My sister and I are taking Mom (a young 81) and our aunt (a young 71) to Chicago for the day. Taking the train in as they have never traveled on a train. We are open to any suggestions for things to see and do. They both like to shop at unique stores and cook. I heard about the culinary school restaurant. Has anyone been there? Thanks for your suggestions!!

You can't go wrong with a trip to Navy Pier on Lake Michigan for sight seeing. The pier offers different shops and varieties of entertainment. Another wonderful way to kill an hour or two is to take a architectural boat cruise along the Chicago river. This guided boat ride offers great views of our Windy City's beautiful skyline. Also there are some great museums on the Lake like Field Museum, Museum of Science and Industry, and the Adler Planetarium. Your "youthful" mom and aunt also might want to consider taking in a show in the theatre district. Currently, the musical "Wicked" is playing in Chicago and it is highly recommended. I took my wife there last year and she still talks about it to this day. For dinner, the only culinary school I am aware of is Kendall College Culinary School north of the city in Evanston. Enjoy your time in Chicago.

Kendall College moved to the Goose Island area (near northwest) a few years ago. There is another cooking school with a restaurant in the Loop; maybe someone will chime in with the name (CHIC?)

If you are going to several sites, take a look at Shoreline cruises website; they have commuter boats that will take you around the city, and are fun to ride. Or, take the Architecture Foundation's river boat tour; your relatives will probably enjoy hearing about the history and buildings.

Spikeit, first, before my suggestions, are you taking Amtrak in - or Metra? Amtrak often has delayed arrivals so I would leave the schedule open, if that is your choice of transport.

Next, when are you coming in? Is it going to be within the next couple of weeks? And what day of the week? You'll see why I am asking in a minute...

Re: your question on the culinary school restaurant. You could mean the Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago (CHIC), which is affiliated with Le Cordon Bleu, and is located on W. Chestnut - or the Dining Room at Kendall College mentioned above. I've been to both but it's been so long now (over a year for both, close to two years with one) that I wouldn't want to give a review for either. Suffice it to say, though, that since these are students in training, you could get anything from excellent to not good, depending on the circumstances. For what it means, though, my experiences were good to very good.

Next, my suggestions:

You might wish to look at The Chopping Block's calendar. They have a location at the Merchandise Mart, as well as the one in Lincoln Square.

Take a look at the City of Chicago's website and on the very first page, you will see a hyperlink titled "World Kitchen". Take a look at those offered, maybe the dates will jive with your schedule.

If you are coming in the next couple of weeks on either a Wednesday or Saturday morning (with an early arrival), you might wish to go to the Chicago Green City Market. They have cooking demonstrations by chefs of some of the city's better (and best) restaurants. This is located at the south end of Lincoln Park, very close to the Chicago History Museum, in case you wanted to stop in. The calendar of cooking demonstrations is shown there as well.

You might also be interested in The Spice House, which is located in Old Town. Take a look at their website for information on their wares.

I think that your group would be interested in Fox and Obel Gourmet Market. They also have a cafe which serves pretty good fare - inexpensive.

However, for my money, the best grocery store in town for specialty items is Treasure Island. I live in Lakeview and the one there has a great selection of international items (processed foods, spices, cookies, candies, teas) - at reasonable prices. Cannot comment on the selection at the others as I don't usually go to that section in them. However, there are several locations around town. Caveat: Several years ago, when I turned "a certain age" (spare me from mentioning which), I found that the best selection of exotic fruits and vegetables were found at the Dominick's which used to be located in Lincoln Park - however, a fire totally destroyed that location a couple of years ago. Cannot comment on the other locations.

And, IMHO, the best place in the city to get specialty coffees is Intelligentsia. If you look at their website, you'll see the availability of the different types. Caveat: The Coffee and Tea Market in Lakeview has a very nice selection as well. I'm not a tea drinker but a friend says that Argo Tea is very good.

Continued next post...

As I mentioned before, I live in Lakeview. So, if you wanted to take the trek up here, it's very easy to do. Just take the #146 or #145 NB CTA bus from any stop on N. Michigan. It's a local until Walton on N. Michigan Avenue and then runs express along Lake Michigan until Belmont.

You'd want to get off at the Hawthorne Place stop (3 stops north of Belmont - announced on the bus verbally and on the marquee so you cannot miss it). Walk one L-O-N-G, very lovely block west to N. Broadway - this is a historic area of Chicago, by the way. The Treasure Island I mentioned would be immediately to your right across the street. The Coffee and Tea Market is south on N. Broadway about 3 blocks, east side of street.

There are several very nice home decor stores in this area as well - special mention for Equinox at Roscoe & Broadway, 1 block south of Hawthorne Place. Across the street from the Coffee and Tea Market is a very nice place to get candy, ice cream, etc.

The original location of Intelligentsia is a couple of blocks south of Belmont. Argo Tea is just south of it on N. Broadway as well.

Hope this information helps a bit!

I love you guys! Thanks for the great suggestions. We are planning our trip for Wednesday, September 5th and will be taking the blue line from the Cumberland park and ride.

Wednesday, September 5, 10:30 a.m. cooking demonstration at the Chicago Green City Market: Malika Ameen & Mohammad Islam of Aigre Doux.

The Green City Market is just south of the Lincoln Park Zoo and the Lincoln Park Conservatory - both are free every day and the gardens there are very nice to stroll through (as well as Grandma's Garden right across the street).

If you'd like to come up to Lakeview from there, you can just pick up the #151 NB CTA bus. With the exception of the bus that shows Belmont as the final terminus, all #151s also stop at Hawthorne Place. Since you are from the Chicagoland area, I'm sure you probably know this is the Boystown neighborhood of Chicago. But this area is a good mixture of all ages (including those of your Mom and Aunt) and races, families with children, young professionals as well as sexual orientation.

By the way, I just remembered another place in Lakeview, in which you might be interested. Pastoral: Artisan, Bread, Wine and Cheese is also on N. Broadway, very close to Intelligentsia.

And, if you were looking for a great place for a nice lunch (although this place is pricey), North Pond in Lincoln Park. 4 blocks north of the Lincoln Park Conservatory - very nice walk along the path between the Nature Museum and the lagoon. Take a look at their website for menus and prices.

I thought that I should post the walking distance between all of these stores in Lakeview.

Hawthorne Place intersects with 3450 N. Broadway and the Treasure Island store is immediately north of that. The southern most store I've mentioned (Pastoral: Artisan Cheese, Wine and Bread) is located at 2945 N. Broadway. So you are looking at 5 blocks or 1 block more than 1/2 mile in distance.

The #36 Broadway bus often travels this area and cabs are plentiful.