Hi, I was hoping for some help with travel to Chicago. My husband and I are traveling there for a long-ish weekend (Sept. 15th to 18th) to celebrate our first wedding anniversary. Neither of us has been there before, so we're pretty much at a loss as to where to begin. We're huge baseball fans, and managed to get tickets to a Cubs game on that Saturday. We're also going to do the Architectural River Tour -- would you recommend that we buy our tickets in advance?

Any suggestions for "must sees" or "must dos" are greatly appreciated. We're not big shoppers. Also, any suggestions for places (or even locations) to stay would be wonderful.

Thanks in advance!

i did a trip similar to this last summer - not a huge cubby fan, but loved wrigley field......and the surrounding area. try eating at harry carry's downtown since you are baseball fans -- i liked staying on the "miracle mile" you can take the subway just about anywhere. i also liked... spending a little time at navy pier, having a beer at the top of the Hancock(Signature Lounge), Frank Lloyd Wright Tour. Surf the net a bit and you will find all kinds of cool stuff to do. oh, and i did not buy tix in advance for the river tour and had no problem getting on - don't know if i was lucky, or if it is always this way.

First, yes to purchasing your tickets in advance for the Architectual River Tour.

As for everything else, there are so many posts about Chicago that will answer just about any question anybody can have. No use rehashing.

There is a "search" box at the top of the page. Just plug in Chicago and go. When you have narrowed things down, come back for specifics.

Chicago is a great, great city.

Curious

Agree with Curious. I'm leaving tomorrow and came here and did a search of Chicago posts and got a WEALTH of info. Then I came here and posted more specific questions after getting an idea of what I wanted to do.

BTW the King Tut Exhibit will still be at the Field Museum then. If this is something that you are interested in doing, you will want to get your tickets online. You'll have a better chance of getting the day/time you want, the sooner you buy the tickets. I waited until a week before and was only able to get one particular time on one particular day.

A lot of people who have never been to Chicago before tend to stay either in the N. Michigan Avenue/River North areas or the Loop; however, there is a lot to be said for staying in one of the neighborhoods. You might want to check availability at the Flemish House (a B&B in the Gold Coast) or Hotel Indigo - or if you wanted to stay in the Loop, Hotel Burnham is a really nice location, very convenient to the Art Institute, Millennium Park, Grant Park, the official Theatre District, shopping on State Street, the major busses going to the museums as well as all of the El lines--including the Red Line which takes you to the Addison stop right beside Wrigley Field.

The Celtic Festival is happening that weekend - which would be a really nice thing to do before your Cubs game on Saturday. You just then need to walk back to State Street from Grant Park and pick up the Red Line (which is a subway there). If you do go to the Celtic Festival, get there as soon as it opens as you don't want to miss the Bagpipe Parade or the Bagpipe Circle; also the young musicians always pull a big crowd. I don't think you'll be able to see the Trinity School of Irish Dance performers because of game time; but do stop off at the dance stage before you leave and see some of the other performers.

Also, usually some of the performers go to Kitty O'Shea's (in the Hilton on S. Michigan) and perform sets after the festival closes each evening.

Inasfar as other "must dos": the Art Institute; Buckingham Fountain (one of the largest in the world) with music/light shows at night on the hour until 11pm--it also happens to sit very close to the start of historic Route 66; see the city skyline from the lake - even if it is only the harbor taxi which travels between Museum Campus (where the Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium and Adler Planetarium are located) and Navy Pier.

Dining: if it's in your budget, have dinner at North Pond, which is located in Lincoln Park on the north end of the lagoon. Lovely setting, wonderful cuisine - pricey but romantic. And what else would you want for your 1st anniversary? You can take a horse-drawn carriage ride to or back through Lincoln Park as well.

Have fun when you are here!