jent103

First off, thanks so much to everyone who gave input and suggestions to help plan this trip. It was a great weekend! There are so many questions about Chicago on the boards that I hope I can give some helpful ideas through telling what we did.

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So there's this band from Dublin that some of you may have heard of. Fronted by some guy named Bono. I like them all right. So when U2 announced a North American tour, my friend M and I checked all the official announcements, and rumors of announcements, and rumors of rumors, and narrowed it down to Chicago or Atlanta. Atlanta makes the most sense for us geographically, coming from Nashville, plus we could have stayed with my aunt for free... but we both really abhor driving in Atlanta and, well, Atlanta is not my favorite city, we'll say. (No offense meant, Atlantans; your city and are just meant to be passing acquaintances rather than lifelong friends.) And since Nashville is a Southwest hub, we can usually fly to Chicago for cheap (our tickets were $98 plus tax, round trip). So... Chicago it was. Our plans were thwarted when the first Chicago show sold out in approximately eight seconds. Grrr, presales and resalers. But then - what? A second show? Yes please! Tickets purchased in April, we promptly booked our flights and proceeded to do nothing else except be excited. We occasionally looked at Hotwire prices, figuring they'd go down the closer we got to the trip. Except... they didn't. Turns out that not only was U2 playing two shows to about 140,000 or so that weekend, but the Cubs were in town, a half marathon was scheduled, and a 75,000-person printers' convention was happening. Not a great weekend to be looking for hotel deals. We ended up booking the Westin River North about three weeks before the trip for $235/night plus taxes, and we decided that was a great deal and we would be just fine. (Looking a week after, prices were MUCH better.) The hotel was really nice but not formal; all the staff was really friendly and helpful. The location was great once we figured out the best way to get there.

As much as I am normally a planner, I really didn't do much thinking on what I wanted to do until a few weeks ago. I think I was so stuck on not having a hotel that I couldn't get excited until we found one. But eventually we started researching and googling and developing a List. M figured out the wonders of Google Maps, and we collaborated on one which had potential restaurants, shopping, and activities (with special icons for special events!). Our Map of Potential is here, if you're interested in seeing how Google Maps can be helpful: http://bit.ly/wVDDD (takes a few seconds to load fully). When you print the map, it prints all the address/phone numbers and any notes you've included as well. Pretty snazzy. We didn't make it to everything on the list, but that just leaves us more for next time!

Pictures of our trip (except the concert) are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenthom...7622289837663/
Pictures of the show, if you're interested: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenthom...7622258905597/

Continued...

jent103

We were scheduled to leave Nashville at 8am on Saturday. Everything seemed smooth; we all boarded the flight and were ready to go, when the captain informed us that Midway had just closed due to fog. We stayed on the plane a few more minutes waiting for an update, but when the staff found out that Midway would be closed for at least an hour, we were allowed to deplane. We made new best friends with our plane-mates, wandered around the concourse, and eventually re-boarded about 9:30 and were on our way. Overall pretty painless. The one major down side was that we were supposed to have breakfast with some old friends of mine who now live in Chicago, so there was much texting happening. Fortunately they were able to be flexible. Once we finally landed, M and I took the orange line from Midway to Clark/Lake (about 35-40 minutes) and found our way to the hotel. We were able to check in early and took a couple of minutes to lie on our Heavenly Beds (TM) before catching a cab to Ina's on West Randolph (www.breakfastqueen.com). My friends suggested this, and it was delicious. I got the whole wheat/oatmeal pancakes, M got the Heavenly Hots, and my friends got an omelet and the baked French toast. I think our breakfast averaged about $10 or so per person. We checked out my friends' new Carolina blue scooter and then went our separate ways, them to their apartment and us to the Renegade Craft Fair in Wicker Park. It was a fun way to spend an hour or so - we didn't make it to even half the booths, I don't think. It was a busy place!

