Tips for Chicago Trip (Adults)

[Jimbo]

DW and I are spending three nights in Chicago in a couple of weeks. We're staying at the Whitehall, right off Water Tower Place, and are checking in on a Thursday and out on Sunday.

It's been a long since we've spent any adults-only time in Chicago, and I'm not as prepared as I should be. On Thursday we're having dinner at Topolobampo, one of my favorite restaurants in the whole world. But that's the only thing we've got planned.

Can I get a few tips? I won't say that that money is no object, but it won't be my first consideration. We probably won't have a car, BTW.

 

[pearlieq]

DH and I just spent a couple of days downtown. There's so much to do!

One thing we especially like was taking a river architecture cruise. It left from Navy Pier and was guided by a great docent. The company was called Shoreline Tours and it was $24 each.

Navy Pier in itself is a nice place to spend an afternoon. You can also rent bikes there and ride up and down the lakeshore. It's a beautiful view and a nice way to work off all of the wonderful food you'll have!

You might want to think about catching a show while you're in town. There's plenty to choose from. If you're up in the theater district, Petterino's is a great restaurant!

Last time we were there we took in a Second City show and had SUCH a great time! Plus there's this amazing mexican restaurant called Adobo Grill located on the first floor of Piper's Alley, where the Second City holds most of their shows.

Hope you have a great time!

 

[clh2]

What about getting tickets to go see Wicked?

What about going up to the Hancock Tower at night? DH and I went there on our 2nd date I don't know if there is still a restaurant and/or bar up on top any more, but there is an observation deck.

If it is a weekend night, it is fun to have a drink in a nice hotel bar - the Drake comes to mind, as you can listen to the music (nice piano bar) , have a nice conversation and people watch. We always did this at Christmas time, and it was just fun to watch the people going to all the weddings & holiday parties. The Drake is very close to Watertower Place.

 

[Beth76]

Just wander around--you're in a fantastic location. I was just there and walked passed the Whitehall as my friend really wanted to stay there. It looks nice. You're just a block from Michigan Ave and all the shops/restaurants. Just a block from Rush St. too. If you like Museums there's the Art Institute or the Field Museum. The aquarium is excellent, if you like that sort of thing.

If you're the adventurous type take a ride on the Seadog at Navy Pier. It's a giant speedboat that does lake cruises and they also have a lake/river cruise. We did the the latter and it was fantastic--a short ride on the speedboat on the lake and then a great architecture cruise down the river. Our guide was fantastic--very thorough and entertaining!

 

[Jimbo]

What about getting tickets to go see Wicked?

I thought Wicked was only showing through August. But I see that it's on through February. I'll look into that!

Has anyone taken a double-decker bus trip around town? Somebody DW works with recommended it, but they were pretty vague about the whole thing.

I like the boat trip idea. We'll have to bring some warm clothes for that probably.

 

[Jimbo]

Bumping for the morning crowd...

 

[sugarpie]

There's the King Tut exhibition at The Field Museum. I'm really trying to find some time to go to the museum, even though I'm not a huge museum fan. And I could spend a whole day shopping on Michigan Avenue. There are tons of great places to eat. We ate at Wildfire last time we were in Chicago & it was delicious.

 

[kirbsam]

have dinner at one of the brazillian steak houses. awesome. go to the redhead piano bar for a great time. have the men go to espn zone, while the women shop.

 

[mickeysgal]

Pizza and steaks are king in Chicago. We personally like Gibson's and the Chop House for steaks. Pizza - we're huge fans of Home Run Inn (although this is a drive). For Italian Beef sandwiches, we love Al's on Taylor Street.

The Field Museum is a great place to visit. Shopping on the Magnificent Mile is plentiful, expensive, and worth just walking to window shop.

I second the recommendation to try for Wicked tickets.

Have a great time.

 

[bananiem]

There's the King Tut exhibition at The Field Museum. I'm really trying to find some time to go to the museum, even though I'm not a huge museum fan. And I could spend a whole day shopping on Michigan Avenue. There are tons of great places to eat. We ate at Wildfire last time we were in Chicago & it was delicious.

We went last month. The Tut exhibit should really be titled "Come see our Egyptina stuff we took out of a bunch of tombs. And oh yeah, a couple of things are King tut's. And the death mask you see on all thsoe banners all over town? It's not here."
I mean it was fascinating but very little is actually Tut's.

 

[DznyFan]

We just got back from a weekend in Chicago.

Michigan Avenue (shopping!) is great, and very pretty. Fogo de Chao (brazilian steakhouse) was very good if you like MEAT. We attended the Gospel Brunch at House of Blues and Wicked, which was very good. It is still running, but you might be hard pressed for tickets. the best $ deal for tix is at ticketmaster thru the wicked website. Great show, and the Ford Oriental theatre is beautiful.

Pizza? We had Giordanos and Gino's East, but preferred Giordano's, and loved Portillo's for their Italian Beef sandwiches.

There's plenty to do there and it is a beautiful city - enjoy!

 

[Jimbo]

have dinner at one of the brazillian steak houses. awesome. go to the redhead piano bar for a great time. have the men go to espn zone, while the women shop.

Just an FYI - Milwaukee has a Brazilian steak house of its own now. It's named Sabor, it's on Water St., and it's very good and a lot of fun. So you don't need to trek all the way to Chicago from Green Bay for it.

And speaking of Chicago and Green Bay, how bad are the Packers going to get beat on Sunday? I'm guessing 17 points.

 

[budbeerlady]

We were there about 3 weeks ago visiting family. We rode the free trolley from the museaum campus to the Art Institue, then walked 1/2 block to Millenium park. We saw the bean and watched the kids play in the water.http://www.millenniumpark.org/

I know the free trolley runs thru the fall on the weekend. (The link is huge so just google it if you are interested.) We did Shedd's and it was really cool, I hadnt been in 10 years so it was fun again. I also love Navy pier! I have also heard cool things about the architecture tours they have. The Mueseaum of Science and Industry is always fun to poke around in.

Have a fun trip, we went and saw Corteo at the United Center but it is done playing now. It was wonderful and I was going to suggest it.

 

[sugarpie]

And speaking of Chicago and Green Bay, how bad are the Packers going to get beat on Sunday? I'm guessing 17 points.

Them's fighting words. You might get your butt kicked out of the state for saying something like that.