Chicago Trip

[RockRaines]

Cool, thanks. I appreciate your help and from everyone. In the past, I've either met friends up there who knew how to get around or we just got tickets to games and winged everything else. I'm typically not much of a planner so this is different for me. My girlfriend's never been up there and wants to see a couple of things so I need to make sure we have the time. It should be fun.

 

Another question I have is about travel. Heading back north to the hotel around 3:30 or 4:00 on Thursday. Would I be better taking the #2 bus (Hyde Park Express) along Lake Shore Drive for the scenery or taking the #55 bus to the Red Line @ Howard to Chicago and walking from there? Would traffic be an issue taking the bus? Anyone use the public tranportation enough to know?

Take the bus. Traffic wont be too bad, but that redline stop is garbage.

[Chi Town Sox]

Cool, thanks. I appreciate your help and from everyone. In the past, I've either met friends up there who knew how to get around or we just got tickets to games and winged everything else. I'm typically not much of a planner so this is different for me. My girlfriend's never been up there and wants to see a couple of things so I need to make sure we have the time. It should be fun.

 

Another question I have is about travel. Heading back north to the hotel around 3:30 or 4:00 on Thursday. Would I be better taking the #2 bus (Hyde Park Express) along Lake Shore Drive for the scenery or taking the #55 bus to the Red Line @ Howard to Chicago and walking from there? Would traffic be an issue taking the bus? Anyone use the public tranportation enough to know?

 

If you like Triple D type restaurants, you NEED to find time to squeeze Kuma's Corner in to that schedule

[southsider2k5]

Good luck Rex. That is a ton to fit in, so don't be afraid to drop a few things to enjoy what does strike your fancy! Have fun buddy.

[He_Gawn]

Any recommendations for bars to hit up on the Magnificent Mile or somewhere around there on July 3rd? I have dinner at Flatwater at 9, then hopefully I'll find a few places I like to drink at.

[DukeNukeEm]

The Shedd is great, but get will call tickets if you do it. 90% of my time at work is spent running the taxi's from the Shedd and you're looking at lines that easily strech to 2-3 hours just to get in on the weekends. People love that aquarium.

[Rex Hudler]

The Shedd is great, but get will call tickets if you do it. 90% of my time at work is spent running the taxi's from the Shedd and you're looking at lines that easily strech to 2-3 hours just to get in on the weekends. People love that aquarium.

 

You don't do taxis all the way down to the Museum of Science and Industry, do you?

[knightni]

If your hotel has a business center, I highly recommend the Google Maps transit schedules.

 

It tells you the best buses to take to Science and Industry/Shedd/Field etc.

 

The El is useless for those areas.

[Rex Hudler]

If your hotel has a business center, I highly recommend the Google Maps transit schedules.

 

It tells you the best buses to take to Science and Industry/Shedd/Field etc.

 

The El is useless for those areas.

 

Thanks for the tip. I found that by accident last week. Part of the reason for scheduling everything is so that we can figure out where to go and how to get there. I've already entered all directions into my wireless phone through Sat. Working on Sunday today. It is very helpful. I noticed last night that a route I had previously looked up did not show up. Eventually I realized that it was because I had not changed the departure date and time and it was only looking up options available at 1:00 am. Once I corrected the date/time, the route was there. For about 15 minutes I was thinking I had messed up the first time and it was driving me nuts.

 

The other tip I have for those traveling to Chicago and taking public transportation is to order a transit card in advance. www.transitchicago.com sells 1 and 3 day passes which allow for unlimited use on all trains and buses. No need to worry about money to pay at each stop. You can order them in advance and have them mailed to you.

[RockRaines]

Thanks for the tip. I found that by accident last week. Part of the reason for scheduling everything is so that we can figure out where to go and how to get there. I've already entered all directions into my wireless phone through Sat. Working on Sunday today. It is very helpful. I noticed last night that a route I had previously looked up did not show up. Eventually I realized that it was because I had not changed the departure date and time and it was only looking up options available at 1:00 am. Once I corrected the date/time, the route was there. For about 15 minutes I was thinking I had messed up the first time and it was driving me nuts.