After the craft fair, we decided to go to CB2. I had written down bus routes and L stops for everything on our map, and we thought the same bus that we took to the craft fair (#9) went to CB2 as well. Well, either I wrote down the route wrong or it takes a very circuitous route. We got off after we realized that we were not heading in any direction that made sense for our purposes, and ended up walking down Clybourn from Ashland to North. On the way we found the Moosejaw store (making best friends with the cashier) and the Crate & Barrel outlet, so I think it worked out well. Plus I got to stick my head in a bar window along the way to find out the Tennessee/UCLA score. We checked out CB2, then got on the red line to head to Grant Park for the Celtic Fest. We had really wanted to make it in time for the Men in Kilts Leg Contest, but apparently we just missed it. Bummer. We did see some men in kilts, though, and enjoyed the band playing for awhile. At that point we were exhausted and hungry, so we walked back to the hotel. I was so close to ordering room service for dinner. So close. But M convinced me that it would be ridiculous to spend that much money on a hamburger when there were perfectly good restaurants quite close by, including the Block of (Rick) Bayless around the corner. So we headed out to try Xoco (www.rickbayless.com/restaurants/xoco.html), Rick's brand-spankin-new fast-casual-ish place.

We waited in line outside for about an hour, making best friends with the family behind us (are you sensing a theme? One of our goals for the weekend was to talk to strangers; challenging for our introverted selves, but vacation does crazy things to people). The restaurant was packed, and when we were allowed to order we were seated at a table with a group of girlfriends, but we were excited about the food and did not care. There were a few opening-week glitches; the girl sitting next to me managed to get a soup with carnitas without the carnitas, but once she mentioned it to the hostess it was quickly corrected. That sort of thing. From what I could tell, anything that didn't go perfectly was quickly and cheerfully corrected, and the food was DELICIOUS. I ordered the wood roasted chicken pozole caldo (soup), which was good but had quite a kick to it that I wasn't expecting. I also got a churro (yum) and the Barcelona chocolate, for which "thick and rich" is an understatement. It was like drinking a melted chocolate bar. A really good milk chocolate bar. M ordered the Azteca chocolate (delicious - a little chile and spice in it) and the torta cubana, which seriously may be the best sandwich I have ever eaten. I had avoided it because I don't love pork and can't usually stand avocado, both of which the cubana has, but it was delicious. We both said that if for some reason we got stuck in Chicago until Tuesday, we were coming back to Xoco. Unfortunately it's closed on Sundays and Mondays, but we did take full advantage of our one shot! After dinner we basically rolled back to the hotel and into our Heavenly Beds.

yk

Hi jent103, looking forward to more!

kelliebellie

After Top Chef Masters, I'm dying to get to a Rick Bayless restaurant. Sounds like everyone has the same idea!

sf7307

Please tell us there's more!! (and now I'm dying to eat at the new restaurant, too. I haven't been in Chicago in a couple of years.....)

christy1

We go into Frontera recently by: going a bit before they opened and standing in line (the line was to the corner already), waiting to talk to the hostess about being seated in the restaurant (a lot of people went right for the bar, which was immediately a zoo. I wouldn't not have wanted to eat in there). The hostess said it would be 1.5-2 hours, which was perfect (we didn't want to eat at 5!), but to check back in an hour. We went for drinks, and when we came back in an hour, she said hang out, it'll only be 15 more minutes. And it was. It was a great meal, my favorite of the trip (which included Blackbird, Table 52 and other well known places).

jent103

More to come! I haven't been to Frontera or Topolo (I was planning to go to Frontera on this trip before we found out about Xoco), but if Xoco is any indication I think they'd all be worth the wait. I want that torta cubana every day, forever, and am fortunate that M doesn't eat much and is generous with leftovers.

Also, upon rereading: My apologies for the extreme overuse of the word "delicious." So many more adjectives could apply - yummy, mmm, melt-in-your-mouth, et cetera.

JJ5

I'm reading. I have not been to Xoco yet- but have been to the other two. I'm not a foodie- but like his casual grill food.

My two sons are both HUGE U2 fans. One got to go, and one didn't. There is 11 years between their ages, and the biggest fan in the world was at his son's game instead. LOL!

Good report- keep going!

CAPH52

Hi, Jen. I'm enjoying your report very much.

DD and SIL were at that Sunday conert too. It was the first time SIL had seen U2! He said he's been very nearby when they were playing in Ireland several times but was never able to get tickets. According to him, U2 could play in Ireland every night for half a year and every concert would still be sold out! So getting to see them at Soldier Field was quite a kick for him.

I'm glad you enjoyed the trip.

Keep it coming!

sharona

I saw that little band from Dublin just last night. Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, MA. Oops, sorry! I was one of those that got to take advantage of a presale. Tickets are indeed hard to get, especially good seats.

I was also lucky to get to see them in Dublin. It seemed everyone in the city was there to see the show.

