We will arrive in Chicago late Wed. 8/9 and leave Sun. 8/13. So, we have three full days to explore. We are staying at the Westin located at 909 N. Michigan Ave.

We are bringing our bicyles (two full size w/ two chasers-they attach to the seat post of the full size bikes). Our plan is to head out to the lakefront trail and just explore. We think we can access the trail via the Oak Street tunnel which should be pretty easy to access from the Westin. At least that's how it appears on the map.

Is this feasible?

Once on the trail we plan to see the Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium, Navy Pier, stop for some beach time with no set agenda.

Any suggestions for the following would be greatly appreciated:

Great places for lunch near the trail? We plan to head both north and south from Oak Street.

Suggestions for best beach with young children? Should we expect to be able to swim???

Recommended attractions at any of the parks along the trail?

Even though we will have kids we still want to enjoy some great quality food. Recommendations for family friendly restuarants in Old Town, Gold Coast or River North areas would be great. We tend to prefer local restuarants rather than national chains.

Should we expect to be able to take two young children to the Hancock building and have a glass of wine while admiring the view??

Thank you in advance for your help. I have silently been relying on the advice of this board for several years.

One of my friends does the bike thing with her husband a couple of times a year. But she stores the bikes on car roof attachment before she goes on to explore Museums etc.

I've never done this, but you do know that being dressed for beach and bicycling isn't always the best for possible restaurant choices in that area, don't you?

Not that there aren't many places to eat, there are. www.metromix.com might help you with distances, reviews, prices etc about family/casual spots. Millenium Park's Grill would work fine, and the kids could run through the water features.

The kids will love Shedd. Make sure you have good chains / lock mechanisms and you may want to locate the Shedd/Field Complex area web pages and see where the bike racks are located and if they will fit there with attachments.

JJ5,

Thanks for the suggestion. We will check with the Museum Campus for bike rack availability.

Yes, we do understand that their are different dress codes requirements depending on the type of restaurant. We figured our lunches would be on the very casual side along the lake.

We will be all shined up with all sand removed for dinner. We expect to eat dinner in the Old Town, Gold Coast, River North areas.

Where do you usually bike? I ask because I think you should be a warned - the bike path is mobbed on weekends. Walkers, skaters, joggers, all at different speeds, are weaving in and out like an traffic in Bangkok. Going north from Oak Street is one of the worst stretches. I would not feel safe with the bike set up you've described.

The southbound stretch is less crowded. You can stop at Olive Park Beach (just north of Navy Pier).

Water temps did an inversion over the last two days with the cool weather churning up frigid water from the lake bottom, but I think it will be back to about 70 degrees soon. Olive Park has shallow water that stays warmer than the rest of the lake. People do more wading than swimming, and the water quality is a little iffy.

patg, that's exactly what I was thinking but didn't know how to phrase it without discouraging them. THANKS!

Yes, if you go toward Olive Park Beach you'll have safer traffic crowds and better swimming conditions as well.

We are accustomed to riding on somewhat busy trails but not anything compared to Bangkok.

Is it reasonable to expect manageable trail traffic if we do our laketrail exploring on Thursday and Friday?

Thanks for the great advice!!

Thursday and Friday are much better days if you are heading north, of course. You don't have to be on the trail for that long - get over to the Lincoln Park Zoo and Notebaert Nature Museum; you can spend all day in the area. The overpass at North Avenue (1600 North) is preferable to the underpass/road exit at Fullerton (2400 North).