Be in Chicago May 15-19 for Oprah taping
 

I'll be attending the back-to-back Oprah taping on May 17. Staying at the Whitehall Hotel. Flying into Midway.

Need advice on:
Restaurants--breakfast, and lunch especially
architectural boat tour, other cool tours like that
How to get to United Center at 6pm and back to hotel @ 11:30 pm
Off-the-beaten-track kinds of things to do,
Buildings with views of town, lake, that locals know and take their friends to
Food downtown that is great and medium price ($40 per person or so)

Also, anyone ever been to an Oprah Show taping? How was it, what would you do differently the next time you went.

I visited Chicago alot when I was a kid (in the 60s) ; my wealthy uncle was into sailboat racing, Won several large races (the Mackinac, or Mackinaw?), lived in Highland Park, so I'm not totally unfamilar to the layout of the area. But I don't know downtown well, and no one I know has been to United Center.

Now, I live in a university town in central Idaho. I don't know anyone, who knows anyone, who has ever been in in the Oprah audience. I still can't believe I have tickets for the 17th!

Thanks in advance, forums are the best.

Breakfast - Get a cab to Lou Mitchell's, Orange or Yolk. You can find them all on the web.

Lunch - It really varies. What type of cuisine?

Not up on the boat tours, but I know there are two good ones.

United Center transportation: You're going to want a cab. Hotel can arrange them and they are easy to get outside the venue after-show.

Off the Beaten Track? Hmmmm...that's tough. Like, what type?

For view of the town, you are going to want the Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) and the John Hancock building.

Great food in Chicago is EVERYWHERE! What type of cuisine?

Regarding your Oprah tix - When did they notify you that you'd won? I haven't heard a thing, which I guess means i didn't win.

Thx.

Years ago when I went to a taping at Harpo Studios, W. Randolph, Oprah's staff was outside arranging for transportation for those attending to get back into downtown Chicago.We wanted to walk back and they wouldn't let us or at east discouraged it.

Walk west of the Whitehall to State Street and walk north to Bistro Zinc, a fun French Bistro. Take a cab to N. Wells Street for many, wonderful choices such as Topo Gigio.

There are literally hundreds of restaurants within a few blocks of the Whitehall. You can search www.chicagoreader.com or www.metromix.com by neighborhood, cuisine or price.

For architecture tours, check caf.architecture.org. The Chicago Architecture Foundation offers several boat, walking, bike and segway tours.

Transit passes would be a wise investment. They allow unlimited rides on all CTA trains and buses for a 24-hour period. A 1-day pass is $5.75 and a 3-day pass is $14. You can purchase either at the news stand in MDW or 3-day passes are available from the vending machine in the rail station.

You can get transit info including a trip planner at www.transitchicago.com. Each bus stop sign has a number at the bottom. If you text "ctabus #" to 41411, you'll get a message saying when the next buses will arrive.

The United Center is across from where Chicago Stadium used to be. It may take a while to get a cab after the taping because of the size of the crowd. The CTA operates an express bus during most UC events. You may want to give them a call or check with the hotel concierge to see if it will operate for the Oprah taping.

UC via public transit from your hotel, walk to Michigan Avenue and catch a southbound Number 144, 145, 147 or 151 bus to Randolph. At Randolph and Michigan, catch the Number 19. (If the Number 19 isn't running, you can take the Number 20 which will run local to UC.) After the show, you can take the Number 20 back to Michigan and catch a cab or transfer if you wish.

For a view, head to the signature lounge at the Hancock Building. It's much closer to your hotel and for the price of the elevator ride to the ovservatory, you can have a drink on the 96th floor.

For events or other activities, check www.explorechicago.org or www.choosechicago.com.