Looking forward to the rest of your trip report.

jent103

CAPH52 - hi! That's so funny that your SIL had to come all the way to Chicago to see U2! (Well, probably not amusing to him.) I think seeing them in Dublin would be insane. I was surprised that our show wasn't sold out, but I think it was pretty close.

sharona - I don't hold it against you personally. How lucky you are to see them twice in one tour! I saw them on the Elevate tour in 2001, but while that show was awesome, I felt like this one was like nothing I'd ever seen. So great.

jent103

Sunday morning we grabbed a bagel at Einstein Bros. on Dearborn, then walked to the River East building for our tour with Bobby's Bike Hike (www.bobbysbikehike.com). I think I first heard about Bobby's from someone on Fodor's, and now I can definitely recommend this tour to others! It was really fun and a great way to see a lot of Chicago that I hadn't before. The lakefront neighborhoods tour took us to the Museum of Contemporary Art, through the north end of downtown to the Gold Coast (including a view of the original Playboy Mansion), through Old Town and some of Lincoln Park, to North Street Beach and finally back downtown along the lake. The whole thing was about three hours and was really fun. Neither of us had ridden bikes in a long while and we did fine (though my quads were burning for the last ride along the lake). Our tour guide's name was Eddie, and you could tell he really loves the city and wants to tell everyone the great things about it, whether they're historic or just quirky.

After the bike tour, we headed in the direction of State Street, stopping for lunch at the Corner Bakery. We spent an hour or so at Lush making best friends with the Lush girls (seriously, a pattern... I don't know why we can't be extroverted at home), stocking up on all our favorites and finding new products we clearly had to try. And getting a fabulous hand treatment, which I will gladly admit is a great sales tactic. Once we finally finished at Lush, we had just enough time to hit H&M before we needed to head back to the hotel to get ready for The Main Event. Our plan was to go to dinner at the Lou Malnati's in the South Loop, so we took the red line south to Harrison - only to find a 35-40 minute wait at Lou Malnati's. We were on a time crunch. This was unacceptable. So we put off my craving for deep dish another day and walked off in search of somewhere else to eat. As it turns out, there is not much in the way of food on South Michigan Avenue. After many minutes of walking we ended up at the Artists' Cafe near the Museum of Contemporary Photography and the Art Institute. I'm pretty sure this place is busy mainly because it is one of the few places to eat on the south end of Michigan. The staff was fine but not overly friendly, they only take Amex or cash, and our food was OK but not great by any stretch (and I am not a foodie - I just know a dry piece of chicken when I'm trying to eat it). However, it was food, and we made friends with the father and son next to us, who were also from Nashville. Crazy coincidences. (They were pretty easy to spot. The dad was wearing a bright orange UT shirt. We do not blend in easily in such gear.)

We had planned to catch a cab to Soldier Field, since we were several blocks from any sort of helpful mass transit and running short on time, but at that point traffic was heavy and the only empty cab we saw wouldn't take us there. So, we walked. I think over the course of the weekend I walked over 15 miles, which is about 13.5 more than I would in a normal weekend at home. My body was still yelling at me several days later. Anyway, at Soldier Field we made our way to security checks, where I had a brief period of major panic because the security guards did not like my SLR camera. I had to sweetly persuade the security manager that I couldn't just put it back in my car because we didn't drive and our hotel is a long walk, I was not going to videotape the concert and yes sir, I understand that if I am caught using this that I will be escorted out. Oh wow. I'm getting nervous just thinking about it. At that point we were already missing part of Snow Patrol (who I also love), and I definitely would have missed some of U2 if I had had to go back to the hotel to leave my camera. So thanks, Soldier Field security staff, for being kind. Whew.

The show? Was incredible. I will gladly tell more about it if people are interested, but I don't want to bore you all with the details if you're not. So... "seriously, amazing" will do for now.

I have never seen such a mass of people all slowly moving toward one place as I did after the concert. We basically waited in line just to get past the Field Museum. We had been planning on taking the red line back up to State/Lake, but we missed the turn for Roosevelt and decided to just keep walking, since we'd probably have to wait a long time for a train anyway. We took a couple of pictures in Millennium Park before getting kicked out (oops - it was a bit after midnight at this point) and eventually, finally, made it back to the Westin. So. Tired. But what a great show.

CAPH52

My daughter and SIL also missed some of Snow Patrol (who DD actually likes better than U2, probably blasphemous to say!). We'd spent the afternoon with our daughter while SIL slept, having worked the night before, and then had dinner with them. By that time, they were running late so we dropped them at Soldier Field on our way home. I was amazed how many people were still walking towards the concert around 7:15. It's been a long time since I've gone to a conert in a large venue. But is it normal for so many people to arrive late?

