Seven days and counting until I visit the US on a training course.
Can anyone recommend anything to do on a weekend in the Chicago area? I’m staying in a campus/hotel about an hour from the airport, and I get two days off to explore.
Sounds like a ChiDope seedling here…
I don’t live in Chicago, but I have friends there who I visit often. I’m sure you know about the standard touristy stuff (Natural History Museum, Contemporary Art Museum, Museum of Science and Industry, shopping in the Loop, etc.), but I also recommend going up to the Lakeview district (aka Boy’s Town). It’s a great neighborhood, with good clubs and restaurants, and it’s a fun place to just walk around. Lots of people out with dogs, you’re near the lake, and there’s great shops and bookstores everywhere.
The area is localized around Belmont and Halsted. You can get there by taking the Brown Line on the El and getting off at the Belmont exit. If you’re so inclined, go to Joy’s Noodles (great thai food) on Broadway and order the Chicken Coconut Curry. It rules. (Although everything at Joy’s is good.)
That’s my recommendation.
mattk,
My favorite place to visit in Chicago is the Shedd Aquarim. http://www.sheddnet.org/
Very relaxing, lots to see. Beautifully maintained and displayed.
Zette
If you go to the Shedd Aquarium or the Field Museum of Natural History, make sure you go out on the peninsula that leads to the Adler Planetarium and check out the view of the Chicago skyline. You can preview the view from the Adler’s webcam!
Campus/hotel an hour from Chicago? Where at, Arthur Andersen?
An hour from which airport in which direction? Help with he location and we’ll be happy to help you get around and what’s reasonable to explore.
Good guess on the AA/AC campus, but is not an hour from the airport.
Don’t they still have the one out in St Charles? That’d be a good hour.
Oh, and mattk, you’ll find that arguing about how long it takes to drive anywhere is another time-honored Chicago pastime.
An outsiders view (reflections of several visits), if that’s worth anything.
I don’t know if it’s the same Aquarium but if it’s the one in Lincoln Park……not sure if it’s that important to visit. Maybe I’m just not remembering clearly.
My favourites include the Contemporary Art Museum, can you still go to the top of the Sears Tower ?, Soldier Field, Wrigley Field (hey ! no lights at Wrigley Field – circa 1988 ish), shopping, riding the ‘L’ and Blues clubs. Can’t quite remember the name of the old, old blues guitarist with the club ?? Liked the Uni campus (North Western ?) very much. Never went fishing on the lake but I believe it’s not a problem – I’ have liked to do that.
Have a great time and a thick vest.
Oh, i forgot one thing that was really touristy but excellent. That was the river boat trip. I’d really recommend that as it gives a great insight into the architecture of skyscrapers and also views thereof from very different perspectives. I thoroughly enjoyed that.
After all, Chicago has long been the fountainhead of modern architecture, and that’s not JUST boosterism.
Chicago’s not really much of a ‘tourist’ town. That isn’t to say there aren’t cool things to do and see but it ain’t London or Paris either. There’s a reason one of Chicago’s nicknames is “The City That Works”.
That said Chicago does have some world class museums as others have pointed out. The Art Institute, Field Museum (natural history), Shedd Aquarium, Adler Planetarium, Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) and the Museum of Science and Industry are all good.
The best shopping in Chicago is along the Magnificent Mile (just north of the Loop) along Michigan Avenue. The president of Dayton/Hudson called the Mag Mile the best shopping ‘strip’ in the US ahead of Rodeo Drive in LA and 5[sup]th[/sup] Avenue in NY. Bring a credit card with a high limit though cuz it ain’t cheap.
Chicago is routinely voted the best ‘architectural’ city in the US. Some of the architecture tours are great. As someone else pointed out a boat ride along the Chicago River is a great way to see the city from a different perspective (below the skyscrapers looking up…the Chicago River is some 20’ below street level). I recommend doing the boat trip at night when the skyscrapers are lit up – very cool.
Chicago also has some of the finest parks of any big US city. Somehow city planners kept business from building up to the shore of Lake Michigan so we have a park that runs for miles along the lake. Lincoln Park has the Lincoln Park Zoo in it which is one of the last free zoos in the US (no entrance charge). It’s not the greatest zoo in the world but it is fun and very accessible. FYI: In Chicago Grant Park (just outside the Loop) has a statue of Lincoln and Lincoln Park has a statue of Grant…go figure.
As for eating plan on gaining several pounds during your visit. Chicago has a HUGE variety of excellent restaurants. Pick what you like and your price range and Chicago probably has it.
Nightlife is likewise very good in Chicago. Rush and Division is the tourist/suburban bar strip but much better can be found a bit further afield. Lakeview (Wrigleyville) and Bucktown are two good watering hole areas that pop to mind. Chicago is famous for its Blues but expect to pay for it. Most Blues bars with live entertainment charge $10 to walk in the door (and the bars themselves look seedy…you’re paying for the music). Someone was asking about a blues legend who has a bar. At a guess I’d say they were thinking of Buddy Guy’s Legends bar. Any cabbie can probably get you there with just the name (it’s just south of the loop on Wells [I think]). There is also the House of Blues owned by Dan Akroyd. At the north edge of the Loop it is a very polished, big business bar. It’s free to walk in the door but you have to pay to get upstairs to hear the live music (prices vary depending on the artist playing…$14 for some obscure bands to $80 for Aretha Franklin).