 

The other tip I have for those traveling to Chicago and taking public transportation is to order a transit card in advance. www.transitchicago.com sells 1 and 3 day passes which allow for unlimited use on all trains and buses. No need to worry about money to pay at each stop. You can order them in advance and have them mailed to you.

ctabustracker.com will tell you when buses are coming to your stop as well. Will save you alot of time.

[knightni]

The other tip I have for those traveling to Chicago and taking public transportation is to order a transit card in advance. www.transitchicago.com sells 1 and 3 day passes which allow for unlimited use on all trains and buses. No need to worry about money to pay at each stop. You can order them in advance and have them mailed to you.

You can buy them at Dominicks' front office as well.

[DukeNukeEm]

You don't do taxis all the way down to the Museum of Science and Industry, do you?

 

We dont run a taxi that far south, but the 10 bus on solidarity drive can take you right to MSI.

[Rex Hudler]

Leaving Wed for Nashville and flying out of Nashville early Thursday morning. Almost ready.

 

2 questions...

 

1. Are reservations available/necessary at Tufano's (Thursday night after 8pm)

 

2. Going to Lou Malnati's Friday night. Should there be any preference between their Lincoln Park (Wrightwood) and River North (N Wells St) locations? Lincoln Park would be closer to where we are coming from, but River North is not far from hotel.

[Soxbadger]

Ive been to the Field and Museum of Science and Industry a bunch of times the last year or so, and they both are entirely different experiences that different people enjoy more.

 

Field is a natural history museum. It has the Lions of Savo (spelling but they are the man eating lions from Africa), Sue, the brand new the baby mammoth, a great gem room, exhibit on evolution and I believe the brand new climate exhibit.

 

Science and industry on the other hand is a technology museum. It has the coal mine, german sub, I believe a new exhibit on storms, and a bunch of other things.

 

Depending on which interests you more is which museum youll like. but they are both pretty world class.

[Chi Town Sox]

Leaving Wed for Nashville and flying out of Nashville early Thursday morning. Almost ready.

 

2 questions...

 

1. Are reservations available/necessary at Tufano's (Thursday night after 8pm)

 

2. Going to Lou Malnati's Friday night. Should there be any preference between their Lincoln Park (Wrightwood) and River North (N Wells St) locations? Lincoln Park would be closer to where we are coming from, but River North is not far from hotel.

 

1. you should be A-OK on a Thursday after 8

 

2. Never been to Lincoln Park but after seeing reviews they are both the same

 

3. Go to Kuma's Corner for the best burger of your life http://www.yelp.com/biz/kumas-corner-chicago

 

[Controlled Chaos]

Holy crap, this is getting crazy. I don't think I've ever planned a trip like this. Here is our tentative agenda. Tell me how crazy we are for trying to pull this off.

 

Thursday - arrive Chicago 8:10am

-- drop off bags at hotel

-- head to Museum of Science and Industry (cab or bus? - will cab be any faster?)

-- leave about 1:00 and head to the Frank Lloyd Wright Robie house for a 2:00 tour

-- head back to hotel, check in, change clothes

-- Head to Art Institue (free admission after 5:00 and open until 8:00)-- dinner at Tufano's (you guys sold me on it, especially after watching the Triple D video)

-- probably pass out next

 

Friday

-- up early for breakfast at The Bongo Room

-- to Navy Pier for a 10:00 architecture cruise

-- head back to hotel (if time allows) to change/get what we need for the rest of the day

-- head to Wrigleyville for a 1:20 game

-- see Blue Man Group at 7:00

-- pizza at either Giordano's or Lou's

 

Saturday

-- breakfast at Ann Sather (cinnamon rolls)

-- briefly check out Millenium Park or walk to the beach

-- head to Wrigley for a 12:05 game

-- drink after game?

-- dinner at Smoque after the game?

-- Maybe head to Navy Pier Sat night? Will there be fireworks?

