down here, is always crowded with tourists!! A lot of locals do shop down here but at weird times when we know it won’t be busy. River North is trendy, but expensive. Prices are crazy and whenever I’m down here, I always feel the need to dress up! Needless to say, it’s not a good spot to work from a coffee shop in sweats like I do every day. 😉

The lunch spot I found had the yummiest shakes! I picked up a chocolate one and it was the perfect size to carry me over to dinner.  
I’m now two Chicago neighborhoods in to my exploration of the city. I’m proud of myself for going outside my usual “get in and get out” mindset when I’m in other areas and making time to get to know new neighborhoods. I’ve now found two spots I’ll go back to, the vintage shop where I got an amazing deal on a shirt and this bomb smoothie place. I’ve also earned 1.5% cash back on these purchases using my Chase Freedom Unlimited card. As I continue to explore, I know I’ll find more gems around the city and make more purchases with my cash back credit card, win win!