Going to Chicago. What do I need to do? Avoid?

[BigRedChief]

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?
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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.

[OnTheWarpath15]

Originally Posted by frazod

I like deep dish (particularly Gino's East), but only occasionally - not something you want to eat all the time.

There's a bar we go to on Fridays that has St. Louis-style thin crust and fried a ravioli appetizer. Works for me.

I really don't care for the STL super-thin crust either, but I love me some toasted ravioli.

[Frazod]

Originally Posted by OnTheWarpath58

I really don't care for the STL super-thin crust either, but I love me some toasted ravioli.

I sort of burned out on the deep dish. The thin crust is tasty (the bar offers bacon as a topping, which totally rocks), and when you're done eating you don't feel like you swallowed a full tray of lasagna.

I wish they had baked ravioli, but fried is the closest I've found up here.

[Dartgod]

Originally Posted by OnTheWarpath58

Question for you guys that live in Chicago, or for those of you that know the city really well.

We thought about flying up for our trip next month, but it seems like a waste for such a short flight.

So, we're going to drive, but we're not going to need the car at all. The hotel we're staying at wants $50 a night for parking.

Is there anywhere we can leave the car for say half that per night? Somewhere safe? We could just dump the car in a garage and cab it to the hotel.

Also willing to park somewhere safe outside of the loop and taking the train in.

Any help appreciated.

Park at the airport? I'm not sure how safe it is, I assume it would be relatively safe, and O'Hare and Midway both have economy lots in the $9-14 per day range. You can take the EL from both locations into the city.

[Frazod]

Chicago to St. Louis is certainly a short flight, but by the time you factor in all the bullshit you go through at the airport, it probably works out about the same. Ghastly, boring drive, but its a straight shot which can generally be made in about four hours, depending on road construction.

[OnTheWarpath15]

Originally Posted by Dartgod

Park at the airport? I'm not sure how safe it is, I assume it would be relatively safe, and O'Hare and Midway both have economy lots in the $9-14 per day range. You can take the EL from both locations into the city.

I thought about O'Hare, but unsure as to how safe the train would be from there. Or convenient, for that matter. Does the Blue Line go directly to the terminal?

[Frazod]

Originally Posted by OnTheWarpath58

I thought about O'Hare, but unsure as to how safe the train would be from there. Or convenient, for that matter. Does the Blue Line go directly to the terminal?

Sort of. The train station is under the parking garage.

Unless they've changed the set up at Midway, there is a really, really long walk from the train to the terminals. Ridiculously long.

The blue line is generally safe. The orange line (Midway) goes through some really bad areas.

[Dartgod]

Originally Posted by OnTheWarpath58

I thought about O'Hare, but unsure as to how safe the train would be from there. Or convenient, for that matter. Does the Blue Line go directly to the terminal?

We take the Orange line from Midway and never had an issue. I would assume that as long as you aren't travelling in the wee hours of the night, it should be safe.

It looks like at O'Hare they have a train that takes you to the main terminal where you can then jump on the Blue line.

http://www.ohare.com/PDF/PassengerIn...on/ORDLots.pdf

http://www.ohare.com/PassengerInform...are/Rates.aspx

[Dartgod]

Originally Posted by frazod

Sort of. The train station is under the parking garage.

Unless they've changed the set up at Midway, there is a really, really long walk from the train to the terminals. Ridiculously long.

The blue line is generally safe. The orange line (Midway) goes through some really bad areas.

Yeah, the walk from the Midway terminal building to the trains is a bitch.

[OnTheWarpath15]

Thanks, fellas. If we did this, we'd use the Blue from ORD. No way I'm parking near Midway.

Fraz, we're staying in River North/Streeterville near the Grand Red Line stop.

Any suggestions for $20-$25 a day parking in the city?

Navy Pier, maybe?

[Frazod]

There is also some major construction going on downtown which can cause some horrific, and I mean absolutely ****ing horrific, traffic congestion. They are currently redoing the north/south stretch of Wacker Drive, and currently the intersection of Wacker and Madison is closed and the lower drive is completely shut down. This is brutal enough on its own, but if anything else happens (accident, any sort of police/fire department activity), the result is pretty much complete gridlock.

If you are not familiar with the area, I strongly urge you to drive downtown as little as possible.

[Frazod]

Originally Posted by OnTheWarpath58

Thanks, fellas. If we did this, we'd use the Blue from ORD. No way I'm parking near Midway.

Fraz, we're staying in River North/Streeterville near the Grand Red Line stop.

Any suggestions for $20-$25 a day parking in the city?

Navy Pier, maybe?

$20-25 a day?



You're funny.

Seriously, I rarely park down here because I rarely drive down here. The garage next to my building runs around $30 per day. I can't imagine tourist areas will be any better.

You should probably check with somebody at your hotel. Hopefully they'll have a garage you can use that will give you a better rate.

[OnTheWarpath15]

Originally Posted by frazod

$20-25 a day?



You're funny.

Seriously, I rarely park down here because I rarely drive down here. The garage next to my building runs around $30 per day. I can't imagine tourist areas will be any better.

You should probably check with somebody at your hotel. Hopefully they'll have a garage you can use that will give you a better rate.

We were up there this time last year, and I could have swore there were garages around Grand/McClurg? near Navy Pier for under $30.

[Frazod]

Originally Posted by OnTheWarpath58

We were up there this time last year, and I could have swore there were garages around Grand/McClurg? near Navy Pier for under $30.

Like I said, I never use them. I only drive down here if I have no choice, perhaps once or twice a year, and park at the garage by my office. Driving down here on a good day sucks ass. The commute can take me anywhere from an hour on a good day to two plus on a bad day. I once got stuck in a snow storm on Thanksgiving Wednesday and it took 3 1/2 hours to drive the 35 miles from my office to my house.

As you can probably surmise, I look forward to those little trips in much the same way I would a root canal.

[Baby Lee]

Originally Posted by frazod

Chicago to St. Louis is certainly a short flight, but by the time you factor in all the bullshit you go through at the airport, it probably works out about the same. Ghastly, boring drive, but its a straight shot which can generally be made in about four hours, depending on road construction.

If you'r going downtown from Midway, it's pretty straightforward, and a goodly reduction in time, particularly if you leave at a time when the airport lines aren't likely to be backed up. In those cases, it's 20 min to airport get there 30 min ahead of time, 50 min flight, and 20-30 min [depending on when you get to midway in relation to El schedule. 2:00 to 2:10 in all.

[Jenson71]

I parked my car near the Ukrainian village 4 blocks north of Chicago St. It's free. Then you just walk to the bus and take it downtown. It's pretty safe.