You must have found one of the few taxis in town that wouldn't go there 'cause we passed what seemed like miles of them on our way back to the expressway!

Actually, Jen, orange isn't unusual around here either as U of I's colors are orange and navy. What a coincidence that you happened to be sitting by people from Nashville!

Good for you two for keeping your vow to talk to people. Sounds like it was quite enjoyable!

jent103

Not blasphemous at all - I love Snow Patrol as well, and the only reason I was OK with missing part of their set was that I'm seeing them headline at the Ryman next week! (Snow Patrol makes way more sense as an opener than the Black-Eyed Peas, who are doing some of the later shows. Weird.) My friend thought that maybe the one taxi we asked wouldn't take us because we asked him while he was at a red light, already stuck in the wrong lane to get to the venue. But I'm not sure.

I think it's pretty typical for a lot of people to miss a chunk of the opener. When I saw U2 in 2001 there were only a few people in their seats for the opener (I think it was PJ Harvey? - anyway, someone not as well known as Snow Patrol); everyone else who was there already was milling around the concourse at the merch tables or whatever. I think there were actually a lot more people who did show up for Snow Patrol than there would have been for a band less well known or without as many of the same fans as U2.

Orange may not be unusual, but I'm betting bright orange with a giant "TENNESSEE" or Power T logo is. Although actually I saw two or three people with UT shirts over the course of the weekend, so I'm maybe I'm wrong!

jent103

(Part III: The Last)

Monday morning we split up. M wanted to shop some more, and also go to some showrooms at the Merchandise Mart (she works in design). I wanted to go to the Museum of Contemporary Photography and maybe a yarn shop. I grabbed a muffin at Starbucks on my walk down to the MOCP, only to find out that the MOCP was closed so they could install an exhibition (one had just closed over the weekend). Their web site may have mentioned the closing, I'm not sure; I would gently suggest that they perhaps emphasize it a little more beforehand when they will be closed for ten days. Oh, well. I headed back up the street to the Art Institute; I'd only been once, and it was before the modern wing was completed. Every photography gallery I could find in the Art Institute was closed as well (am I bad luck?!), except for Judith Turner's photos of the modern wing itself. But regardless, I really enjoyed the modern wing (and the rest of what I saw). I had been to the Institute once before but don't remember enjoying it as much as I did on this visit. I only wished I had more time! But after an hour and a half or so, I walked over to Polk Street to a great yarn shop there, then took the brown line north to the Merchandise Mart to meet M at Lou Malnati's on N. Wells. Apparently the Merchandise Mart and I do not get along. That was the second time I've been in that building, and the second time that it has taken me forever to find my way out to the street. I was trying to get to Wells but eventually settled for Orleans and walking halfway around the building on the outside, where at least there are street signs. I made it to lunch, only 20 minutes late! M had fortunately already ordered our small pepperoni. Mmm, Lou Malnati's.

After lunch we picked up our bags at the hotel and headed back to Midway. Minor excitement on the L (it is L, right, not "el"?): we were delayed at Roosevelt and told that there was either a "thief on the train" or a "defect on the train" - neither of us could tell which, but the call to make sure we had all our valuables seems to suggest the former. Along with the two policemen we saw through the windows while sitting at Roosevelt. Anyway, the train ran express for a couple of stops, but we made it to Midway with plenty of time to spare before our uneventful flight home.

Thanks for reading, everyone! I hope this gives future Chicago-goers some good ideas about the things we did.

tchoiniere

Glad you had a great trip. Chicago is such a great city. Wish I could have seen U2 on this tour but I knew I had to work this weekend when they were in Foxborough.

JJ5

Great report. You really gave a tone of the speed and opportunity required to see that much of Chicago in that particular time frame, as well.

Lots and lots more. Come back.

jent103

Thanks, JJ5! It was definitely a busy weekend, and we still didn't make everything on The Map. It was my third trip and I'm sure I'll be back!

CAPH52

"it is L, right, not "el"?"

Just asked someone who's worked for both papers. He thinks the Sun-Times uses "L", the Trib uses El. So I guess either is okay!

Great report, as always, Jen!

ElendilPickle

U2, whoop-de-doo...I wanna know what you got at the yarn shop!!

Seriously, I am envious (again). Sounds like a wonderful trip.

Lee Ann