 

Sunday

-- possible visits to The Field Museum to see "Sue" quickly, Millenium Park or to the beach

-- Head to airport about noon

 

Just an FYI...this puts you pretty much at the Taste...if you did have a half hour or so to kill, it probably wouldn't be too crowded early on like 4.

If ya want to sample some different Chicago foods...they have these 'taste portions' that you could get. You can try a couple different pizza places(Home run inn, Bacinos, Connies, Lou Mals) it would be like 1/2 slice a pizza. Try a beef or sausage(Tuscany). For dessert enjoy the one and only Original rainbow Cone.

 

Good luck!! You have a lot packed in.

 

[RockRaines]

Leaving Wed for Nashville and flying out of Nashville early Thursday morning. Almost ready.

 

2 questions...

 

1. Are reservations available/necessary at Tufano's (Thursday night after 8pm)

 

2. Going to Lou Malnati's Friday night. Should there be any preference between their Lincoln Park (Wrightwood) and River North (N Wells St) locations? Lincoln Park would be closer to where we are coming from, but River North is not far from hotel.

The Lou's in river north is ALWAYS packed, people waiting upwards of 90 min every time I go in there for pickup.

[Rex Hudler]

Thanks for all the suggestions. Getting ready to head to Nashville for the evening and then flying out in the morning. Should be a fun trip. It's been 5-6 years since I've been up there. I'm really looking forward to it!

[RockRaines]

Rex? How was it?

[Rex Hudler]

Rex? How was it?

 

Hey, thanks for asking. It was a whirlwind, but a lot of fun. I'm still tired from the trip I think. We caught most everything on our agenda and a few things.

Some thoughts...

 

1. We did squeeze in a couple of hours at the Field Museum after the game Saturday. Fortunately, we found out they were staying open later because of Taste. Two hours was enough for me. Museums in general aren't my thing. We saw "Sue" and the new Mastadons & Mammoths exhibit. Both were pretty cool to check out.

2. I was a little disappointed with the Museum of Science & Industry. Parts of it were pretty cool, but others were too kid oriented (I think it was ss2k who referenced that earlier). We have an interactive science museum here and it reminded me of that somewhat. Too many loud kids running around. We did have to fly through it, however. There were parts I would have liked to spent more time on, but we wanted to get in as much as possible.

3. The Robie House was pretty cool. I'm not into architecture a whole lot, but it was very interesting. Defiitely worth checking out.

4. Loved the architecture cruise. Went on the 60-minute cruise from Shoreline. Next time I think I'll take the one that is 90 minutes (Wendell?) and see how different they are. Our guide was excellent. He crammed a ton of info in 60 minutes and made it all interesting.

5. The games were just okay. Enjoyed hanging out at the Cubby Bear and Wrigleyville on game day, but I didn't really care who won and the seats were just so-so.

6. Tufano's was good. Maybe not as great as I was expecting and not very busy at 8:30 on a Thursday night, but a nice place to check out.

7. At pizza at both Lou's and Giordano's. Lou's was good. I've had Giordano's before and was disappointed. We had to wait almost 2 hours. They told us to pre-order after 45 minutes. I think our pizza was probably done and sitting around for too long before we were finally seated. If I had to do it over, I'd have skipped Giordano's and the wait and checked out someplace else.

8. Loved the Blue Man Group. Very entertaining show.

9. Stood in line for an hour to get Garrett's popcorn. The stuff was damned good, but not sure I would do an hour again. Maybe 15 minutes?

10. Hotel was great. Right at Rush and Bellevue, across the street from Gibson's on one side and Lux Bar and Original Pancake House on the other. Would definitely recommend the Sutton Place Hotel.

11. Had breakfast at the Tempo Cafe, Ann Sather & Lux Bar. All were very good.

[RockRaines]

Great to hear. Glad you liked Tufano's, it is good not great, but the whole appeal is how old is it and how sorta toned down it is. Next time you are in town ill have to put you into La Scarola for great italian fare.