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Post by Prince Hal on Jun 17, 2019 14:15:32 GMT -5
We've never been there, but are going for a wedding later this week and decided to stay (in the Loop, literally) through next Tuesday. Have tickets for a Cubs game (supposed to rain, of course), are going to the Institute of Art, but wondered about what else we should add to our stay, both places to see and places to eat good local food. (I've lost close to 10 pounds over the last two weeks getting ready for Depp Dish pizza, etc., but I want to avoid the cookie-cutter tourist traps.
Hoping some of you may know some good spots. Wondering about the best museums, walks, tours to take.
We're going by overnight train, too, which I'm looking forward to.
Thank you, any experienced travelers and Midwesterners who might have some ideas!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2019 15:14:27 GMT -5
Giordano's
130 E Randolph St
(312) 616-1200
That's in my opinion is the best deep dish pizza place in Chicago. Ate there about a dozen of times and it's one heck of a pizza that's loaded with flavor!
The Field Museum
1400 S Lake Shore Dr, Chicago, IL 60605
Excellent place to go.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jun 17, 2019 16:14:01 GMT -5
I've not been there, but my wife went with her sister a few years back and absolutely raved about The Field Museum.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2019 16:26:11 GMT -5
We've never been there, but are going for a wedding later this week and decided to stay (in the Loop, literally) through next Tuesday. Have tickets for a Cubs game (supposed to rain, of course), are going to the Institute of Art, but wondered about what else we should add to our stay, both places to see and places to eat good local food. (I've lost close to 10 pounds over the last two weeks getting ready for Depp Dish pizza, etc., but I want to avoid the cookie-cutter tourist traps. Hoping some of you may know some good spots. Wondering about the best museums, walks, tours to take. We're going by overnight train, too, which I'm looking forward to. Thank you, any experienced travelers and Midwesterners who might have some ideas! highly, HIGHLY recommend you purchase online, "CityPass: Chicago" - it will give you discounted admission to most of the popular sites (yes, it includes some stuff you might not care about, such as the 4d film at the Field Museum).. but overall, it's a spectacular deal. and once you pick up the "booklet" (from any of the participating sites. . you simply pick it up from the 1st one you go to), almost all sites have CityPass entrance, that's separate from the general line, and let's you bypass said general admission /ticket purchase line.
it saved me - no kidding - at LEAST a two hour line at the Aquarium (Citypass line was walk up, while General Admission was all down the stairs), and also allowed me to skip approx. 1 hour line at Willis (ex Sears) tower to go up to the observation decks (the City Pass line merges well up into the General Line). Oh, it also bypasses the long security at Art Institute - I was in and looking at some of the famous pieces while most were still checking in at Security and getting lockers, which resulted in my getting some amazing pictures without many people in them (something that would not be true an hour later, when I had to stand in line to get even a sort of good pic of "American Gothic" with tons of heads in the way.
one note: Field museum took me almost 5 hours on it's own (and I skipped some galleries), and the Art institute? Spent a good 8 hours there and could have stayed even longer, but wanted to get to Willis tower for sunset. (and the pizza place Mecha mentioned? not only is there a location for full sit down meal close to Willis Tower entrance, but they have a quick serve location in the Gift Shop at the exit to the observation deck once you come back down too. . . perfectly fine for a "taste" of the Chicago style pizza there.
here's a link to CityPass - they have them in a lot of cities, but the one in Chicago was the best use I've gotten out of it (I was there for C2E2 two years ago)
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Post by Rob Allen on Jun 17, 2019 19:21:03 GMT -5
If you're free Thursday evening, attend a taping of the NPR show Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Tickets here: embed.showclix.com/event/wwdtmjun20Wait Wait is consistently the funniest hour of radio every week. Besides deep dish pizza, the other foods Chicago is known for are Italian beef sandwiches and "Chicago style" hot dogs. Based on what they have at the airport, I prefer the hot dogs. The airport may not be the best sample, but that's the only part of Chicago I've visited recently. For what it's worth, I always had an easy time finding marijuana in Chicago. |
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Post by berkley on Jun 18, 2019 2:43:11 GMT -5
Never been there but didn't they used to talk about a really good blues music scene in Chicago? Even though I'm not a great blues purist, I would probably try to find something like that if I was going there.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2019 9:17:39 GMT -5
The Hancock building for the view! There used to be a nice restaurant/bar where you could see all over the city. It has been about 15 years since I have visited Chicago, but loved the city.
