I’m arriving at Union Station, 225 S Canal Street, Saturday at c. 2:21 PM. I’d like to skip over to Millennium Park, Michigan Avenue at East Randolph Street, before I catch the Metra to my friend’s house.
According to Yahoo maps, it’s 1.1 miles. That’s a bit much for me to walk in a city where I don’t know my way around. Can I take a city bus or the El to get there? If so, how? And I will need very specific directions if I’m going to take the El. Use words like “turn right from the front of Union Station and walk 450 feet. Go up the stairs to the El platform…”
I’d walk it. Walk east along Adams Street to Michigan Avenue, then turn left and walk north. (The centre of Chicago is a rectangular grid, so you can take a variety of other paths which would be exactly the same distance). You could go some of the way by elevated railway (“the Loop”), but it doesn’t seem worth it for such a short distance.
A cab should be no more than five bucks. The meters usually start at $1.90, and go up a buck and a half or so for each mile, and two bucks for every five or so minutes waiting time.
As for buses, you can catch the 7, 28, or 126 bus outside the station. That’ll go down Jackson. When it turns right on Michigan, get off. Art Institute is to the north (in the opposite direction of the bus.)
You can also take the 151, and that will drop you off right in front of Millenium Park.
If walking is truly not an option, yes, there are several buses that go east from Union Station. As a matter of fact, almost every bus going east past Union Station goes to Michigan Ave…with just a few exceptions.
For detailed directions, however, I’d recommend a phone call to the CTA hotline. It’s a free service at 312-836-7000. If you look on the CTA website, their may also be a toll-free number.
Oh, yeah, and as Giles said, it’s not a bad walk at all. Walk straight east and you’ll hit what you’re looking for. It’s nigh impossible to get lost in Chicago.
(If you walk over a bridge and cross the Chicago River, you’re heading the right way.)
It’s worth a look. The Crown Fountain (50-foot glass block video fountain) and the bean (Cloud Gate Sculpture) are very cool. Jazz fest will be going on across the street, too, if you want to hear some free music.
I certainly think so. Pretty soon The Bean, cough I mean “Cloud Gate”, will be more associated with Chicago than the Picasso. It’s a nifty public sculpture. (Although now that I think of it, I think it’s back underneath a tent for its finishing touches.) However, though the Kapoor may be the park’s centerpiece, there’s still plenty to see. The fountains that flank the reflecting pool on the southeast corner of the park are pretty engaging. They’re two monoliths with LED displays that cycle through a representative cross-section of Chicago faces. At the end of a certain interval, the lips pucker and water shoots out.
Pritzker Pavillion, which is Chicago’s new primary public concert venue, was designed by Frank Gehry, perhaps best known for his Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. To me, it looks a bit out of place with the rest of Chicago’s architecture, but I’ve definitely warmed to it. And it’s extremely functional; the acoustic work is sophisticated and well thought-out.
If you’ve only got an hour or so, I’d go to lunch at Berghoff’s rather than the park. The Park’s kind of…odd. Tremendously crowded, no shade (no drinking fountains although there are plenty of $2.00 water dealers) and really nothing of interest.
If there is something going on at the bandshell, it might be worth your time, but my impression is that there are a lot of people walking around trying to figure out what to do there (and for once, it’s not just the kids who can’t figure out why they’re there).
HeyHomie, I work at 300 E. Randolph, which is directly across the street from Millennium Park. I know there are at least two buses that run between Union Station and my office, one of which runs is a shuttle between the two locations and makes no other stops (but which I think has a fairly restricted schedule). I can ask around tomorrow for the details, but you can probably find the information faster through the CTA. Cab fare should be $6.
I agree with the majority on both issues. (Cab or walk, and it’s worth a look.)
I work a block away, and therefore saw the construction in progress. I was a skeptic, to put it mildly. I did a 180 when I saw the final product from the inside. I’ve brought people there several times and (except for one woman who has severe problems with noise and too many people around her) everyone has enjoyed the trip. I had 3 out of town guests there Friday night, and had a great time at the outdoor cafe.
Even the bike station is impressive. It’s got secured parking, lockers and showers. Memberships sold out in 3 days.
It’s not crowded at all during the week. I was still working in the area (Prudential Building) until the end of last month and after the opening week hoopla was over, it’s been more than comfortable crowd-wise. One might even say sparse.
Nothing of interest? Philistine! Betweem the Kapoor, the Gehry, and the fountain, what more can you possibly ask for?
I’m glad that you like it, work[ed] close to it, etc., but I like my Chicago with some history, not the big city equivalent of a roadside fudge stand.
Re: bean/cloudgate (glad they made that to keep those freakin’ clouds from infltrating the city!)/kinda-torus. I got dizzy standing inside and looking up. Maybe it was from all the sweaty people who realized that this was the only shade to be found in the joint, or maybe they just didn’t realize that they’d also get disoriented while looking up and bump into everyone else. I had flashbacks to a Ministry concert. You are the first person I’ve met who likes this feature.
Re: Gehry (bandshell): As far as I’m concerned, it’s a conspiracy to blind everyone. As I stated, I liked it as a venue for something, but I wouldn’t go hang out at the Aragon for no reason either. That and their super-grass was dying when I was there.
Fountain: 40’ tall spitting faces? Nah.
Re: crowding: Yes, but the OP is visiting on a Saturday during the last hurrah of summer vacation. Neither time I was there (noonish weekday and night weekday) were peak tourist time/opening weekend, but was plenty crowded all the same. I certainly don’t doubt that it will become less crowded over time.
I suppose there are worse ways to spend an hour, but I really have a hard time recommending it to someone. Now that I think about it more, there’s really nothing else going on during the noonish on a Saturday down there. And I can’t recall if The Berghoff is closed on weekends or not, but even if it is, it’s not the same.
Oh well, different strokes, I suppose. I think Millennium Park is a fine example of modern art & architecture that has popular appeal. Almost everybody seems to like it, and I find that amazing considering that the average citizen of Chicago is, shall we say, a bit skeptical of most art that is modern. To me, that’s a great accomplishment the way the park manages to present contemporary art that is accessible to the average citizen.
Chicago’s history is great, but we must keep making history, not just celebrating our past.
The reason I mention I worked near their is to support the fact that it’s not terribly crowded. Maybe you went there on a strange day, but the only time it was crowded for me was on the opening weekend. All other times it was perfectly fine. Michigan Avenue was more crowded than Millennium Park.
I have no problem recommending it to everyone, and, to be perfectly honest, you’re the first person I’ve encountered with a negative opinion of the park. I originally thought it was going to be a waste of time and money, but when I saw the final product, I think it was worthwhile. It’s a fine public space.