To Chicago This Weekend -Tips?

[judykay53]

Our family is going to Chicago for the long weekend. None of us have ever been there. There are three adults and three boys ages 11, 9 and 6 and we are staying at the Shereton Hotel and Towers. My daughter and one grandson is going to a concert on Saturday night. We will arrive sometime Saturday morning and leave on Monday. We thought about taking them to the Shedd Aquarium or the Children's Science Museum.

I was just looking at the hotel website and it shows Shulas Steakhouse is there. Has anybody eaten there? Is it kid friently? Dress code? Any suggestions will be appreciated.

 

[mrsv98]

Welcome to Chicago! It will be very busy downtown this weekend. Jazz Fest is in Grant Park and that is huge. Be prepared for crowds in the museums and attractions. I suggest getting a CityPass (google the site) that way you won't wait in lines and will save money depending on how many places you go.

Make sure you go to Navy Pier, there will be fireworks on Sat night. Definitely go to Millenium Park and walk around, it is lovely and free! The Childrens Museum is in Navy Pier (at least for now, they are building there own site) as well as an IMax theater.

Can't tell you about Shula's per se but the steak houses around here tend to be nice dress places. They are VERY pricey as each item is priced individually.

For any place you want to eat, try and make reservations now, the waits will be long. I suggest OpenTable.com You can register for free and then make reservations online.

It looks like the weather will be nice and there is no better city to walk around and people watch. Have fun!

 

[kctwinmommy]

My first recommendation to everyone is the Hancock Building. If you want, the best way is to go to the lounge on the 96th floor, it's above the 95th floor restaurant, and you'll get beautiful views of the city! Instead of paying the money for the Sears Tower, just spend the money on a soda at the lounge and get a great view!!

I also agree that Navy Pier is a good place to spend some time. They have a ton of shops and restaurants, plus a few rides, included the ferris wheel ($6/person for about a 3-4 minute ride). There are various boat rides to take as well, a beer garden at the end (pretty good food there), live entertainment, and like the PP said, fireworks on Saturdays, at I believe 9:30 p.m.

The museums are great too, but there's just so much to see, that you won't get to it all. And it would be a shame to spend so much money (they're expensive, but check out that City Pass too) and then not get to see everything. The Shedd is really good, and closer to the downtown, along with the Field Museum. The Museum of Science and Industry is much further, about 40 blocks south.

Check out the city's website too, with it being Labor Day weekend, you will want to check out the hours of things, plus any special events that may be going on. www.cityofchicago.org

Have fun!!!

ETA: I forgot, the steakhouses here can actually be quite casual too. I've never been to Shula's, but we've gone to the Chop House several times and Harry Caray's as well, and I've gone in a dress or in jeans and a nice shirt. Being a big city, they realize that the steakhouses are pretty well known, and a lot of people who come to visit don't want to get really dressed up, so it's never been a big deal. But if in doubt, just give them a call to make sure, or check their individual sites, it may say it right on there. BTW - the two I mentioned are my absolute favorites!!!!!

 

[JoyG]

I was in Chicago for about 5 days this summer and wrote about it in my travel blog (link below) if you're interested.

I LOVED the Museum of Science and Industry the best and would suggest you see that one first. You might want to come back to it a second day.

 

[judykay53]

Great! I knew I would find someone from Chicago on here. Navy Pier is definitely on our list. My daughter has been wanting to go to Chicago for a long time. I think she just looks for places to go and things to do, especially on long weekends. I had briefly looked into the CityPass. Will hae to set down with the family and see exactly what we are going to be able to do, with our limited time.

Oh, and I checked out the weather forecast this morning . It has been in the upper nineties and hundreds here so tthose temps will be so pleasant. Thanks for your help.

 

[Beth76]

Oh wow! Looks like you're going to have gorgeous weather! One thing I will highly recommend with the kids (aside from the aquarium and Science and Industry) is a boat ride on the Seadog. http://www.seadogcruises.com/

 

[elizke]

I took my sister and her boyfriend into the city when they visited a few moths ago, and we had only one day. So we went to the Signature Inn in the John Hancock building for lunch to get the great view, and then we took the architectural river and lake tour ( http://www.wendellaboats.com/ ). It was a wonderful day and they loved it.

