My much-anticipated trip to Chicago is coming up! I leave on August 19th, and I am PUMPED. I'm traveling with my friends Carrie, Shanon, and CNash, and none of us have ever been to Chicago, other than a few brief layovers in one of the airports.
So...if any of you people are familiar with the city, what are some of your favorite things to see/do? We're going to hit all of the parks, ball parks, museums, etc. And we're planning a day trip to Springfield and a day trip to some national park in Indiana (Shanon is obsessed with national parks.) What else would you recommend? We're also planning to eat ourselves into a coma, so any restaurant ideas would be great.
Let's hear it!
5 comments:
i took a river tour that focused on architecture when i was there. it was very cool. i think it departed from navy pier.
i only wish i'd been there long enough to do more.
have fun!!
I second the architecture river tour. We also went to Oak Park and saw Wright's house. We have a bunch of info that Margaret gave us from when she lived there, but I'm at my sister's right now, so I'll have to get back to you when I get home later today. When do you leave?
Duh. I just read your post a little more carefully. I will get whatever info I have before the 19th. A week with a houseful of 9 nine kids under the age of ten tends to make you stupid.
Hey Rand! I'm so excited for you to get to take this trip. Can't wait for you to blog about it when you're back, too!! My friend, Joyce lives in Chicago now. You might get some ideas by browsing her blog link from my blog (Joyce and Charles) if you want. Have a fun time!!
The architectural boat tour is a must!
Navy Pier does fireworks in the summer. It used to be on Wednesday and Saturday nights, but may have changed, so check their website.
Walk down Michigan Avenue, starting at about Michigan and Chestnut, and bask in consumerism. Though maybe not so much now with the economy and all. But still a nice walk. Cross the river and then you're down in the business district. Look up because the architecture is great. Keep walking and you'll hit Millennium Park (with the big silver bean). Keep walking a bit more and you'll get to the Art Institute. I recommend the Art Institute. It was one of my favorite places when I lived there, particularly the room with the giant El Grecos.
The Shedd Aquarium is fabulous!
The Field Museum is fun(though if you go on a day when there are lots of kids there, the Field Museum can be kind of overheated and smell a bit like pee. I'm just sayin'.)
Food: well, you've got to have Chicago-style pizza. Go to Giordano's! There's one at Rush and Superior so you can hit it when you're walking around downtown. Greektown is great, just west of the Loop. Pegasus was one of my favorite places there and I highly recommend the lamb with lemon sauce and artichoke hearts.
See if they're holding any sort of music festivals in Grant Park while you're there.
Just a warning, the drive down to Springfield is kind of boring - flat farm country, which is cute for a little while, but gets old.
If I think of anything else, I'll let you know. :)
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