My kind of town, Chicago is...

You could watch the match from your window :wink:

0 Replies

Walter, I can still hear the game from my window but a building is coming up that is blocking my view. Evil or Very Mad

Thats why I have HDTV!

0 Replies

By the way , this is where I met up with Joe and JB. Red Lion Pub

0 Replies

sublime1 wrote:

I just got back from having drinks with JB and Joe, good time tonight glad I was able to make it out.

It was fun, glad you were able to make it, Sublime.

Joe and I started out with dinner and then an evening at Millennium Park listening to this:

Quote:

Friday, July 28, 2006 at 6:30 p.m.
Jay Pritzker Pavilion
Grant Park Orchestra; Emmanuel Villaume, Conductor; Louis Lortie, Piano
LISZT Fantasia on a theme from Beethoven's Ruins of Athens
LISZT Totentanz, Danse Macabre
BRUCKNER Symphony No. 7

We then went over to the Red Lion Pub where Sublime joined us for drinks.

'Twas a lovely evening, guys, thanks!

0 Replies

Nice report in today's The Guardian: In Lolla land

0 Replies

Nice article, Walter. I'm not much on punk rock but I'm guessing my oldest daughter will want to go.

CowDoc, I'm not sure what my availability for next weekend will be. Mr B arrives home Monday after being in New Orleans for 17 days. We have plans downtown with friends on Saturday night but I think we're going to want a quiet week at home.

I could probably come into the city Monday (7th) or Tuesday (8th) for the evening, if that works for anyone. Or, I could come in any weekday for lunch.

0 Replies

Sounds good to me. Hopefully, I'll have internet access in the hotel. Keep me posted!

0 Replies

What's your availability? There are a number of things to do during the day including the riverboat and/or lakefront architecture tours, the Art Institute, the museum campus (Shedd Aquarium, Adler Planetarium, Field Museum of Natural History), Navy Pier (very touristy), Musuem of Science and Industry. There are free admission days (usually Tuesday, but I'm not sure about during the summer), but your best bet on seeing a number of them is with a City Pass. The Art Institute is not part of the City Pass but I can get you in as a member's guest, if you want to do that on Monday or Tuesday.

http://www.citypass.com/city/chicago.html?id=VpWnFsMk

The Grant Park Music Festival has free concerts on Friday and Saturday evenings. The schedule for next weekend is:

Quote:

Friday, August 4, 2006 at 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, August 5, 2006 at 7:30 p.m.
Orchestra Hall at Symphony Center - 220 South Michigan Avenue
Grant Park Orchestra; Carlos Kalmar, Conductor; Jennifer Larmore, Mezzo Soprano
KERNIS Too Hot Toccata
BERLIOZ Le Mort de Cleopatre
KERNIS Symphony in Waves
BARBER Andromache's Farewell

Joe - are the concerts still free when they're held at Symphony Center vs Millennium Park?

Other music options include jazz clubs or blues clubs, and there are plenty of music venues around the feature different rock genres.

0 Replies

I'll be tied up in meetings most of the time we're there, but the wife says she definitely would like to see the planetarium and the aquarium. Are they relatively accessible from the area of the Hilton?

0 Replies

I think it was Bus #146 that goes to museum campus.

0 Replies

The best way to get around Chicago in the summer is with the free trolley service. To get to the Museum Campus she will want to take the 'green triangle' trolley. It has a pick up stop on South Michigan Ave (I'll try to find a link to the trolley line route map) and will take her directly to the Museum Campus. It runs about every 20 minutes between 10:00 am and 6:00 pm. She has to be on the last pick-up of the day around 5:30, or earlier to get back to the hotel. Other trolleys will take her to the main shopping areas of N. Michigan Ave and State St, or to Navy Pier.

When I was downtown last week, I parked my car in the hotel parking garage and used the trolley to get around until I left. If she doesn't want to wait for the trolley, there are cabs everywhere but they can get pricey quickly.

Another nice way to combine a number of stops in a single day is to take the trolley to the Museum Campus and then take the river/lake taxi over to Navy Pier. She can see the world's largest ferris wheel, walk along the pier and then take the blue or yellow trolley back to Michigan Avenue.

0 Replies

Here's the trolley map

The green line has a stop just north of Balboa Drive on Michigan Ave that heads over to the Campus (see the small white arrows on the map for route direction). It will drop her off across Michigan Ave about 1/2 block north on the return. The Hilton is just south of Balboa Drive on Michigan Ave (ask the concierge where the trolley stop is for the Museum Campus). If she wants to get to the Magnificent Mile shopping district (No Michigan Ave) she can take the green line to Adams and then walk a couple blocks to pick up the red line to the Water Tower.

The trolley system is very safe, the drivers are friendly and work only on tips ($1.00 is typical) and will help her get to wherever she wants to get to on the system. There are also excursion trolley tours in the area so make sure she gets on the free trolley system run by the city. It's the best deal in town.

0 Replies

Oh, and if you/she want to get an elevated view of the city, I would strongly suggest the Hancock Building (2nd tallest building in the city and part of the City Pass) over the Sears Tower. The lines at the Sears Tower average two hours plus and the Hancock Building is much closer to the lake with almost no lines.

0 Replies

That trolley system sounds so great, J_B!

Recent addition to a Chicago architecture thread HERE (Walter posted there fairly recently, well, June, as well.)

0 Replies

I saw a nice quotation from H L Mencken in the paper at the weekend. About Chicago of course. I'll try to find it for you

0 Replies

McTag wrote:

I saw a nice quotation from H L Mencken in the paper at the weekend. About Chicago of course. I'll try to find it for you

Here it is:

"I give you Chicago. It is not London and Harvard. It is not Paris and buttermilk. It is American in every chitling and sparerib. It is alive from snout to tail"

-H L Mencken

0 Replies

J_B wrote:

Joe - are the concerts still free when they're held at Symphony Center vs Millennium Park?

I'm not sure. The website is ambiguous. I'd just show up and ask if they charge admission.

0 Replies

The trolley really is great, osso. I'm not sure how many summers it's been running. I started using it last year and it's perfect for getting to all the spots that everyone wants to get to.

Thanks, McTag, I've never had chitlings but I do love this city.

CowDoc, you will be arriving into some god-awful heat on Tuesday. It's supposed to break a bit on Wednesday and then you should have perfect Chicago summer weather for the rest of the week. I'd definitely suggest something close by and indoors for your wife on Wednesday. I not sure it would be any better on the lake, but perhaps the lake front architecture tour would be comfortable, or any of the museums. Oh, wait, you'll be at the Cubs game on Wednesday.... I hope they're playing at night. Chicago weather

0 Replies

J_B wrote:

Oh, wait, you'll be at the Cubs game on Wednesday.... I hope they're playing at night.

You can hear the sounds from Cubs park in sublime's air-conditioned condo where he will be watching on his HD tv. Smile

0 Replies

McTag wrote:

McTag wrote:
I saw a nice quotation from H L Mencken in the paper at the weekend. About Chicago of course. I'll try to find it for you

Here it is:

"I give you Chicago. It is not London and Harvard. It is not Paris and buttermilk. It is American in every chitling and sparerib. It is alive from snout to tail"

-H L Mencken

I couldn't have said it better myself. ("from snout to tail" must be reffering to Chicagos' hot dogs. No fries, cheeps!

Ya got that right Wandel. Suck Faint Louis!

0 Replies

My kind of town, Chicago is...

Related Topics

Quick Links

My Account

able2know