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01-31-2010, 11:04 AM | |
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Going to Chicago. What do I need to do? Avoid?
Going to Chicago for a little 4 day vacation(Thrusday - Sunday) on spring break. Going to the Bulls vs. Cleveland NBA game and see Lebron, Derrick Rose, Shaq etc on Friday night. What is the can't miss "stuff" in Chicago? Avoid? opinions welcome...
Staying downtown at the Allerton hotel. Any Planeteers want to get together? -------------------------------------------------------------------- 03/22/2010 edit to pay it forward for future chicago visitors: Transportation: Definitely take the trains and bus’s if you are planning to spend a lot of time downtown. We saved a fortune in cabs. Get the CTA pass and you can get on how ever many buses, trains, transfers etc that you want for how many days you purchase. http://faremedia.chicago-card.com/store/main.aspx?DepartmentId=34 Check the schedule and plan your route out: http://www.transitchicago.com/travel_information/maps/default.aspxhttp://www.transitchicago.com/riding_cta/populardestinations.aspx We arrived at 8:00 at the O’Hara airport and not taking the train would have been a disaster. They highways are parking lots that time of the day. We flew out of Midway on the way out and took a cab out there to the airport. We really enjoyed riding the bus’s and talking to the locals. They gave us great tips on where to eat etc. You don’t need a car. If you are driving, there is no where to park and where there is parking is very expensive and driving downtown is dangerous trying to navigate all those cabs and buses? Not for the weak of heart. Attractions: Get the Go Chicago card: Saved us a ton of money on admission fees but more importantly we avoided the lines at the attractions to get tickets. It was snowing and the line to get into the Field museum was over an hour and a half to just get tickets to get into the museum. The lines to get tickets are long. Get your tickets in advance. http://www.smartdestinations.com/chicago-attractions-and-tours/_d_Chi-p1.html?pass=Chi_Prod_Go Sears Tower: Was cool but if you have to wait an hour or two? Question the value. The ledge is really cool. Nothing between you and the street 103 stories up but some Plexiglas. It’s an experience you can’t get anywhere else in the world. John Hancock observatory: We actually liked it better than the Sears tower because of the better ocean and beach views. They have something cool there, a skywalk 93 stories up that you can walk along that is exposed to the wind, temperatures etc 93 floors up. Just some mesh screen between you and the sky. Science and Industry museum: We all felt that this was the best of all the museums. You have to see the U-Boat. It’s another one of those you can only experience in Chicago things. Millennium Park: The silver bean was really cool. Seems like a real simple thing but once you get there and see it up close you understand the draw the bean has for people. Make sure you go underneath the bean and check it out. Looks like a wonderful place to watch a concert. Shedd Aquarium: We were disappointed in this one. Maybe we are just spoiled but we thought the Aquarium in Omaha was much better. The Field museum: Another disappointment. Sue the T-Rex was really cool but the rest of the museum left us flat. Seemed really educational for kids but for us adults we would like to have seen more exhibits than some pottery. Chicago Bulls game: We decided to take the bus out there. Straight shot to and from downtown. Not really a bad seat in the house. The mascot seems to be pretty athletic and entertaining. Highly recommend getting one of the monster dogs. Navy Pier: We went there and it was cold. Looks like a great place to visit in the warm weather. Second City: We saw “Rush Limbaugh, the musical”. Barney Frank, Hillary, Dancing Ronald Reagan’s…Very funny stuff. Had a bit in there when Rush with the Royals and George Brett on a toilet with hemorrhoids. Highly recommend checking out a show there. The Art Institute: A wonderful place to see art. So many Picasso’s, Monet’s and Van Gough’s you can’t really appreciate them fully like if some were here in KC just because of the sheer volume of masterpieces in one place. Very impressive collection. We also enjoyed seeing the American Gothic and some American art. http://www.artic.edu/aic/ Eats: Ginos East: Great pizza. Love the crust. We went to the one on Shapiro and it has all the walls filled with customer graffiti. Not living off its past reputation. My son thought it was the best pizza ever. Giordanos: on Shapiro, Excellent deep dish pizza here also. Better than anything you can get in KC. Try sprinkling a little Italian herb seasoning on the pizza here. http://www.giordanos.com/locations.html West Egg: Breakfast by the doubletree. Reasonable prices and great food. Everything we had was good. http://www.yelp.com/biz/west-egg-cafe-chicago-2 Yokes: Breakfast on Lake Shore drive. Best crepes we have ever had. Very good food. http://www.yelp.com/biz/yolk-chicago-2 Quaritinos: Best meal in Chicago. Very trendy and hip place but don’t let that push you away. You order 5-6 things and share them. Ravioli, Brusheta and the Bananas foster desert were our favorites but everything we had was real flavorful and well prepared. http://www.quartinochicago.com/ Lodging: We stayed at the Allerton hotel downtown. I would highly recommend if you are coming to Chicago and you are going to do these things listed above to stay downtown. This was a great hotel. If you can’t afford the downtown rates just take the train into the city and go from there. Last edited by BigRedChief; 03-22-2010 at 10:07 AM.. |
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03-22-2010, 01:15 PM | #181 | |
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Quote:
We never made it to the Morton Grove area. We heard from several people about Hot doug's. just didn't get a chance to get there.
