Chicago: A Fun Get Away!
Written: Jan 06 '03 (Updated Jan 06 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Lots to see and do, incredible food! Chicago Transit Authority
Cons: lots of walking, traffic, parking
The Bottom Line: Chicago is a great town, well worth the time and money,
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| brewman's Full Review: Chicago |
I’ve been to Chicago once on business, however, Susan had never been there and we’ve heard so much about the sights and things to do there, so we decided to go up there for a few days starting New Years day. I had little time for sight seeing on my business trip, so I was looking forward to this one. One could probably spend two weeks there and still never see everything!
We did quite a bit of research before we went, trying to decide what we wanted to do and see with our limited amount of time. There are many museums, theater shows, nightclubs, lots of history and a wide variety of awesome food to enjoy in “The Windy City”. Shopping opportunities abound as Chicago has become a shoppers dream rivaling New York, so I’ve been told. Most of our research was online searches, however, the AAA Tour Book of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio was invaluable as well. Here are a few of the many websites we checked out that I feel would be invaluable for planning your trip: (http://www.cityspin.com/chicago/index.htm), (http://www.chicago.il.org/), (http://www.chicagotraveler.com/chicago_tourism.htm), (http://www.877chicago.com/), (http://www.transitchicago.com/) (Chicago Transit Authority or CTA), and (http://chicago.citysearch.com/?init_change=1). Citysearch.com features a “Best Of” link where you can find some of the best rated restaurants, from the “cheapest eats” to “Best Restaurant” and is invaluable in that respect.
Getting around Chicago, like New York or Boston I imagine, can be a nightmare due to the traffic and as I’ve read online, forget about trying to find a parking spot! I drove our first night there to a restaurant and it took two trips around the block to find a metered place to park! Valet parking is available at most restaurants for about $7. Most Chicago residents get around via the CTA, one of the thousands of taxis and by foot. For visitors though, the CTA has the best deal around as they have a “Visitor Pass” that is available in 1-day, 2-day, 3-day and 5-day forms that allow you to “see Chicago for $5 a day or less”. Time starts the first time you use the pass and the pass does have an expiration date (ours would have expired November 1, 2003). I would suggest ordering this pass in advance of your trip or buy it immediately upon your arrival at the Visitor Information Centers, Hot Tix, and Sears Tower. Their brochure of the pass (http://www.transitchicago.com/downloads/brochures/visitorpass.pdf) provides a full list of the outlet locations. We were lucky as the CTA has an office on the 7th floor of the Merchandise Mart which was right next door to our hotel. A train stop is located on the second floor of the Merchandise Mart. If you decide to use cash, you need exact change as fares run $1.50 and they do not give change. The CTA publishes the “Downtown Transit Sightseeing Guide” which is a must as it provides a “Quick Ride Guide” listing the attraction and what bus, train or subway to take and the map inside shows where they run. Request this brochure well in advance or pick it up when you get there as the unfolded size is 9x24 inches. Taxi fares ran $3-$5 for a 6-12 block ride.
There is also a free trolley (http://www.ci.chi.il.us/Transportation/trolleys/) that you can use to get around downtown and the Navy Pier. The trolley runs about every 30 minutes, however, they don’t offer “stop requests” as the busses do and, being 6ft 5in, the seats were very uncomfortable for my back. They are ok, but I’ll take a CTA bus if I don’t see a trolley coming.
I missed “The Magnificent Mile” (http://www.themagnificentmile.com/) on Michigan Avenue on my business trip, so this time, it was a must. There are literally “thousands of stores” along the “Mile” and most of them offer “higher quality” merchandise, and the prices reflect this. We went into a big and tall store, even their discounted merchandise was priced more than what I would pay at my normal big and tall store, however, the quality of the goods in this store is much better. For example, a pair of dress shoes I looked at was so soft and supple, it was unbelievable! The price? A mere $400!! Casual shirts started around $80 to $100.
The Hancock Observatory (http://www.hancockobservatory.com/) is exciting as on a good day, you can see four states (Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan)! The 94th floor offers incredible views of downtown Chicago and Lake Michigan. I was a little disappointed in their “open air viewing deck” in that it was only about 2/3 of the south side of the observatory, but it was still something to remember! The ride up to the 94th floor only takes about 90 seconds and claims one of the fastest elevators in the world, in fact, be prepared as your ears will pop on the way up and the way back down.
The Navy Pier (http://www.navypier.com/) was winding down Winter Wonderfest (December 6th, 2002to January 5th, 2003) featuring an incredible display of lights, Christmas trees, many toy trains and lots of other things to see. An activity band can be purchased for $10 that gets kids onto inflatable games, cookie decorating, craft decorating, etc. Winter Wonderland was very crowded and is well suited for kids. The shops along the Navy Pier reminded us of Pier 39 in San Francisco except all the shops here are indoors and in tiny, cramped spaces; with winter clothes on, many shops are almost “one-way traffic”.
I am a big Blues Brothers fan and downtown Chicago is a “Mecca” as many of the scenes were filmed downtown. I did a little research to find out what scenes were filmed in the area we were going to be in, so those were a “must see” for me. It was so cool to ride on the “L” train that went by Elwood’s window (the building where he lived is no longer standing), see where the “infamous downtown chase scene” was filmed and of the course, the Daley Plaza and Cook County Courthouse. It was great!!
