It's a long trip, Amsterdam to Chicago, but we're looking forward to a 4 day weekend visit to Chicago. I just noticed on the events calendar (don't know why we didn't notice it sooner) that the Chicago Air and Water show will take place this weekend. I imagine there will be huge crowds at Navy Pier. Anyplace we should avoid if we don't want to get caught up in the masses?

Are there any special free concerts or street fairs in Chicago this weekend? We've already booked the Architectural River Cruise, bus tour and Mystic Dinner cruise with fireworks (yes, touristy, but that's what we'll be!).

Won't even mention that we're flying Northwest and face the looming possibility of a strike......we're still looking forward to it!

Thanks for any tips for the coming visit.

if you like theater, many of the same broadway shows are now in chicago.

Air and Water Show can be crazy, but if you're not driving around downtown nothing will be too terrible. Anything downtown near the lake will be crowded, probably do Millenium Park/Buckingham fountain on Friday or Monday if you have four days.

For festivals and stuff, check out the Chicago Tribune's online entertainment guide,
www.metromix.com

The entire lakefront will be packed but don't sweat it. We were on Mi. Ave. last weekend and it was wall to wall people-that's summer in Chicago, but the weather is supposed to be great, maybe some rain early Sat. Here's the direct link to this weekends events...
http://metromix.chicagotribune.com/e...0836.htmlstory

Have a great trip!