Author Topic: What to see in Chicago?  (Read 5712 times)

Kenbo

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What to see in Chicago?
« on: September 18, 2016, 12:15:54 AM »
I probably could have just as easily Googled this but I'm going to Chicago for a conference.  I'm going to have a few hours free and was wondering what I should check out.  I haven't traveled very much and was looking for suggestions.

SeaEhm

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Re: What to see in Chicago?
« Reply #1 on: September 18, 2016, 01:07:16 AM »
Depends on what you like to do.

Millenium Park for the Bean.
Navy Peir for the view
Willis Tower for the glass floor exhibit.

Monocle Money Mouth

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Re: What to see in Chicago?
« Reply #2 on: September 18, 2016, 02:46:33 AM »
The Field Museum is pretty cool. It's enormous, so you won't be able to see it all in a few hours. The art institute (art museum) is nice too. If you can find a Fannie May candy store near you, I would suggest trying a pixie, Trinidad, and a mint melt away. Their truffles are really good too.

seattlecyclone

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Re: What to see in Chicago?
« Reply #3 on: September 18, 2016, 09:10:02 AM »
The Field Museum and the art museum are both quite good. If the weather is nice, walk around the downtown, enjoy the architecture, stop by the Bean, etc.

reddityeah

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Re: What to see in Chicago?
« Reply #4 on: September 18, 2016, 04:26:53 PM »
architecture boat tour!

frugalcoconut

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Re: What to see in Chicago?
« Reply #5 on: September 18, 2016, 05:43:23 PM »

rhadams1988

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Re: What to see in Chicago?
« Reply #6 on: September 18, 2016, 06:44:11 PM »
Ride the blue line up to the Damen stop and walk around Wicker Park. There are tons of cool, local restaurants that foodies rave about. It also has a cool neighborhood feel.

TheAnonOne

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Re: What to see in Chicago?
« Reply #7 on: September 19, 2016, 12:22:48 PM »
Depends on what you like to do.

Millenium Park for the Bean.
Navy Peir for the view
Willis Tower for the glass floor exhibit.

When visited Chicago for the first time a few months ago, I saw all of that. Gino's deep dish pizza is a home classic there.

I also enjoyed looking at the river and all the architecture around that area. The 'miracle mile' was cool to walk down once, but it's ultimately just a lot of shops.

PensacolaStache

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Re: What to see in Chicago?
« Reply #8 on: September 19, 2016, 12:40:58 PM »
I saw the Bean (waste of time - tourists everywhere, takes 2 minutes to take a picture) and the Willis Tower (waste of time - too many people crowded, long wait for a view of the city).

Museum of Science and Industry was awesome with a Nazi UBoat (the ONLY one of its kind in the world.  There are about a dozen surviving today).  Fields museum was also cool.


FLBiker

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Re: What to see in Chicago?
« Reply #9 on: September 19, 2016, 12:57:43 PM »
If you only have a few hours this is probably the wrong choice, but one of my favorite things that I've done in Chicago is to see the show Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind: http://neofuturists.org/

I saw it in...1997?  And it looks like it's still around!

EconDiva

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Re: What to see in Chicago?
« Reply #10 on: September 19, 2016, 04:13:21 PM »
If you only have a few hours this is probably the wrong choice, but one of my favorite things that I've done in Chicago is to see the show Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind: http://neofuturists.org/

I saw it in...1997?  And it looks like it's still around!

When are you coming?

goldensam

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Re: What to see in Chicago?
« Reply #11 on: September 19, 2016, 06:02:07 PM »
Architecture Boat Tour, Wrigley Field Tour, Field Museum, Giordano's Pizza.

uppy

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Re: What to see in Chicago?
« Reply #12 on: September 20, 2016, 06:29:12 AM »
Museum of Science and Industry was awesome with a Nazi UBoat (the ONLY one of its kind in the world.  There are about a dozen surviving today).

Am I the only one having trouble making sense of that statement? Not that it matters, just curious!

I am also headed to Chicago (well north of Chicago but would like to go into the city) and was excited to see this post! I don't want to hijack, but what's the architecture boat tour like? I love old buildings esp firehouses and such.


Monocle Money Mouth

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Re: What to see in Chicago?
« Reply #13 on: September 20, 2016, 04:44:26 PM »
Museum of Science and Industry was awesome with a Nazi UBoat (the ONLY one of its kind in the world.  There are about a dozen surviving today).

Am I the only one having trouble making sense of that statement? Not that it matters, just curious!

I am also headed to Chicago (well north of Chicago but would like to go into the city) and was excited to see this post! I don't want to hijack, but what's the architecture boat tour like? I love old buildings esp firehouses and such.

