Azzure - yes, I meant Giordano's. Ghiradelli's is the chocolate place across from Water Tower. They have amazing shakes, but no pizza!

Hi looking over this advice, I am close to posting my final itiniary (in a seperate post), but one thing occured to me,

Has anyone ever taken the Orange Line (Midway) to their hotel? Is it inconvenient? In other words, would I be better off getting a shuttle? I'm probably going to arrive with at least 3-4 bags and the thought of dragging them to the train and hiking to the hotel doesnt sound fun. But my thought is, that it should be cheaper and perhaps quicker I think in the long run that sitting in traffic on a shuttle bus. Any thoughts?

I just took my first trip to Chicago and the highlight was the architectural walking tour of the north Loop area from the Chicago Architectural Foundation. If you do a river cruise stick to them--we did one from another company (they all SAY "architectural cruises") that got good reviews online, but it was really annoying, with just basic, scripted info. Millenium Park and a Cubs game were my other highlights.

I was there 5 days and really wished I'd gotten out to explore some interesting neighborhoods, like Wrigelyville or Bucktown/Wicker Park. The tourist/shopping crowds of the Mag Mile where we stayed, plus all the chain stores and restaurants there (oh and the meat market bars), really got to me. Next time.

My favorite meal was at Frontera, which you could walk to from your hotel. They have a bar so eating solo wouldn't be hard, except that it is extremely popular, so it might be hard to get a spot.

I took the orange line to downtown and then hopped in a cab for the final leg. You do have to walk a bit inside the airport to get to the train, but it wasn't bad. If you can carry all of your luggage by yourself, then I would just take the train. It is fast and cheap. It was Sunday when I arrived and I could have transferred to another train downtown, but they don't run much on Sunday and I just wanted to get there. The cab ride was like $5 so it was no big deal.

I think dragging 3-4 bags to the El would be a pain -- it's a pretty long walk.

majestik101, what time of day you arrive at Midway will make a big difference in whether or not to take the El. Personally, if I had more than 2 bags, I wouldn't do it.

When you're Wrigley, be prepared for crowds. And I do mean crowds. Any bar around there is going to be full of over-served, obnoxious people, especially Murphy's (whose food, BTW, isn't that good). But, if that's your thing, enjoy. Do try Haray Caray's at Addison & Sheffield. It's an off-shoot of the sit down restuarant on State & Hubbard (which I hear is very good).

For Mexican, I like Las Mananitas, about 3500 N. Halstead (a few block east of Wrigley) Great margaritas. Also, Firefly and Yoshi's, both on Halstead. All 3 of these places are located in Boystown. And yes, Boystown is exactly what it sound like, but they can cook their butts off!

I'm not a big hot dog or beef sandwich fan, so I can't help you there. I do like pizza. I don't like of Pizzaria Uno or Due (2 restaurants owned by same people, a block apart). When you order sausage pizza, the put a slab of it on your pizza. Yuck! Giordanos is ok. Gino's is better...I like the cornmeal crust. The pizza in Water Tower food court is ok for a quick meal, nothing more.

The Lincoln Park area has a ton of great places to eat and so does the Damen/Milwaukee/North Ave area (although that's quite a hike from where you're staying). Check out some of the restuarants bounded by Ontario (north), the river (south), Clark (west) & Wabash (east). Walk around there and choose one. If you are a fan of Rick Bayless, Frontera Grill and Topolobampo are in that area.

Wildfire (159 E. Erie) is another of my favorites. Great wine selection and martinis. Check out YELP for more suggestions.

The museum campus has 3 great places to check out, the Adler Planetaruim, Shedd Aquarium and Field Museum of Natural History (which has a pirate exhibit going on right now). The Chicago Historical Society (Clark and North) is really interesting.

Go Sox!

Great advice. Thanks everyone!

Christy 1: Was it Wendella that you took? I was looking to take them only because they don't charge the exorbiant fees that going through Ticketmaster for Chicago Architecture River Tours does. If they arent that good, I may consider pony-ing up the add'l fees for the alternate company

Kelliebellie/sf307: The "fortunate" thing is that I'll be arriving on a weekday (Tuesday, the day after labor day) so I don't expect it will be as bonkers as arriving on a weekend. I may be proacctive and limit myself to only bringing 2 suitcases plus a bag to wrap around my shoulder to make things easier

Blacknight: Great advice. For someone who hasnt been to Chicago before, I appreciate the input. To answer your questions, I am arriving at Midway around 1pm. I don't know if this is better, but like I said earlier, I don't expect the crowd at the airport/subway to be out of control. Being an LA guy, rush hour traffice/crowds is nothing new to me.

In regards to Wrigley. I expect the crowds may be manageable, the restaurant I am definately hitting is Super Dougs I have been told to get there early (game starts at 1:20) so I should be fine. There are a few places after the game I want to check out and Harry Careys. Not interested in Mexican Food, I like it, but I'm from California, practically everywhere here serves Mexican food, so I will try to avoid that for now, though I do appreciate the review.

I am on the fence about what museums to go to, The Art museum definatley is on my itiniery, I am not a fan of Art per se' but everyone says it is a Must. Adler and Shedd I'll be skipping. The only other one that has piqued my interest is Field Museum. Other than those two, I think I will play this by ear when I get there.

Great advice so far. However, I'm surprised that there hasn't yet been a mention of Second City. A true Chicago landmark and a must-see along with the CAF cruise, Milenium Park, top of the Hancock, the Art Institute, Wrigley Field, the Magnificent Mile and a bike ride along the Lake. Getting those done in three days is a doable stretch.

Have Fun,

Kevin

Hi ChiDad/Kevin

What is Second City?

The Second City is sketch comedy and improv with nightly shows on the near North side. Alumni include John Belushi, Dan Ackroyd, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, John Candy, Chris Farley, Tina Fey, Stephen Colbert, etc...........

Check out www.secondcity.com

Enjoy,

Kevin

I keep forgetting to mention the Blues scene. Kingston Mines is legendary, but a bit of a hike from downtown. One of my favorite downtown places is Blue Chicago.

http://www.bluechicago.com/

And everything that is happening in the whole city can be found in the Reader. These are free newspapers you can pick up around town, or you can access it on-line. And Zagat's does Chicago for restaurant guides as does the Reader.

http://www.chicagoreader.com

http://www.zagat.com/chicago

"Not interested in Mexican Food, I like it, but I'm from California, practically everywhere here serves Mexican food, so I will try to avoid that for now, though I do appreciate the review."

Hahaha, then you're just in time for the Mexican Independence Parade, Sept 12 @ 11am. It starts at Columbus & Balbo and heads north to Monroe. I think your hotel is a few blocks south, but my advice to you is get up and out of there early!

Dont' forget to check out Andy's Jazz Club on Hubbard and State.

LOL I will be leaving that morning, flight leaves at 1pm...

How far in advance do Second City tickets go on sale? It looks like they only sell 2 months in advance on their website.