I suggest you drop in on Dinsdale and expect him to put you up. And if he’s any kind of host at all, he’ll take you all out to dinner at least once.
eta: I don’t know if they do a Continental breakfast, but there’s probably cereal in the cupboard.
StG
The 1 day pass, the three day pass and the weekly pass for the CTA ***do not work ***on Pace buses. Pace serves the suburbs of Chicago and CTA is for the city of Chicago Transit.
The Monthly pass for the CTA WILL work on Pace. There is also a special weekly pass for the CTA that has a Pace logo and that costs $5.00 more than the standard weekly CTA pass. That will work on suburban buses.
The El Trains only run into the suburbs of Evanston and Oak Park and the Yellow Line. The CTA passes will work on the El trains.
So CTA is bus and subways and el trains. Pace is for the suburbs and is for buses. Metra is for commuter rail. Metra fares are also seperate from Pace and CTA fares and passes.
Hey, we just took our first big family trip to Chicago in March!
We had a terrific time, doing many of the things already mentioned here: the Navy Pier and Ferris wheel, Shedd Aquarium (incl. the very corny live show), Museum of Science and Industry (incl. the fascinating captured Nazi submarine U-505), Lego store, ESPN Zone (closing soon, I’ve heard), the Lincoln Book Shop, the Art Institute of Chicago, the observation deck at the Willis Tower (incl. the SkyLedge, where you can struggle with acute vertigo and actually look straight down to the street far below), Lincoln Park Zoo, and Millennium Park (incl. Cloud Gate AKA the Bean, see the second photo here: http://www.nouilles.info/sdpix/46809a.html). We were warned away from the Field Museum by a friend who said it was “too stodgy,” and didn’t go there.
We stayed at the Embassy Suites on North Columbus, just west of the Navy Pier, and were very satisfied: http://embassysuites1.hilton.com/en_US/es/hotel/CHIREES-Embassy-Suites-Chicago-Downtown-Lakefront-Illinois/index.do;jsessionid=41158BCF10C3CE909761CFE9EE2086AF.etc23?brand_id=ES&brand_directory=/en/es/&xch=73236215,L3US0UPATG20OCSGBIUMVCQ. Had a great trip and would love to go back someday!
I love Millennium Park - see my pics of Cloudgate here, here, and here. I could take a million pictures of that damn thing, it’s so cool!
I also second the U505 boat at the Museum of Science and Industry if you have the chance and the interest. The tour of the inside is really cool but don’t do it if you have severe claustrophobia. Those things are tiny on the inside!
Lots of good suggestions of things to do! Yes, hotels in the city will cost more, but there’s something to be said about paying for convenience. Step out your door in most city hotels (especially in The Magnificent Mile district), and you have already arrived at your destination. Because you are ON your destination. So much is walkable and if you want to venture out of the area (eg: Museum of Science and Industry) a trip on a train/bus could be quite an adventure (truly, with good directions, it is a great way to get from point A to point B). As for parking, check out some of the complimentary parking offers by clicking here. There are also listings for some special activities/promotions (a part of Gardens of The Magnificent Mile, the summer celebration along The Magnificent Mile).
A fun idea would be to go to “The Emperor’s New Clothes”, a play geared towards kids at the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre (one of my favorites, they truly put on incredible shows!) The above link has a $5 coupon for each ticket you can take advantage of. Speaking of $5 off, that same link will give you $5 off tickets to the John Hancock Observatory, too! There are audio tours (very interesting) that have a kid and adult listening option.
You can never go wrong with a city tour. I went on a Chicago Trolley and Double Decker tour with my family a couple months back and our guide was hilarious in addition to being very knowledgeable about the city. For someone who has lived here for 6+ years, I thought I knew it all, but I learned SO much! It really was a highlight of my family’s trip. There is also the Chicago Architecture River Cruise (on Chicago’s First Lady), a very popular river tour. The kids could have fun taking photos of the city on the tour.
All in all, The Magnificent Mile is just a really great place to spend your day. From hotels (52+ in the Mag Mile district), shopping and dining/cup of coffee/ice cream/snacks (check out Garrett’s Popcorn and FreshBerry on Ontario Street just off Michigan Ave), to easy access to Chicago attractions (John Hancock Observatory, Art Institute of Chicago, Navy Pier, Millennium Park and more), there is so much to see and do! Visit www.themagnificentmile.com for upcoming activities in the district - there is also a section on public transportation, hotels and where you can submit a question. You can also visit the city’s website for special coupons across the city (includes popular attractions).
Have a great trip!!
I wanted to give an update on our trip for anyone who cares.
The trip went really, really, really well.
We adored the Blue Man Group.
With the help of GPS in the city, eveyrthing was a piece of cake.
I didn’t get hopelessly lost on the train or streets with my kids whining behind me. ( A quick stop to Starbucks for them really helped alot to revive their flagging energy.)
Their favorite place, other than the Aquarium and Natural History Museum?
Marbles.
They.loved.this.store.so.much.they.begged.to.go.back.for.seconds. I had no problem whatsoever.
American Girl store was a distant second. My son wasn’t thrilled at all in the land of Estrogen.
I spent over $100 there on a 3 speed yo-yo’s, astrojax.. They are three rubbery balls on a string .Another video( gifts ) . It is great for ants out of pants. You can buy glow in the dark kind, too.
I checked out the link for Marbles so I could check it out next time we head to the in-laws in Chicago.
Lo and behold they are opening one in my neighborhood at the Mall of America.
When? Oh, next week on the 21st.