Vacation Advice - Chicago

[ChoralScholar]

Myself, elfrangel and Choralkiddo are going to spend a week in Chicago in March. We've got a great condo in a high-rise downtown.

I've spent a lot of time in Chicago, but this is the first time for the wife and kiddo, and our two friends (also a married couple) that are going with us.

So, what I'm asking, outside of the obvious (Hancock, Sears, Lincoln Park, Shedd, and Field Museum) what else should we be sure to see?

Also - restaurants that locals enjoy that we shouldn't miss?

[Skittles]

1. advice for you CS

take some hand sanitizer - there's some nasty colds going around there; my brother and I both caught one after visiting Chicago museums Thursday - those press-this-button displays are prime pickings for viruses I tells ye (we went to the Science & Industry museum, including the UBoat tour - friggin' AWESOME :thumbsup:)

[elleng]

2. Art Institute

http://www.artic.edu/aic/

[tigereye]

7. yes, simply amazing and the Modern Art Museum is wonderful too!

[datasuspect]

3. just try to stay out of residents' way as much as possible

this advice isn't so much for you, just tourists in general

-don't walk four abreast on the sidewalk.

-when using a sidewalk, walk to the right.

-when using an escalator and you plan on riding it rather than walking up it, stand right, pass left. if it's a very narrow one, just start walking up it.

-when you get fast food, don't ask for samples or what's good or what the surly person serving you might suggest - know what you want and get out of the way.

-don't stand and gawk when you're in the middle of pedestrian traffic.

-control your children.

-those seats on the el or the bus? yep. your fare only entitles you to one of them. put your packages in your lap.

i'm sure there are other things i can think of, but it's early yet.

[tigereye]

8. ya know what, when I have visited the locals could not have been kinder and

more welcoming. I have been there multiple times.

A van driver at the airport drove me to the next stop and waited while I went to the kiosk and bought a ticket - this would never have happened here in Pittsburgh.

All the cab drivers were wonderful and kind.

Folks headed to the ballpark on the train I took into the city told me what stop to get off at to take the river tour.

A woman on the street near the river tour chatted with me and directed me to the boat launch. Locals waiting for the tour told me all kinds of anecdotes about the city.

People at the various hotels could not have been nicer, same with restaurant owners...


I love Chicago! :bounce: Plus all my friends there. Great city.


On edit, I think folks in San Francisco are more aggravated by gawking or unaware tourists! :rofl:

[GoCubsGo]

11. I miss that.

Here in the South, they pride themselves on hospitality and manners. In fact, they think they own them. No way. Chicago, and the Midwest, in general, have them beat by a mile when it comes to being nice to visitors.

[ChoralScholar]

17. Yeah, I appreciate the sentiment.... don't annoy the people that live here...

But this should be filed under common sense for getting along with the general public.

<Anticipating Next Comment>

Yes, I know that SOME people don't understand it, but I assure you, this isn't my first time out of town, and we'll do our best to stay out of your way when walking and eating. (oh, and riding public transpo)

:eyes:

[hippywife]

4. All good suggestions so far.

I would also recommend Greektown for some great food and fun. Went to this restaurant years ago and it was great. I would recommend it over some of the other more contemporary ones.

http://www.theparthenon.com/

[Gidney N Cloyd]

5. March? Are you sure you can't think of a worse time of year to visit Chicago?

I love this town but in March it's still cold, it's sloppy wet, and the entire town looks and smells like a soiled diaper.

[ChoralScholar]

15. Well, since I teach at a University, and my wife is still

taking classes, AND we've got a kid in school - we try to do things on Spring Break.

[tigereye]

6. I would say take the river tour, but it would probably still be really cold!

I took one of them last time I was there, and it was amazing to see all the architecture - just lovely and a wonderful historical and art overview of the city!

[PeaceNikki]

9. If the grown-ups get a night out

Get to Kingston Mines for the best blues shows and taste of Chicago EVER. Memphis has nothing on this place.

http://www.kingstonmines.com/flash/main.html

[hippywife]

12. Or Second City.

Not sure how good it still is, but we had a great time the night we went. Lots of laughter. :D

[Withywindle]

19. Buddy Guy's is good too. n/t

[GoCubsGo]

10. Adler Planetarium, Oriental Institute. Also check out the suburbs..

The planetarium is right by Shedd and the Field Museum. The Chicago Museum of History is also very good, and I second the Art Institute. Also, loads of public artwork from famous artists like Picasso and Chagall all over the downtown area.

If you're into ancient Egypt, Assyria and the rest of the Middle East, the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute Museum can't be beat. And, it's free.

If you want to venture out into the suburbs, the Brookfield Zoo is really good. Also in that vicinity is Oak Park, which is home to a number of buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, including his own home. Ernest Hemmingway's birthplace is there, too, along with a museum in his honor.


Directions to some of these places, and more here: http://www.explorechicago.org

[A HERETIC I AM]

13. Eat at Ed Debevic's.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/ed-debevics-short-order-deluxe-chicago

You'll have a blast.

[ChoralScholar]

16. I've been... in fact I took a choir there for a meal the night we went to see Wicked on choir tour

It was a blast.

[ChoralScholar]

14. Hey thanks for all the replies!

I haven't read them yet - but I'm sure they're great!

Thanks again for your help.

[Withywindle]

18. oooo, I know, I know!

Lunch at the Signature Room on the 95th Floor of the John Hancock. The food isn't especially great, but the lunch prices are reasonable and the VIEW...oh man, the VIEW. (I went there with out of town friends a little while ago, and we saw two peregrine falcons fly by hunting pigeons.)

The Green Mill - 20s-vintage jazz club, still books the real deal.

Workshops, concerts, and the awesome little store at the Old Town School of Folk Music.

The Indian neighborhood on Devon Avenue, and Chinatown.

Try to get tickets to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, if you can. Ranked #1 in the US, #5 in the world.

If you go to Hyde Park to check out the Oriental Institute (which you should) you should also go to the 57th Street and Seminary bookshops and the Medici coffeehouse.

[bif]

20. Chinatown & Argyle Street are very cool