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Post by Prince Hal on Jun 18, 2019 10:08:44 GMT -5
Giordano's130 E Randolph St (312) 616-1200 That's in my opinion is the best deep dish pizza place in Chicago. Ate there about a dozen of times and it's one heck of a pizza that's loaded with flavor! The Field Museum 1400 S Lake Shore Dr, Chicago, IL 60605 Excellent place to go. Thank you, mecha! I should have mentioned that we'll be visiting the Fields, but glad for the endorsement! |
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Post by Prince Hal on Jun 18, 2019 10:09:18 GMT -5
I've not been there, but my wife went with her sister a few years back and absolutely raved about The Field Museum. Definitely on our list! |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2019 10:11:36 GMT -5
Giordano's130 E Randolph St (312) 616-1200 That's in my opinion is the best deep dish pizza place in Chicago. Ate there about a dozen of times and it's one heck of a pizza that's loaded with flavor! The Field Museum 1400 S Lake Shore Dr, Chicago, IL 60605 Excellent place to go. Thank you, mecha! I should have mentioned that we'll be visiting the Fields, but glad for the endorsement! You can easily spend an afternoon there and perhaps the whole day ... one of my favorite places in Chicago. |
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Post by Prince Hal on Jun 18, 2019 10:12:39 GMT -5
We've never been there, but are going for a wedding later this week and decided to stay (in the Loop, literally) through next Tuesday. Have tickets for a Cubs game (supposed to rain, of course), are going to the Institute of Art, but wondered about what else we should add to our stay, both places to see and places to eat good local food. (I've lost close to 10 pounds over the last two weeks getting ready for Depp Dish pizza, etc., but I want to avoid the cookie-cutter tourist traps. Hoping some of you may know some good spots. Wondering about the best museums, walks, tours to take. We're going by overnight train, too, which I'm looking forward to. Thank you, any experienced travelers and Midwesterners who might have some ideas! highly, HIGHLY recommend you purchase online, "CityPass: Chicago" - it will give you discounted admission to most of the popular sites (yes, it includes some stuff you might not care about, such as the 4d film at the Field Museum).. but overall, it's a spectacular deal. and once you pick up the "booklet" (from any of the participating sites. . you simply pick it up from the 1st one you go to), almost all sites have CityPass entrance, that's separate from the general line, and let's you bypass said general admission /ticket purchase line.
it saved me - no kidding - at LEAST a two hour line at the Aquarium (Citypass line was walk up, while General Admission was all down the stairs), and also allowed me to skip approx. 1 hour line at Willis (ex Sears) tower to go up to the observation decks (the City Pass line merges well up into the General Line). Oh, it also bypasses the long security at Art Institute - I was in and looking at some of the famous pieces while most were still checking in at Security and getting lockers, which resulted in my getting some amazing pictures without many people in them (something that would not be true an hour later, when I had to stand in line to get even a sort of good pic of "American Gothic" with tons of heads in the way.
one note: Field museum took me almost 5 hours on it's own (and I skipped some galleries), and the Art institute? Spent a good 8 hours there and could have stayed even longer, but wanted to get to Willis tower for sunset. (and the pizza place Mecha mentioned? not only is there a location for full sit down meal close to Willis Tower entrance, but they have a quick serve location in the Gift Shop at the exit to the observation deck once you come back down too. . . perfectly fine for a "taste" of the Chicago style pizza there.
here's a link to CityPass - they have them in a lot of cities, but the one in Chicago was the best use I've gotten out of it (I was there for C2E2 two years ago)
Thank you, bert! We plan on a full day in both the Art Institute and the Fields (Maybe Sunday and Monday) and figured we'd have to take in the Willis Tower at some point. (Though it's supposed to rain all the days we're there, so the visibility may not make it worth it.) I had wondered about whether City Pass was worth it. Now I'm going to check it out ASAP. Thank you. Very helpful! And hadn't given much thought to the lines for these places. |
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Post by Prince Hal on Jun 18, 2019 10:13:31 GMT -5
Never been there but didn't they used to talk about a really good blues music scene in Chicago? Even though I'm not a great blues purist, I would probably try to find something like that if I was going there. Buddy Guy has a place there, and yes, they are known for blues places. One of them might be a Sunday night stop. |
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Post by Prince Hal on Jun 18, 2019 10:17:07 GMT -5
If you're free Thursday evening, attend a taping of the NPR show Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Tickets here: embed.showclix.com/event/wwdtmjun20Wait Wait is consistently the funniest hour of radio every week. Besides deep dish pizza, the other foods Chicago is known for are Italian beef sandwiches and "Chicago style" hot dogs. Based on what they have at the airport, I prefer the hot dogs. The airport may not be the best sample, but that's the only part of Chicago I've visited recently. For what it's worth, I always had an easy time finding marijuana in Chicago. I love that show, too. We don't leave here till Friday AM, though, more's the pity. I'm sure if the weather holds and we go to Wrigley on Monday night, we'll be sampling both of those delicacies! Thanks, Rob! And for the tip...but we'll be bringing our sleep aids.  |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2019 10:38:41 GMT -5
oh. . do NOT miss: directly across the street from the Art Institute main entrance (and close the "bean" sculpture), is the Chicago Cultural center. housed in an old building, well worth the trip across the street to see the two domes inside the building - one of which is by Tiffany, and is the largest Tiffany Glass dome in the world. it's GORGEOUS, but the other one is amazing too - they just get more "press" for the Tiffany one. admission is Free! (when I went, I took a taxi to the Bean early in the morning, did that - then walked over to the Cultural Center when it opened (about an hour before the Art Institute if I recall), wandered around the Cultural Center and looked at the architecture and the two domes (on opposite sides of the building), then just crossed back over the street and went to the Art Institute). have fun!
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Post by Prince Hal on Jun 18, 2019 10:40:38 GMT -5
oh. . do NOT miss: directly across the street from the Art Institute main entrance (and close the "bean" sculpture), is the Chicago Cultural center. housed in an old building, well worth the trip across the street to see the two domes inside the building - one of which is by Tiffany, and is the largest Tiffany Glass dome in the world. it's GORGEOUS, but the other one is amazing too - they just get more "press" for the Tiffany one. admission is Free! (when I went, I took a taxi to the Bean early in the morning, did that - then walked over to the Cultural Center when it opened (about an hour before the Art Institute if I recall), wandered around the Cultural Center and looked at the architecture and the two domes (on opposite sides of the building), then just crossed back over the street and went to the Art Institute). have fun!
Great idea! Thank yo, bert. We are very much looking forward to this. I know we will have a ball! |
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