I went on the boat tour back in 2011. It was interesting. We mostly saw some of the more modern stuff near the river, but I think they pointed out some of the older building like the Marshall Field building. Bring some sun screen because you will be baking in the sun for most of the trip unless it is cloudy.

We did a walking architecture tour last summer and also enjoyed it. The guide focused on the Mies van der Rohe buildings around Chicago which was right up my alley since he is my favorite architect.

rhadams1988

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Re: What to see in Chicago?
« Reply #14 on: September 20, 2016, 05:05:11 PM »
Museum of Science and Industry was awesome with a Nazi UBoat (the ONLY one of its kind in the world.  There are about a dozen surviving today).

Am I the only one having trouble making sense of that statement? Not that it matters, just curious!

I am also headed to Chicago (well north of Chicago but would like to go into the city) and was excited to see this post! I don't want to hijack, but what's the architecture boat tour like? I love old buildings esp firehouses and such.

The Museum of Science and Industry actually has a nazi u-boat that you can walk through. It's a pretty amazing experience. Besides the Air and Space Museum in DC, MSI is my favorite cultural institution.

chesebert

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Re: What to see in Chicago?
« Reply #15 on: September 20, 2016, 08:07:36 PM »
Get out your google map and start walking. Walk alongside the river bank, walk the mag mile, walk to navy pier. 

SeaEhm

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Re: What to see in Chicago?
« Reply #16 on: September 20, 2016, 08:15:43 PM »
I agree with chesebert.  Just start walking around. 

marion10

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Re: What to see in Chicago?
« Reply #17 on: September 20, 2016, 09:17:02 PM »
The Art Institute is open Thursdays until 8 pm. It is around $20 for admission though. The Chicago Architecure Foundation does wonderful boat and walking tours. Depending on when you come, there may be free concerts in Millennium Park. Going north Lincoln Park is free and has a zoo and conservatory that are free.

lexalex

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Re: What to see in Chicago?
« Reply #18 on: September 21, 2016, 05:01:18 AM »
on architecture, on October 15-16 this year, there's the (free) Chicago Architecture Foundation Open house.  I think the foundation's guided river tour is worth doing also.

chesebert

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Re: What to see in Chicago?
« Reply #19 on: September 21, 2016, 09:35:15 AM »
on architecture, on October 15-16 this year, there's the (free) Chicago Architecture Foundation Open house.  I think the foundation's guided river tour is worth doing also.
Thanks for the heads up.

cityfolks

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Re: What to see in Chicago?
« Reply #20 on: September 22, 2016, 09:15:23 AM »
If you're at the convention center, your best bet might be to check out the museums on the museum campus (natural history, aquarium, planetarium in most-to-least order of my preference), or walk around Chinatown.

If you're downtown it's worth walking around the lakefront, whether it's Millennium Park or just along the lake if the weather's nice. I recommend peeking into the Chicago Cultural Center across the street from the bean, formerly the home of the Chicago Public Library, which has beautiful mosaics and stained glass, including a Tiffany glass dome.

The Newberry Library north of downtown is nice, and there's usually something strange going on in the park in front of the library, plus the Gold Coast has some amazing historic homes.

Have fun! If you go to the Lincoln Park Zoo let me know how the polar bear enclosure is coming along! :D

chesebert

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Re: What to see in Chicago?
« Reply #21 on: September 22, 2016, 12:26:30 PM »
If you're at the convention center, your best bet might be to check out the museums on the museum campus (natural history, aquarium, planetarium in most-to-least order of my preference), or walk around Chinatown.

If you're downtown it's worth walking around the lakefront, whether it's Millennium Park or just along the lake if the weather's nice. I recommend peeking into the Chicago Cultural Center across the street from the bean, formerly the home of the Chicago Public Library, which has beautiful mosaics and stained glass, including a Tiffany glass dome.

The Newberry Library north of downtown is nice, and there's usually something strange going on in the park in front of the library, plus the Gold Coast has some amazing historic homes.

Have fun! If you go to the Lincoln Park Zoo let me know how the polar bear enclosure is coming along! :D
What's in the Newberry Library? Public? Kids allowed?

cityfolks

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Re: What to see in Chicago?
« Reply #22 on: September 22, 2016, 04:06:17 PM »
chesebert, it's a research library that's open to the public for various exhibits, like the "Creating Shakespeare" one going on right now: https://www.newberry.org/creating-shakespeare. They also do tours, programs, a lot of genealogy stuff, a fabulous book sale, a debate series - but those are more if you can plan ahead or live locally, https://www.newberry.org/programs-and-events.