Coming back to Chicago Aug.11-14 and staying at the Chicago Sheraton Hotel Tower on North Water St. We want to take public transit from O'Hare when we arrive. Can anyone tell me if there's an El stop nearby. Would also appreciate feedback on the hotel (although I got it on Priceline so we're stuck with it), and any special events taking place that week. We came to Chicago in July and attended the Taste of Chicago which was great. Any other festivals in August? We saw Second City Romeo & Juliet in July and loved it. Hoping to catch 500 Clown Macbeth this time--has anyone seen it yet--is it worthwhile? Any other shows worth catching?

Hey Chicgal, we just had to come back. There was so much we didn't get to do last time. I just checked the Sheraton website and the hotel looks pretty impressive. I like that it's near the river. Last time we were at the Omni Ambassador East which was a little too far north (but easy access to the Red Line). My husband's a big fan of the CTA (won't use public transit at home though!) but I'll definitely check into the airport shuttle. We loved the Corner Cafe last time and had breakfast there every morning. Do you know if there's anything like that near the Sheraton? I'm thinking we'd like to try Berghoff's and Heaven on Seven if they are close by too. We don't like to mortgage the house in order to buy dinner. We like all types of food but don't go the expensive, upscale route. My husband hates dressing for dinner and cringes at $25 entrees. We did PJ Clarke's, Bistro Zinc and Walnut Room last time (all good). Any suggestions on Italian, seafood or Chinese near the Sheraton would be welcome this time. I heard about a place called Wildfire (I think). Is it close enough to walk? It sounded pretty good.

Wildfire will be a long walk, around 15 minutes. I've heard great things about it if you like steaks and the such. Another good option would be the Grand Lux Cafe. It is an upscale version of the Cheesecake factory. I was really impressed with this restaurant the first time we tried it. Entrees are in the 10-20 dollar range.

For theater I would highly recommend 2nd City's Romeo and Juliet. It's at Navy Pier at the Shakespeare Theater and is a fantastic and hilarious production.

oops did'nt read your post closely enough, glad you like the performance!

Thanks, bri19sp, Grand Lux sounds good. We've eaten at Cheesecake Factory and liked it. We may not get to Wildfire but I'm sure there's lots of other good places. Chicago seems to have a lot of great restaurants. I hear you have some great pizza places so we're going to try to do pizza one night.

Were going to be in Chicago also on those dates. I got room at Omni Ambassador East through Priceline. I do think it is alot farther North than what we wanted but you say the red line is right there. Is the red line buses or trolleys??
We plan on doing the architectural river tour and I like your suggestion on Second Cty. Do I need to get tickets ahead??

The read line is neother - it's the subway/El.

Some years back, the city renamed all their subway lines into colors to make it easier.

Check out the great map on http://www.transitchicago.com/

jump the paying entrance line for the john hancock and have a drink in their bar. i prefer to pay for that than the entrance fee.
great views of course day and night.
check out the bathroom if you are not afraid of heights.

i believe it is called the chicago cultural center, where all the free maps are, and great information people, café, and free music most noon-times.
also has a senior center incorporated in it and several floors, some holding art exhibits.
on corner of michigan and ???

go to marshall fields, i love the OLD store, an historic landmark... .. and go to visitors center upstairs and get your free book of discounts, free cheeesecake with lunch, coffee for later in day, and free gift from one of teh perfumiers.

the food is nice and correct atmosphere.. calm and pleasant . nice views from some of the windows, but this is not a skyscraper.

(must show out of city drivers license or ID for booklet)
also let's people keep small luggage there during shopping.(atleast they did the day i was there).

the restaurant at the art institute was very very nice.

you must ask but i believe if you take the "el" your train ticket gives you one free transfer onto a bus downtown.

dont miss oak park if you like frank lloyd wright.
take the harlem "el" and get off at end of line and take walking tour.nice restaurants in area. you can then pick the el up one stop closer to downtown and not back track all the way if you prepare your walk with a map and see THAT part of oak park.

Ronpal: The Red Line is indeed the subway and just a short walk from the Omni Ambassador East. If you walk a couple blocks the other way, toward the lakeshore, there are all kinds of buses to take you downtown. There are tons of nice restaurants close by on Rush Street. The hotel is a little off the beaten path but our room was very nice, area is very quiet. We bought our tickets for Second City Romeo & Juliet ahead of time over the internet. The architectural river tour we just walked up and bought tickets for the next tour without any problem. We also got tickets for Bleacher Bums at the Hot Tix booth. My husband really enjoyed it but I'm not much of one for baseball.

Chicgal: We plan on going to Lincoln Park for the zoo. Didn't have time for that last time. And the Field Museum and Millennium Park--I heard the restaurant there is quite good. We're thinking of trying to squeeze in another show, maybe "You Can't Take it With You" at the Athenaeum Theatre (not sure where that is but we didn't have any trouble finding our way around last time--people were very helpful at giving directions). I saw it on the Hot Tix list yesterday. We would probably have dinner near the theatre before the show. My husband loves buffets but he doesn't drink (in AA) so the bar buffet wouldn't work for us.
lincasanova: Thanks for the tip about Marshall Field's. We went there last trip and ate at the Walnut Room. But we didn't know about the discount coupons, etc. We'll know to do that this time.

Lori:
Wanted to answer your question about the 500 Clown Macbeth--it's fantabulous! We went a couple of years ago (it was playing at a tiny theater near our house) and had no idea what to expect--were BLOWN AWAY. It's easily on the the funniest things I've ever seen.

They do try to make people feel uncomfortable, though, so it's not for the faint of heart. Of people sensitive to loud noises.

We sat in the front row--may have been a mistake, as my friend received a lap dance from a man in a kilt...

YMMV,
Racy

Thanks, Racy, for a first-hand account of 500 Clown Macbeth. I read a bit about it on the metromix website. Sounds like a hoot! But I think I'll try to avoid the first row!! My husband's going to kill me when he sees what I've dragged him to this time.

Hello Chicgal!
Any suggestions/recommendations on a lake cruise w/o dinner (therefore a day cruise)? This may be a foolish questions, but what exactly do you see during a lake cruise and does it differ from the architectual river cruise? As always, thanks for being so helpful

Thanks for all the advice, Chicgal. If we get to the Athenaeum Theatre this trip, we will try the pizza place. We love pizza. Had great pizza in a little hole-in-the-wall place in Greenwich Village, NY last year. Had bizarre (and expensive)yuppy pizza in San Francisco also last year (some kind of weird healthy thin crust thing). Lincoln Park Zoo is tops on our list so we'll probably get there this time (along with Field Museum), but our dance card is filling up quickly with things we want to do.