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03-22-2010, 01:39 PM | #182 | |
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Quote:
Giordano's Pizza was good, but I remember Gino's being better. I think they have a larger bottom crust. We also went to Andy's Live Jazz. Pretty nice, if you can get a seat. $15 is a bit steep, but what the heck, not often you see live jazz in Chicago. Also Field Museum is fine, especially with the student rate ($12). There's a lot to see there, but too much of it is stuffed animals. You can see many of the same things live at a zoo. In the Ukrainian village are two cool churches that are worth seeing: St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic and the Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church. Hancock building is a cool if you do the lounge. You can get a drink for less than the price of the observatory ticket and still walk around the dining center and see the views. Also went to Eleven City Diner. Had the Blankey-Blank Special (or something like that). Eh, nothing to write home about. However, the potato knish was a first time for me, and that was a nice surprise. Good weekend. |
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03-22-2010, 02:57 PM | #183 |
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West Egg rocks, I stayed near there earlier this month and had breakfast there twice. Really good way to start the day. I was disappointed by Gino's East, doesn't live up to the hype.
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03-22-2010, 03:54 PM | #184 |
Wasted away again...
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FYP
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03-23-2010, 06:37 AM | #185 |
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I thought Gino's East rocked. Best crust evah.
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Mind you own damn business Last edited by BigRedChief; 03-23-2010 at 07:55 AM.. |
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03-23-2010, 09:35 AM | #186 |
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Things to avoid:
1. Leaving the Grateful Dead concert at Soldier Field so ripped up on hallucinogens that you get lost. 2. Being so lost that you pull off the interstate and resort to getting directions from one of those guys that tries to clean your windshield with newspaper and god-knows-what at a stoplight. 3. Actually following that guy's directions into a part of town that is so bad you get pulled over by the police for being "a bunch of white kids from Iowa that are about to get murdered for being in the wrong place in too nice of a car". Also... 4. Not really knowing where the museum of science and industry is other than "south I think" so taking the El so deep into southern Chicago that a place like Cabrini Green looks like a nice place to wait for a cab that may never arrive.
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03-23-2010, 09:38 AM | #187 |
Eat/Sleep/Procrastinate/Repeat
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Certainly not.
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03-23-2010, 09:39 AM | #188 |
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03-23-2010, 09:43 AM | #189 |
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I will cut a ho who tries the crusts at Burt's Place or Pequod's and doesn't think that they both make a better crust than does Gino's East. But I suspect that I won't have to cut anyone.
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03-23-2010, 01:14 PM | #190 | |
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Quote:
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03-23-2010, 01:22 PM | #191 |
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03-23-2010, 01:26 PM | #192 |
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03-23-2010, 02:34 PM | #193 |
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Frazod -- you ever been to Pequod's or Burt's Place?
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03-23-2010, 02:42 PM | #194 |
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Which Ocean was that you saw from the Hancock Bldg?
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03-23-2010, 02:44 PM | #195 |
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