The #6 bus to MSI shouldn’t be sketchy, unless COVID has changed things. It’s been a while since I’ve gone there on public transit. I do think there is a lot to see but with the travel times added it can take up the better part of a day to really check it out. At least that is my recollection.
And, it looks like you’ve got that scheduled on the same day as the Architecture cruise. Not trying to plan your day or anything, as they say “It’s your trip.”, but if I had to choose between the two, I’d go architecture boat.
Now the museum of science and industry was a popular destination for school field trips of my youth, so maybe I just have seen it a few times already, but, IMO,… boat tour will impress you more.
(Plus, it’s way closer to your hotel.)
Nothing is set in stone yet aside from my train, hotel, and flight, so I’ll have to take some time to think it over. The boat tour isn’t selling tickets right now or listing departure times until “next season”, so I’ll have to wait to see what times are available. If there’s a departure early in the morning or late in the day (but not so late that I’d miss out on Second City, unless I decide against Wrigley Field in which case I can catch them on Wednesday), then I might well have time for both.
As I recall, they run about once every 60/90 minutes. You should be able to find a sailing that works for you.
The bus from the Loop will be about 30-40 minutes to the Museum of Science and Industry. It opens at 9:30 a.m., so if you plan to arrive at 9:30 and be done noonish or one or so, I think it’s doable. I personally find 2-3 hours at that museum to be enough, but I tend to go through museums fairly quickly.
Likewise. I’m not the kind to stand and gawk for hours. I get a good look at an exhibit, I maybe read the plaque next to it, and I move on.
Then it may work for you. But I would bet that U-boat will slow you down a bit. It’s pretty cool.
Went ahead and bought the Citypass and a ticket for the Second City revue during my stay. Still no tickets for the architecture boat on sale yet. The Cubs/Padres game I was thinking about attending is a night game, but it doesn’t look like tickets for that are on sale yet either.
Next step is to figure out which of the Citypass attractions I need to make reservations for - it includes the Sears Tower, Shedd Aquarium, and the Field Museum, and of the optional choices I’m gonna go with MSI and the Art Institute.
I’ve been obsessively checking Amtrak’s train tracker once a day to see how the Empire Builder is doing, and aside from a bit last month where the winter storm screwed things up it’s been running on time more often than not, which makes me optimistic that my train won’t run hours late and I’ll roll into town at 1 AM.
For MSI, I booked a guided tour of the U-boat and a ticket for the limited time Pompeii exhibition they’ll be running during my visit. The latter has the potential to be the most fascinating thing I saw since the relics of King Tut’s tomb came to Seattle in 2012.
Fun fact: You can bring outside food and soft drinks in plastic bottles into Wrigley field. You can buy a big bag of peanuts from a street vendor just before entering for a fraction of what it costs inside. See Bottles, Cans and Outside Beverages:
The Chicago pizza and oven Grinder company was excellent. Bring cash and make reservations if you choose to go. My wife and I rode the Chicago crime tour bus and as it turns out the restaurant is across the street from where the St. Valentine’s Day massacre occurred. It was a 90 minute tour with stops at a Harry Caray’s restaurant that had one of Frank Nitty’s speakeasies under it and the site where John Dillinger was ambushed and killed. We saw a Blue man group show and walked through and did some shopping in Chinatown.
Now that regular season tickets are on sale, I went ahead and bought what sounds like a pretty good seat (Club Box Home Plate, 11th row) to see the Cubs host the Padres on the last night of my trip. I haven’t been to a baseball game in over 30 years, but with the new pitch clock they’re implementing this season it sounds like it oughta be a more fast-paced affair than the drawn-out games of my youth.
Am I gonna catch any heat from the locals if I wear a Padres shirt to the game?
Nah - just some good natured ribbing, if anything. And if they do, just thank them for trading Yu Darvish.
The boat tour finally went on sale, so I went ahead and picked up a ticket. Here’s what my agenda now looks like;
Sunday: Arrive by train, check in, acquire snacks and beverages, pick up a pizza from Giordano’s for dinner+leftovers
Monday: “Breakfast” at Jim’s Original, Art Institute, lunch at Luke’s, boat tour, Sears Tower, dinner at Kuma’s
Tuesday: Breakfast at Lou Mitchell’s, Museum of Science & Industry, late lunch at JP Graziano, swing by Trump Chicago so I can take a picture of myself flipping off the marquee, Second City revue, late dinner (???)
Wednesday: Breakfast at Manny’s, Field Museum, see that bean sculpture, lunch (???), Shedd Aquarium, Cubs vs. Padres at Wrigley Field, post-game drinks at Delilah’s, late dinner (???)
Thursday: Late breakfast/early lunch somewhere in the Loop, catch the El to O’Hare and fly home
I’d go see Cloud Gate (the Bean) when you’re doing the Art Institute - it’s right outside. That’ll save you a lot of back and forth on Wednesday. Save that time for more Shedd Aquarium or walking around Wrigleyville.
I’m not sure you want to go to the Field museum, then to the bean, and then to the Shedd. The museum and aquarium are next to each other. Not a huge distance from the Bean, (about 2 miles) but not right next door.
You can scratch flipping off Trump tower off your list while heading to the boat tour. They’re right by each other.
You can even do it from the boat.
IIRC when I did the boat tour last year Trump Tower was one of the buildings mentioned by the docent. The boat goes right past it.
Thanks for the notes. 