Possibly considering a 3 night stay in Chicago with family, two older female teens, mom/dad -- over the 4th of July. Probably July 2-5th, want to go to a Cubs game, and the girls enjoy shopping is there anything else going on? Fireworks displays? Beaches?, parades? we have visited most of the big museums, have taken an architecture tour but thought there may be other activities that we should try this time.

Also, we will be driving in but hate to pay to park for 4 days downtown when we will probably use public transportation, is there a good place to park cheaply/safely and ride the train/subway into downtown?

That will be during the Taste of Chicago madness if you are into that sort of thing Also, the 3rd is when we do our fireworks, so if the thought of squeezing onto the shore of Lake Michigan with 1.5 million of your friends doesn't make you want to run the other way, then I'd suggest it. It is loud, crowded, and quite frankly a bit of a pain in the butt, however it is also a lot of fun (it is something I grew up doing), but you have to stake out your claim early.

Driving downtown would definately be a bad idea especially during the Taste, and after the fireworks on the 3rd, even riding the subway is a bit rough (one year I couldn't manage to find an open car and ended up walking 2+ miles home).

As far as parking and riding the train into to town goes, that is a great idea, but I'll have to defer to others as to exactly where you can do that.

Do you mean you would be staying outside of downtown and riding in each day? One option might be staying in Evanston and riding the red line in. There is a newish Hilton Garden Inn and the Orrington has just been refurbished, and Evanston has great beaches, and a good parade and fireworks, I believe on the 4th itself, as well as shopping and restaurants. Individual Cubs tickets go on sale February 25 through the website, but will sell out fast. You might need to consider a broker or looking on e-Bay for tickets. As the previous poster noted, the Chicago fireworks are on the 3rd, and also going on in Grant Park will be the mammoth food/drink/entertainment extravaganza known as Taste of Chicago.

I thought 4khansen meant park the car outside of Chicago for 4 days and train in to stay at a hotel in the city, but could be wrong.

If that is what you meant, though, where are you coming from? If you're coming in from the south, for example, it wouldn't make sense for someone to tell you to drive into a northern suburb to leave your car, etc.

We visited Chicago over the 4th weekend last year and had a lot of fun. We did try the Taste one day an it was bit disappointing. Just a place to buy small amounts of overpriced food. But there was some sort of music festival going on in Grant Park at the same time, and we got to see They Might Be Giants in concert. We couldn't stay for it, but Counting Crows was up after them. Check the schedules at 877chicago.com to see if anything like that is happening that weekend this year as well. It was crowded, but a lot of fun!

We chose to watch the fireworks from the Hancock observatory, and that was also a bit disappointing. Without the sound, the fireworks didn't seem like much. It would be more fun to have an outdoor seat somewhere. Last summer Navy Pier also did fireworks every Saturday night. If they continue that this year, it would be the 2nd and that might be fun instead of, or in addition to, the city fireworks. They also had concerts in the beer garden there, but we couldn't squeeze that into our schedule that trip.

If you've never seen Second City you might really enjoy it, and your daughters too. It's aimed at a mature audience, with a somewhat left-leaning political bent and occasional mild sexual content, but for most relatively mature teens it would not be inappropriate at all.

That's all I can think of for the moment. Enjoy the planning!

sounds like it might be better another weekend... ! Since the Taste of Chicago sounds a bit like the Taste of Omaha... only bigger and more choices at high prices. We are coming from the west... so if that helps in finding a good place to drop the car off and find a hotel downtown! We may also choose June 12-15 as another option.

There are many Chicagoans who find the "Taste" to be highly overrated. The lakefront is lined with beaches in Chicago, but I would reccomend a day trip to Northwest Indiana or Southwest Michigan. You'll enjoy a much more tranquil environment, and the water is cleaner. It sounds like your're driving in. You could stay in the suburbs (such as the Schaumburg area) and take Metra into the city. Go to

www.Metrarail.com
also try www.pacebus.com

Pace is the suburban bus system, and I believe they have express service from Schaumburg to Wrigley Field during the summer. Schuamburg is also home to the largest collection of shops in the suburbs, including an Ikea. There's a train station there and plenty of hotels to choose from. It could be a good place for you to stay. In the north suburbs (Glencoe) there's the Chicago Botanic Gardens. You just about head due east from Schaumburg. If you've covered all the main sights, I can reccomend some more offbeat places if I have a better idea what you're interests are.

One reccomendation is to explore Hyde Park (Museum of Science and Industry area). There's a couple of art museums on the University of Chicago Campus, a Frank Lloyd Wright house, the Rockefeller Chapel, some good restaurants and great parks and beaches along the lake front. There's plenty of free parking at the 63rd Street beach, and you can rent bikes at the beach house. For lunch, there's a suprisingly good park district restaurant overlooking the harbor.

Also, you mention dropping off the car and finding a hotel downtown, but I don't know of any Metra lots that allow overnight parking. So you'll either have to stay in the suburbs or take the car into the city.

You can park at the Millenium Park garage for relatively cheap (in city terms). It's $15.25 for each 24 hour period (actually, anything between 12 and 24 hours, more like $12 for under 12 hours). So for a 3 day weekend you'd be looking at $45-$60 to park your car there. You'd probably bay about $40 (just a guess) for round-trip train fare on the metra for 4 people, or around $15 if you can get an el train from somewhere. It might be worth just parking in the city and paying a bit extra. If you stay in the Loop area, that garage is quite convenient. It's just a couple of blocks from the Hyatt Regency on Wacker, and not far from the Palmer House either.

Thanks for all the information

Your teens would probably prefer the Taste - it is people watching at its best. It can be pricey if you have low willpower, but it is a badge of honor to have attended and survived. Popular bands give the teens bragging rights with friends back home.
We lucked out several years and watched the fireworks from some of the bridges. Crowded but worth it for the memories.