---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Judy
Date: Nov 28, 2007 10:13 AM
Subject: Re: chicago
Hi,
I'm so excited that you're going to Chicago! It's such a wonderful city that I'm coming to appreciate more and more with the different experiences I'm having in other cities (though Boston and DC are pretty great too... :) ). As far as must sees, I'll give you a list longer than things you really should do so you can pick and choose. Also, what kinds of things do you like to do when touring? I can think more about those. I have some good friends with specialties and can ask them for advice if your interests match up. (I don't know good restaurants downtown, but I have some friends who really do!)
So, here goes:
The main part of the downtown area with stuff to see falls into two areas, the loop and the magnificent mile (mag mile). The loop has the financial district, Sears Tower (really cool!), and some of the older more historic stuff. The mag mile is a mile of good shopping. Most of what I'm thinking of is within a mile or two of these places. Chicago public transportation is for the most part pretty excellent so things are closer than they seem for such a big city.
Art Institute, Shedd Aquarium, and Adler Planetarium -- all wonderful. Shedd and Adler are right next to each other and both really cool.
Navy Pier is relatively near the John Hancock building. John Hancock tours are great but I'm not sure I'd recommend doing both Hancock and Sears because they don't offer such different things. Navy Pier, if the weather's nice, is fun because it has a kind of mini-amusement park. I'm not sure what goes on in the winter there, though when I was there for new years last year it was really fun. They might have something going on.
If the weather is nice then the Chicago Architecture Foundation (CAF) river architecture tour is not to be missed. It's a wonderful intro to Chicago and something that "true Chicagoans" love.
I love Millennium Park. There's not a whole lot to do there unless there's something specifically going on, but there's lots to look at. I'm not sure when they turn the fountains off but they're nice. The bandshell might have a concert or something too. It's also a short walk from Millennium Park to Buckingham Fountain.
For sports, it might be hard to elbow your way into a Bears game but I'm sure Bulls tickets are cheap now (haha) and every game is fun at the United Center.
If you're out in the Hyde Park area then the Museum of Science and Industry is absolutely fantastic. I think it's my favorite museum.
Second City is a really funny improv group that should have shows. Blue Man Group isn't as distinctly Chicago (at all) but is also great.
There are also some off the beaten path type things, like the Broadcasting Museum, Greektown, etc. I feel like for first time visitors, something like Second City is way cooler, but thought I'd throw them in just in case.
For food, as I mentioned before, I don't have good experience with excellent restaurants (though my co-worker went to U of C and recommends Bin36 with all her heart). I do have to recommend FoodLife cafe in the Water Tower (near the Hancock at the north end of the mag mile) which is just fun. It has lots of different stands with tons of types of food and it's all pretty good. They hand out magnetic cards at the beginning and you just get food and pay at the end. For excellent deep dish pizza, I recommend Lou Malnati's. It's wonderful! Going to the first Uno's (or Due's) is cool but Lou Malnati's is better. Greektown also has amazing Greek food. I can check with my mom for the name of my favorite restaurant there if you're interested but I can't remember it off the top of my head. Another fun youngish area is Lincoln Park or Belmont (though I don't really have any experience in Belmont, I've just heard of it). Slightly farther out, my co-worker recommends Pilsen for Mexican food (though the area has been going through major change and I don't know it well enough to recommend or not recommend, though I suspect it's totally fine). U of C has some good restaurants and is fun to walk around.
For books, U of C also has amazing book stores (Powell's is the one I know). And I love the Harold Washington Public Library in the Loop.
I'm sure I'm going to come up with more things later and I'll try not to send too many annoying "what about X!" emails but definitely let me know how your trip goes and if you want more of any one type of site/event. I'd also recommend checking some of the Chicago websites because there are constantly street fairs and neighborhood festivals. Chicago has really fun quirky theaters so it'll depend on what they're playing but ticketmaster or google can help. If you need help tracking down any of the things I recommended I'd be happy to help! Just figured it was better to give you names instead of bombarding you with websites. It's fun just to walk up and down the mag mile, or around the loop, or up and down the lake shore.
And finally, I'm a disaster with directions, so a few hints that have kept me sane:
1. The streets near the loop and Millennium Park downtown follow the American presidents in order of their presidency. (I've been known to call home with a "Mom, who was president first, Jackson or Van Buren?!?!" to sort myself out.)
2. The lake is always east, so if you're not sure which way you're facing, look to see where the tall buildings end, and that's east.
3. There are eight blocks to the mile, so the distance from 55th street to 35th street is exactly 2.5 miles.
4. State and Madison is the (0,0) mark of the city.
5. Chicago's not as obsessed with east and west as DC is (east is the lake), but north and south matters a lot. The neighborhoods change very rapidly as you go from north to south. In general, the north side is nicer though there are pockets of good areas, like Hyde Park, in the south parts of town.