I agree that the Museum of Science and Industry is the best too. Just try to avoid lunch there, which is terrible, and get a map so you know how to hit the best parts first.

 

[judykay53]

Thanks everyone for all the good suggestions. I have printed them off.

 

[manchurianbrownbear]

The kids are the perfect age for the Museum of Science & Industry. You'll all enjoy Shedd Aquarium (make sure you also do the oceanarium), but the MS&I has always been our kids' favorite. It's not downtown, but it's a nice drive down Lakeshore Drive.

 

[judykay53]

Just got back tonight. Really had a good time. Would have liked it to have been about 5 degrees cooler. Went to Vavy Pier when we got there Saturday. We did a boat tour which we enjoyed. Sunday was Shedd Aquarium. One grandson got sick while waiting in line in the heat and I went back to the hotel with him. Later in the day we went to the Hancock building. Monday before coming home, we went to the Museum of Science and Industry. Really wanted to see the CSI exhibit but it was sold out when we arrived. DS9 was so dissapointed he did not want to go in at all. I think he enjoyed it anyway. The sub was neat. Taking into account the places that we visited, I thought the area was very neat and pretty. I loved all the flowers everywhere. We had been warned about the traffic so that was not a surprise. We managed to make it to our hotel without getting a scratch on the It was also neat to see the Priztker name. The place I worked for my whole life is owned by The Marmon Group. We knew that when the place was getting a fresh paint and tidied up then Mr Pritzker was coming down. His nephew Tony also worked here for a while. Anyway, really enjoyed it and would love to go back for a longer period of time. Thanks everyone.

 

[kctwinmommy]

Just got back tonight. Really had a good time. Would have liked it to have been about 5 degrees cooler. Went to Vavy Pier when we got there Saturday. We did a boat tour which we enjoyed. Sunday was Shedd Aquarium. One grandson got sick while waiting in line in the heat and I went back to the hotel with him. Later in the day we went to the Hancock building. Monday before coming home, we went to the Museum of Science and Industry. Really wanted to see the CSI exhibit but it was sold out when we arrived. DS9 was so dissapointed he did not want to go in at all. I think he enjoyed it anyway. The sub was neat. Taking into account the places that we visited, I thought the area was very neat and pretty. I loved all the flowers everywhere. We had been warned about the traffic so that was not a surprise. We managed to make it to our hotel without getting a scratch on the It was also neat to see the Priztker name. The place I worked for my whole life is owned by The Marmon Group. We knew that when the place was getting a fresh paint and tidied up then Mr Pritzker was coming down. His nephew Tony also worked here for a while. Anyway, really enjoyed it and would love to go back for a longer period of time. Thanks everyone.

Glad to hear you had a nice trip! I guess it was pretty warm here too, I was in Wisconsin, and it was fairly warm there too, so it had to be a bit warmer here. And it's funny, my aunt was just here a couple weeks ago and also commented about all the flowers too! They do make things look pretty.

And you really saw a lot while you were here too. That's a lot of different things to take in on a holiday weekend.

How did you like the Hancock? Isn't just an amazing view??

 

[judykay53]

I personally do not do heights. My blood seems to just drain to my feet if I get above the fourth floor . I sat down on the table while the rest of the family went up. I'll look at the pictures. We were on the 19th floor of the Sheraten overlooking the river. I did ok with that, I was enclosed.I actually could not keep from looking out the window and watching all the boats go by . This is the very reason I love Disney so much. I can ride everything at Disney because everything is enclosed and I cannot see how high I am. I do have to close my eyes on that initial climb on Everest. We did the Omnimax show and I just had to hold on to get across to my seat. That show was awesome but I kept thinking "Am I going to be able to get up and walk over to the stairs". Would definitely love to go back.

 

[Beth76]

Would have liked it to have been about 5 degrees cooler.

Hehe. I went the first week of August last year. The day we arrived ended a really bad heat wave with temps over 100 and high humidity. We had gorgeous weather the first 2 days. The third day it was quite a bit warmer and on our way walking to Navy Pier, I swear we hit a wall of humidity. It was the weirdest thing ever. The rest of that day wasn't too pleasant weather-wise.