Chicago Logistics

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’m going Chicago for a few days in a few weeks with 2 friends. I still haven’t figured out what we’re doing, but there are tons of “what do to in Chicago” threads so I won’t ask about that. I’m more concerned with some technical issues.

Here’s the plan so far:
Buddy #1 shows up Thursday morning. We’ll chill in corn country until noonish on Friday, when we drive up to Chicago to pick up Buddy #2 at O’Hare. We’ll stay in a hotel Friday and Saturday night. I’ll drop my friends off at O’Hare on Sunday evening, then I’ll drive South back into the fields.
The agenda includes a visit up the Sears Tower and a visit to Medieval Times, which is sort of northwestish of Chicago. Other than that, we have no idea what we’re doing yet.

My questions are:

How should I get there? I’ll be heading North on US-57. Can I trust google maps?

Where should we stay? I’ll use the car to get to the airport, then to the hotel where I’d like to park it. We’ll use it to get to and from Medieval Times in Schaumburg, but for the rest of our stay, we’d like to rely on the subway system. We don’t want to shell out tons of money, but we’d like to be safe.
Are there areas to avoid? We’re talking three bumkins with “Mug Me” tattooed on our foreheads.
We also would rather not spend hours in transit trying to get wherever we’d like to visit. I don’t know how centralized all the cool stuff in Chicago is, so this may be unavoidable.

For Medieval Times (in Schaumburg) , there are shows at 7:30 pm Friday and 4 pm and 7 pm Saturday. Will any of these times be easier/harder to get to and from? I don’t know how bad the traffic gets. We’ll be driving from wherever we end up getting a hotel room.

Is there anything else that I should be considering?

2

We used to live near Schaumburg, I know exactly where Medieval Times is, right off I90. It would make sense to do that on Friday since you’ll be at O’Hare anyway. You might want to stay in Schaumburg that night, you could go to the Alumni Club afterward the show for libations, or over to GameWorks near the Woodfield Mall if you enjoy adult arcade action. Hotels in the 'burbs are a whole lot cheaper than downtown - there’s a Radisson and a Marriot Courtyard right by there, if memory serves. There’s also a huge Ikea in Schaumburg, if you need any home decor items with strange Swedish names.

As to a downtown Chicago night out, I’d send you to River North/Wrigleyville, that’s where the cool bars and theatres are. North of North Avenue (up to about Irving Park) and east of Wells street is generally safe – don’t go too far west of Wells or south of North after dark. Once you’re in that area, cabs are easy to find & the price isn’t bad when split 3 ways - street parking is practically nonexistent. But there are plenty of people out and about most nights, you won’t feel unsafe. Personally I’d recommend ImprovOlympic or ComedySportz for theatre; Chicago has the best improvisational comedy anywhere. Second City is very good, but most of their seats are awful and it’s expensive.

Not sure where to tell you to stay - my husband’s relatives like the Best Western on Ohio. That’s nowhere near the action, but of course cabs are plentiful. I’m sort of assuming you’ll be out late having fun, so I didn’t mention anything about public transportation (it gets skeevy late at night, plus I think some stations are closed for renovations).

Parking near the Sears Tower is a PITA, I think it’s $15 for 30 minutes or something like that. It’s also not in a heavily travelled area, gets kinda spooky during non-business hours (however, Greektown isn’t far from there, if you’re a fan of Mediterranean food). I like the Hancock Tower a lot better, it’s right off the Magnificent Mile & has a really neat viewing area, including a spot where you can actually feel the wind.

One serious bit of advice - if you DO drive anywhere within Chicago, (a) don’t pick up your cell phone, hand-helds are illegal, (b) read those parking signs. I think half of Mayor Daley’s budget comes from tickets and towing fees, they are steep!

3

Re: your map - why go downtown first? Just hop on I294, goes right there.

Unless, of course, you enjoy watching people merge into the high speed lane as you go under overpasses, lots ‘o’ white-knuckle fun to be had.

4

As an FYI, October can be a difficult month to get rooms in Chicago. It’s a big convention month in the city (as I understand it).

5

This is true…I-294 would probably be faster. Just note that from I-57, you have to get on I-80 east to get to I-294…there is no ramp directly from 57 to 294. See this link from Mapquest

6

Geez, I’d be tempted to just take SR45 and forget the highway - fewer trucks, no tolls.

7

A resource for getting around Chicago is RTA website. Put in your starting and ending locations and you’ll get an itinerary with what train/bus to take. You can also download maps and such.

I second what Cranky said, you might want to reserve a hotel room now, they fill up pretty fast. This website lists what’s in town.

8

What kind of things are you looking to do? Bars? Restaurants? Museums? Theater? Something else? Some more information would help us point you in the right direction.

A good resource is www.metromix.com.

There’s also an old thread or two that you might find helpful. I’ll see if I can track them down. (Right after I lock my doors. I’m north of Irving Park and west of Wells.)

9

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=379429&highlight=chicago

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=367735&highlight=chicago

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=351407&highlight=chicago

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=309716&highlight=chicago

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=176166&page=1&pp=50&highlight=chicago

10

Isn’t I-57 still under construction, along with the Dan Ryan (the south-of-the-Loop part of I-94)? I haven’t tried it in a couple of months, because I’ve found alternate routes, but it’s supposed to be a mess until the end of November at the least, and should be avoided past I-80. Construction updates.

