Midwest & More Road Trip Discussion (Pre-departure)

[HostDave]

Looks like it will be rainy over the weekend we're there according to the forecasts, but that won't bother us too much. Your weather has been warmer than ours this week.

I'll look into the cruises when we're there. I hadn't thought much about it since I assumed it was too early, so thanks for bringing it to my attention.

[FeAudrey]

Looks like it will be rainy over the weekend we're there ...

Good shopping and museum weather ...

... thanks for bringing it to my attention.

Happy to be of service. Ask me anything!

[HostDave]

We're not usually museum guys, but the weather will make us spend more time at the Art Institute...which I know we should do anyway

The weather here today was awful...thunderstorms, pouring rain, hail, wind, cold, you-name-it, so we're practicing!

[FeAudrey]

We're not usually museum guys ...

The museum for guys who are not museum guys would be the Museum of Science and Industry:

http://www.msichicago.org/whats-here/exhibits/

... the Art Institute ...

Fair amount of stuff there for guys who are not museum guys:

http://www.artic.edu/pathfinder/php/pathfinder.php


Chicago sits along the shore of a great inland freshwater sea. Even if the weather stays bad, you should try to get to the lakefront.


If you are studying the tourism literature, check the children's section -- a lot of stuff gets listed there that is also suitable for grown-ups.

[HostDave]

Thanks for the links. I'm sure we'll make it out to Navy Pier even if the weather is bad. We'll take a cab instead of walking, but we'll get there. Well, no guarantees, but we'll try. Also sure we'll wander around the park since it is so close. If it rains we'll pop into a museum.

[FeAudrey]

... Navy Pier ...

The biggies there are the walk along the Pier itself, and the Children's Museum (which makes some very imaginative use of some the odd spaces it's crammed into). The rides, restaurants, and shopping are pretty much what any such McAttraction has.

... wander around the park since it is so close ...

Presume you mean (downtown) Grant Park. Chicago's lakefront is mostly reserved space -- there is a near-continous band of lakefront parks, something like twenty miles' worth.

[HostDave]

Yes, Grant park and thereabouts. I'm thinking Navy Pier for the "experience" rather than rides, but if it's tacky, so much the better

Any recommendations for restaurants around State and Lake where the hotel is located? We're not taking any dressy clothes at all, so can't be any fancier than khakis and a polo shirt. The restaurant in the Wit has good reviews, but don't want to eat there every night obviously.

[FeAudrey]

... Any recommendations for restaurants around State and Lake where the hotel is located?

Sorry. My Loop-expertise is as a worker bee who sometimes buzzes over to sights, and not even that recently. After dark -- "not so much" ...

There used to be a deli in that vicinity that had a high reputation, but I couldn't find anything in the restaurant listings that I recognized as that place. If it is still there, your hotel concierge will know it as the place where the ABC/WLS news people hang out.

A few blocks west is a chunk of theater district; there will be plenty of restaurants there. There are extended food courts with a few sit-down places in some office buildings; not sure how many would be open after six o'clock or so.

Have a hot dog! A Chicago-style hot dog, the iconic "garden on a bun", an all-meat natural-casing frank buried in vegetable-based toppings, the one you can't mention ketchup around.

And connoisseurs of roadside attractions should not miss the flagship Walgreen's a block south of theWit:

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012 ... ealth-care

[HostDave]

We don't go out much at night during road trips anyway, so we'll manage somehow. We're usually ready to crash by 9pm, which is a definite contrast to my schedule in real life! There is a "hip and happening" bar atop the Wit, but that's our thing either. You know you're old when you complain that the music is too loud

I'll check out the Walgreens if we're wandering that direction. Sounds interesting.

[Marybeth]

A good restaurant is Peterinos. It is at Randolph and Dearborn. Go early as it gets crowded with theater goers. It's about 2 blocks from the hotel. There is also Macy's on the corner of State and Randolph. It is the department store but they have several restaurants. I'm not sure how late they serve but that info would probably be available at the hotel. Another option is the Berghoff. I haven't been there since they reopened but it used to be really good. The Italian Village is just a block further from Peterinos. It has 3 separate Italian restaurants. Last time is was there it was very good.