Chicago also has some good small play houses. Some of these play houses only fit 20-30 people and are BYOB but some plays are a lot of fun.
Best advice…grab a Chicago Reader if you can. They come out on Thursdays and are free. This paper is the most definitive listing of what’s happening in the city so it’s worth picking through it to see what’s going on.
Have a fun time in ChiTown. It really is a great city if you dig into it a bit. Give us a holler if you want to hook-up with any fellow Dopers…I for one (if I’m free) would be happy to give you the $0.10 tour.
Wow, thanks for the information, everyone.
Oh, dropzone – correct (AA, not AC). I’m not at the St Charles campus, though, but at a smaller hotel in somewhere called Hickory Ridge.
The Hickory Ridge Conference Center, owned by Marriott, in Lisle, Illinois? On Illinois Route 53, just a few miles south of where I live?
Never heard of it. 
So, when exactly will you be here?
That could just be the one, dropzone…
I fly out on Sunday morning, so if I have my timings right I should get in about 12.30pm Sunday, and I fly out on Friday 5 October late at night.
What’s the area like?
Oh wow, if you are going to be in Lisle, you’ve got to check out the Morton Arboretum. Then you can go to Wheaton College to see C.S. Lewis’ wardrobe.
Seriously, I hope they are giving you a car. Lisle ain’t exactly Times Square.
Instead of us telling you what we like to do, how bout you telling us what you like, and we can give you more precise recommendations. Moreover, give us the specific days you will have free, and we can check out schedules.
dropzone, I live a few miles north of Lisle between Roosevelt and St. Charles, bout a mile west of 53. How bout you?
Unfortunately I’m expected to work 8am to 8pm every day barring the middle weekend, and I have to work in the evenings as well. I’m hoping to get at least one of the weekend days free to explore; the only recommendation I have so far is some sleazy bar where you pay a $20 (IIRC) entry fee and it’s all you can drink.
I won’t get a car, but seeing as I don’t drive that doesn’t bother me too much.
What do I like doing? Hard to say; the idea of seeing some architecture appeals, but then again I wouldn’t mind seeing how your average American lives (i.e. frequent a few bars, cafes and the like).
$20 AYCD!?!?!
Where?
I’ll put 'em out of business!
Even from Rogers Park, it’s worth it for an Irishman with a high tolerance like meself 
See, your biggest problem is going to be getting into the loop. A cab from Lisle will probably run at least $40 or so, and they aren’t going to want to take you back to the burbs at the end of the day.
Alternatives would be a limo, or taking a train, which is quite easy. The hotel will probably give you a limo to and from the Lisle station. The train is the Metra, Burlington Northern. On Saturdays, the trains into the city stop in Lisle pretty much every hour at 36 or 38 minutes past: from 5:36 a.m. til 11:36 p.m., skipping 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 10 p.m. Sunday, they are slightly less frequent. The ride takes about 50 minutes. The station is just west of the loop. Has a really neat main waiting room. Watch “The Untouchables” before coming over - the scene where the baby carriage comes down the steps was filmed there.
Back out to Lisle, the trains leave at half past, with the earliest at 6:30 a.m., and latest at 12:35.
One way fare is about $3.50.
If you come in to Union Station, you are right across the river from the Sears Tower, which is pretty neat if you are into tall buildings. The architectural foundation is pretty much straight across the loop a mile or so on Michigan Ave. I’ll dig up contact info for you. They do several different walking tours. And if you walk right across the loop from Union Station, you’ll walk past several neat buildings by Sullivan, Mies van de Rohe, Adler, and a couple of nice Calders.
Once on Michigan Ave, you are right across the street from the Art Institute, which is pretty incredibly impressive if you like art museums. I say pass on the Museum of Montemporary Art, which has a crappy permanent collection unless they are having some exhibit. Again, I’ll check out what is at both places.
And then from the Art Institute it is a short walk/cab ride down through Grant Park to the museum campus, which has the Shedd Aquarium, the Field Museum, and the Adler Planetarium. Between the Art Institute and the museums is Buckingham Fountain, which is pretty cool.
That really is more than you could do in a day. As others have said, you could shoot up to Rush Street or Boys Town for the evening.
The alternative, or a possible second day, would be to do the North Loop/near north side. Head up to North Michigan Ave., which is the Chicago shopping center. Check out Navy Pier, Lincoln Park Zoo, The Chicago Historical Society, the John Hancock Building, the Academy of Sciences. And the boats for the river and lake rides dock up near that end of town.
If you are interested in live music or theater, give us some parameters and we’ll get you the info.
As far as things to do after 8 p.m. in the Lisle area, you’ll have pretty slim pickings. There are several good restaurants in surrounding suburbs including Oak Brook, Naperville, and Glen Ellyn. Again, let us know if you desire specific recommendations. Most of the suburbs in the area pretty much shut down early on week nights.
And if you really want to see how the average American lives, I’ll pick you up and you can come over and clean my house.