Chicago

Kylere · Post by **Kylere** » December 4, 2005, 9:12 pm

My wife and I are driving to Chicago next week from Tuesday to Friday with plans to hit the museums, and I am seeking recommendations for things to see/do in Chicago. Especially any information as to the best way to do a cheap out of town hotel/motel i.e. what is the nearest decent bedroom community that is within 45 minutes or so of downtown that you can catch the under 100 a night rooms from?

This thread can be considered flame free since I want no input from Cartalas, Kyoukan or Midnyte.

Mr Bacon · Post by **Mr Bacon** » December 4, 2005, 9:18 pm

See "Chicago."

Canelek · Post by **Canelek** » December 4, 2005, 9:22 pm

Lots of truck stops in Chicago, you should feel pretty comfortable there.

Tenuvil · Post by **Tenuvil** » December 4, 2005, 10:22 pm

Find a hotel that's on the El. There are a ton of hotels between O'Hare and downtown on the Blue line in and around Rosemont that are good and reasonable (Residence Inn, Courtyard, etc...) It's stupid to even consider driving around Chicago, the El will take you virtually anywhere you want to go and you can transfer to buses for free. I would really prefer staying inside the Loop like at the Renaissance or the Palmer House Hilton.

The Frank Lloyd Wright home in Oak Park should be on your list of sights to visit. Other great museums are the Field Museum and the Shedd Aquarium on the South Side near Soldier Field, the Art Institute of Chicago inside the loop is another good one.

Be sure to hit Michigan Avenue, some great shops there...also if you look hard enough you will find the Billy Goat, the inspiration for the "cheeborgor cheeborgor, no coke, pepsi" sketch on Saturday Night Live (hint: it's under street level).

Navy Pier is a lot more fun in warm weather than the winter, but it's still worth a stroll.

As far as dining goes...Rosebud on Rush has great Italian, go to Giordano's on Rush for the best Chicago pizza experience, Berghoff on W. Adams has unbelievable German food and in-house brewed beers and root beers, and the chop houses around the Loop are legendary.

Get familiar with the train system at http://www.transitchicago.com/

Hope this helps, Chicago is one of my favourite cities ever and a very great place to spend time in.

oh and throw an egg at the CNA building, they still owe over $1m in consulting fees to my employer back in 2000.

sarlen · Post by **sarlen** » December 4, 2005, 10:29 pm

Shedd's is a must see, its one of those places I go to every time I make it to Chicago even if its a 1 day business trip. Science and Industry is nice to see if you have never been there and from time to time they have some nice shows. For food I liked Harry Careys place, not sure if its still there been a while since I was there.

Bubba Grizz · Post by **Bubba Grizz** » December 5, 2005, 10:38 am

Museum of science and industry was cool when I was a cub scout back in the 70's.

Fairweather Pure · Post by **Fairweather Pure** » December 5, 2005, 11:38 am

My friend lives about 6 blocks from the museums. You could stop by and tell him I said hello.

XunilTlatoani · Post by **XunilTlatoani** » December 5, 2005, 1:59 pm

The Field Museum and Shedd Aquarium are very nice and within walking distance of each other, so you could make a day out of just those two. The Museum of Science and Industry was my favorite museum as a kid, but their exhibits are very dated looking nowadays. I believe the new underground enclosure for the U-505 is open now, so if you are interested in German U-boats it might be worth the price of admission. The Art Institute is also very nice as well. Navy Pier is overrated even when it is nice out.

Schaumburg is a nice place just northwest of O'Hare with a lot of hotel options. You have lots of shopping/eating options along Golf Rd. including Woodfield (largest shopping mall in the area) and The Streets of Woodfield (nice outdoor strip with theatre, GameWorks, restaurants, etc.). There's also a Metra train station on the south side of Schaumburg that will take you right to Union Station in downtown Chicago. Metra train information can be found at http://www.metrarail.com

Atokal · Post by **Atokal** » December 5, 2005, 2:00 pm

Kylere,

I went to Chicago this summer for a business meeting.
Went to dinner in the John Hancock building 105th floor. Astounding view and the food was not too bad.

Also the Field Museum was very interesting.

Chicago is one of my favorite cities in the US.

Hope you have fun.

miir · Post by **miir** » December 5, 2005, 2:32 pm

Chicago is one of my favorite cities in the US

Yeah, Chicago is great.
It's the american city that reminds me most of Toronto.

Kylere · Post by **Kylere** » December 5, 2005, 5:24 pm

I want to thank everyone that left some serious help, the Field Museum and Aquarium sounds interesting, and will probably make the agenda. Mandatory are the architecture and art museums.

Ennia · Post by **Ennia** » December 6, 2005, 3:36 pm

dress warm, it's freaking freezing here, plus windy
a walk down The Magnificent Mile will be worth it though, Chicago looks amazing this time of year

Vaemas · Post by **Vaemas** » December 6, 2005, 9:47 pm

Also, look at hotels near the METRA. METRA is a heavy rail system that stops right downtown. If you don't want to deal with traffic and high (really high) parking rates, it may be an option for you. I used to live in Bensenville (right near O'Hare) and a METRA trip into town cost me maybe $4 each way. Not bad for 45 minutes on a train where you can read and not worry about anything else. To put it in perspective, if I drove that in traffic, it would take me about 2 hour.

Our Chicago training facility is in Des Plaines. I've stayed often at the Holiday Inn Select / Rosemont at Mannheim and Higgins. PM me if you want and I'll give you the info related to our corporate rate ($84/night). Parking is free. Because I-90 is a toll highway, the access is screwed up a little but you can easily get on and off by using I-190 to get into Chicago and to get back. Here's the link.

http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/hi/1/e ... t?irs=null