I hope that you have a lovely trip and I can't wait to hear about it :)
Date: Nov 28, 2007 10:13 AM
Subject: Re: chicago
Hi,
I'm so excited that you're going to Chicago! It's such a wonderful city that I'm coming to appreciate more and more with the different experiences I'm having in other cities (though Boston and DC are pretty great too... :) ). As far as must sees, I'll give you a list longer than things you really should do so you can pick and choose. Also, what kinds of things do you like to do when touring? I can think more about those. I have some good friends with specialties and can ask them for advice if your interests match up. (I don't know good restaurants downtown, but I have some friends who really do!)
So, here goes:
The main part of the downtown area with stuff to see falls into two areas, the loop and the magnificent mile (mag mile). The loop has the financial district, Sears Tower (really cool!), and some of the older more historic stuff. The mag mile is a mile of good shopping. Most of what I'm thinking of is within a mile or two of these places. Chicago public transportation is for the most part pretty excellent so things are closer than they seem for such a big city.
Art Institute, Shedd Aquarium, and Adler Planetarium -- all wonderful. Shedd and Adler are right next to each other and both really cool.
Navy Pier is relatively near the John Hancock building. John Hancock tours are great but I'm not sure I'd recommend doing both Hancock and Sears because they don't offer such different things. Navy Pier, if the weather's nice, is fun because it has a kind of mini-amusement park. I'm not sure what goes on in the winter there, though when I was there for new years last year it was really fun. They might have something going on.
If the weather is nice then the Chicago Architecture Foundation (CAF) river architecture tour is not to be missed. It's a wonderful intro to Chicago and something that "true Chicagoans" love.
I love Millennium Park. There's not a whole lot to do there unless there's something specifically going on, but there's lots to look at. I'm not sure when they turn the fountains off but they're nice. The bandshell might have a concert or something too. It's also a short walk from Millennium Park to Buckingham Fountain.
For sports, it might be hard to elbow your way into a Bears game but I'm sure Bulls tickets are cheap now (haha) and every game is fun at the United Center.
If you're out in the Hyde Park area then the Museum of Science and Industry is absolutely fantastic. I think it's my favorite museum.
Second City is a really funny improv group that should have shows. Blue Man Group isn't as distinctly Chicago (at all) but is also great.
There are also some off the beaten path type things, like the Broadcasting Museum, Greektown, etc. I feel like for first time visitors, something like Second City is way cooler, but thought I'd throw them in just in case.
For food, as I mentioned before, I don't have good experience with excellent restaurants (though my co-worker went to U of C and recommends Bin36 with all her heart). I do have to recommend FoodLife cafe in the Water Tower (near the Hancock at the north end of the mag mile) which is just fun. It has lots of different stands with tons of types of food and it's all pretty good. They hand out magnetic cards at the beginning and you just get food and pay at the end. For excellent deep dish pizza, I recommend Lou Malnati's. It's wonderful! Going to the first Uno's (or Due's) is cool but Lou Malnati's is better. Greektown also has amazing Greek food. I can check with my mom for the name of my favorite restaurant there if you're interested but I can't remember it off the top of my head. Another fun youngish area is Lincoln Park or Belmont (though I don't really have any experience in Belmont, I've just heard of it). Slightly farther out, my co-worker recommends Pilsen for Mexican food (though the area has been going through major change and I don't know it well enough to recommend or not recommend, though I suspect it's totally fine). U of C has some good restaurants and is fun to walk around.
For books, U of C also has amazing book stores (Powell's is the one I know). And I love the Harold Washington Public Library in the Loop.
I'm sure I'm going to come up with more things later and I'll try not to send too many annoying "what about X!" emails but definitely let me know how your trip goes and if you want more of any one type of site/event. I'd also recommend checking some of the Chicago websites because there are constantly street fairs and neighborhood festivals. Chicago has really fun quirky theaters so it'll depend on what they're playing but ticketmaster or google can help. If you need help tracking down any of the things I recommended I'd be happy to help! Just figured it was better to give you names instead of bombarding you with websites. It's fun just to walk up and down the mag mile, or around the loop, or up and down the lake shore.
And finally, I'm a disaster with directions, so a few hints that have kept me sane:
1. The streets near the loop and Millennium Park downtown follow the American presidents in order of their presidency. (I've been known to call home with a "Mom, who was president first, Jackson or Van Buren?!?!" to sort myself out.)
2. The lake is always east, so if you're not sure which way you're facing, look to see where the tall buildings end, and that's east.
3. There are eight blocks to the mile, so the distance from 55th street to 35th street is exactly 2.5 miles.
4. State and Madison is the (0,0) mark of the city.
5. Chicago's not as obsessed with east and west as DC is (east is the lake), but north and south matters a lot. The neighborhoods change very rapidly as you go from north to south. In general, the north side is nicer though there are pockets of good areas, like Hyde Park, in the south parts of town.
I hope that you have a lovely trip and I can't wait to hear about it :)
Judy
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