Do consider a CityPass to the 5 big museums, but don’t bother paying extra to seet the King Tut exhibit - huge disapointment.

11

Nothing personal, just trying to keep the Tenderfoot away from Cabrini Green and those problematic areas around Loyola.

My Sister enjoyed living in Ravenswood/Lakeview, but also had her car broken into 5-6 times.

12

I think we’ll take fessie’s advice and stay around Schaumburg on Friday. I’m sure my friends can be pursuaded to enjoy some adult arcade action. O’Hare to Schaumburg seems straightforward. My only qualm is that we’re going to have some 6 hours to kill after the airport and before the show. Is there much to do between O’Hare and Schaumburg?

As for areas to avoid, I found North Ave, but Wells St. is pretty far East. Is there a different Wells St.? Northeast of the corner of North and Wells very little. I don’t know these neighborhoods. Is Wrigleyville near Wrigley Field? Is River North NW of the Navy Pier? I couldn’t find Irving Park.

I’ll keep digging for a hotel in the city. My main issue is that I just need some place to leave my car so that I can subway/taxi easily the rest of the day.

Google really did give some stupid directions. I’ll follow the route you all suggested.

And yes, Random, there are tons of Chicago threads in IMHO (I love this board.) I haven’t gotten through all of them yet, but there are definately some good suggestions in there.

13

If you enjoy shopping and people watching, Woodfield Mall might be worth your time. It’s pretty big - it’s not the Mall of America, but still quite large.

I picked North Ave b/c it’s an easy exit from I90 & you can spot it on the maps, that’s the way I always went downtown from the 'burbs. You pass a bunch of nice shopping on your way in, Crate & Barrel, Pottery Barn, etc.

I think it’s that triangle from Wells to Clyburn to North that you need to avoid - but just beyond those boundaries are lots of fun things to see & do. Like, Second City is right at Wells & North (you gotta at least see the place).

Going east from LaSalle and Division and a little south, there’s a bunch of bars and restaurants. It’s usually pretty busy at night, lots of limousines and triple parking up and down Rush street (IIRC).

OTOH, head north on Clark (LaSalle splits into Clark and Lincoln) and you can’t lose - there’s just a whole bunch of stuff to do and see. Halsted is a neat street, too, with theatres and shopping (a stretch of it is known as “Boys Town”, you’ll see the gay community’s pride rainbows on the street signs).

Once you go past Wrigley Park (Clark and Addison) the activity sort of dies down again, it always looked deserted past Chock Full o’ Nuts. Plus that cemetary always creeped me out.

Something fun we’ve done – there’s a restaurant at 5721 North Clark that has belly dancers. That part of town is called Andersonville, and it’s really nice too. This place, Arkadash Cafe is right across the street from the Swedish Museum. It’s changed names since we were there, but I think it’s the same chef & if so, the food is fabulous!

Navy Pier? Meh. Only if there’s nothing better to do - parking is expensive & it’s always crowded & noisy. The ferris wheel is neat, but in this weather you’d freeze.

14

Not really, but perhaps I’m biased. There is shopping (Woodfield Mall and Ikea), the usual suburban mall bars and restaurants that you can find anywhere and, uh, … maybe someone else can help you with this one.

Wells doesn’t extend that far north. It ends south of Lincoln Park. And, yes, there is only one. If you avoid Cabrini Green (Division Street area, west of Wells), you should be okay. (Division is 1200 N) Once you’re north of North Ave, you’re fine unless you go very far north or west.

Yes. Roughly Addision (3600 N.) and about 1000 W.

I’d just say west.

EW arterial street, 4000 N

Glad to help.

15

And the ghost of Marshall Field is very angry at the moment.
http://www.graveyards.com/IL/Cook/graceland/field.html

16

This more of a general travel question. Wherever we end up staying Saturday night, we’ll have to check out some time on Sunday, but we won’t be ready to go to the airport until much later that day. What’s the best way to manage ones bags? It will be kind of a pain to lug them around all day, and I’m sure some places would prefer you not walk around in them with a big backpack.

I don’t travel much.

I keep thinking, “I need to spell-check this before posting,” and keep forgetting. Sorry if anyone’s eyes were offended in the other posts.

17

Well, hell, if that’s all you need, then just park it on the street in an area with nice (newer) cars. Or the CTA has Park ‘n’ Ride lots that are cheaper than a hotel room, and most of them are pretty secure.

18

If you and your buddies enjoy play pool, the Quentin Corner Pocket in Palatine would be a great place to kill a few hours. I don’t have time to do maps for you, but it’s not far from Medieval Times.

19

But if you’re ever seeing a show at the Metro, that area is a fantastic place to park. There are almost always spots, plenty of room, and FREE!

20

Ruken,

Hotels deal with this all the time. You may check your bags with the bellhop when you check out–just tell the front desk you need to do this. The bags will be put somewhere under lock and key, and you get a claim check. Then you may flit about the city until you need to go. When it’s time to leave, return to the hotel and claim your bags. Tip the bellhop.

This does necessiate your return to the hotel (which may be out of your way) but this is preferable to lugging around your gear all day.