The Field Museum (http://www.fmnh.org/) is one of the best natural history museums in the world. It is right across from Soldier Field which is currently being re-built. Right next door to the Field Museum is the Shedd Aquarium (http://www.sheddnet.org/), one of the best aquariums in the nation; the Adler Planetarium (http://www.adlerplanetarium.org/) is next door to the aquarium. The Field Museum was a must see, especially to see Sue, the tyrannosaurus rex found in west central South Dakota as I’ve followed this saga since her discovery in 1990. The rest of their exhibits are well prepared and is truly a maze, and as the write-ups I’ve read indicate, plan to spend at least 4 or more hours to see everything, in fact, plan a whole day to really see things and study the things you want.
There is a “CityPass” available for $39 (http://citypass.net/cgi-bin/citypass/city_fly?mv_arg=chicago&rand=20883) that gets you into 6 of Chicago’s best: The Hancock Observatory, The Art Institute of Chicago, The Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium, Alder Planetarium & Astronomy Museum and the Museum of Science and Industry, so, if you are planning on going to four or more of these sights, it is well worth the price. Beware though, you have nine days to visit each attraction (once) and tickets are void if they are removed from the CityPass booklet.
The food in Chicago is incredible, to say the least. Prices range from cheap eats at Portillo’s Hot Dogs (www.portillos.com), voted best hot dogs, or the Potbelly Sandwich Works (http://www.potbelly.com/), voted best “cheap eats” where ALL sandwiches are $3.59 to the expensive, incredible tastes of Lawry’s Prime Rib (http://www.lawrysonline.com/primerib/f_chicago.html) and Harry Cary’s Legendary Italian Steakhouse (http://www.harrycarays.com/in_chica.htm) where most cuts of meat cost over $25. Chicago is also known for its “Deep Dish Pizza” and Gino’s East (www.ginoseast.com) is reputed to be the home to deep dish pizza and is consistently voted one of the best in Chicago and one of the top 10 pizzerias in the US. A small pizza is normally enough for 2 people and allow at least an hour as it takes almost 45 minutes to cook the pizza!
I will write about each of the restaurants we ate at while we were there and in my mind, there are 3, maybe 4 “must eat” restaurants in Chicago that I will go to in the future. For those who can’t wait, here is what I wrote a friend of mine:
1. Reza’s Restaurant (http://www.rezasrestaurant.com/) on Ontario Avenue – Mediterranean & Persian food at its best! I had the Beef Sultani with dill rice…. I finished the beef, but not the rice as half the plate was rice, the other half the beef!! $12.95! Susan had rib-eye with jumbo shrimp and I think that was also around $13.
2. Gino’s East (www.ginoseast.com) – several around the Chicago area, world renowned for the “Original home of the Chicago Deep Dish Pizza”! Make sure to allow at least 1 hour at this place as it takes around 45 minutes just to cook the pizza!! It is well, well worth the wait, and get this, you can also order it to anywhere in the US!!!!
3. Lalo’s Mexican Restaurant (http://www.lalos.com/) on LaSalle Street. We were actually planning on going to the Frontera Grill owned by Rick Bayless, but they were closed for “vacation”. We spotted Lalo’s on the way back to the hotel after eating at Harry Caray’s and said “let’s give it a try” as we’ve seen it in some of the Chicago magazines. The food was absolutely incredible! They are also famous for their margaritas; it was cheaper to buy a pitcher, so we did! I had the Lomo de Res en Chile de Arbol which is chopped rib-eye steak grilled and simmered in their spicy and exotic chile de arbol sauce. If you have an appetite for spicy foods, you'll really enjoy this dish!!
4. Portillo’s Hot Dogs (http://www.portillos.com/portillos/) at 100 W. Ontario. This place is good, fast and cheap eats. Susan and I each had a hot dog (with the “works”, a large cheese fry and 2 large drinks for $11!!!
There were some other places too that were good, but not a “must return to” in my book, although their food was good:
1. Lawry’s Steakhouse (http://www.lawrysonline.com/primerib/f_chicago.html) was very good for lunch (BBQ beef sandwich, $5.00, pop $2 unlimited refills), dinner should be as impressive.
2. Harry Caray’s (http://www.harrycarays.com/in_chica.htm) we weren’t too hungry and this place IS expensive with most cuts of meat over $25, so we had a small appetizer of calamari and a couple of salads which cost us almost $40! If we would have eaten a regular meal, it would have been easily $50-60!
3. The Corner Bakery at the Field Museum. It was ok, but not that impressive, there are a lot better places to eat!
We didn’t get to Potbelly Sandwich Works, that will have to wait until next time, as well as the Frontera Grill.
All in all, we really enjoyed Chicago and it is a great place to get away. Stay in the downtown area, buy a CTA Visitor Pass, CityPass and be ready to see the sights, shop, walk and enjoy some great food! We’ll definitely be back!
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Couples
Best Time to Travel Here: Anytime
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Epinions.com ID:
brewman
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Member: Todd K
Location: Illinois
Reviews written: 45
Trusted by: 7 members
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