tlf18

so we leave tomorrow!

pretty much ready, click my name to find my 30-hour itinerary thread if you're interested.

looks like sunday weather might be better than monday, tho that's never definite.

i doubt we'll get into town in time to hit the Signature Room at Hancock for sunday brunch. so the signature LOUNGE is one floor above that? if we choose to just hit the lounge for drinks (sunday afternoon at some point), do we need a reservation? i dont think we need to eat there, so i'm hoping we can just roll up there to the bar for a bit without reservations. i just dont want to be locked into a time.

i thought i had other questions, but now i'm drawing a blank. i'll just post them here as i think of them.

tlf18

oh yea, we also need a good suggestion for breakfast monday morning. we're staying at the Ambassador East, so something in that neighborhood would be good.

Citylghts

For breakfast, The Original Pancake House, 22 E Bellevue Pl, about 5 blocks south of your hotel.

You don't need reservations for the lounge at the Signature Room. They serve appetizers and desserts in the lounge for around $10 each.

jlm_mi

I'd seriously doubt if you even can make reservations for a drink at the Signature Lounge, but you definitely don't need them.

For Monday breakfast, go to the Original Pancake House on Bellevue, just east of the State/Rush intersection. Walk south from your hotel on State for 1/4-1/2 mile and turn left on Bellevue. It's 22 E. Bellevue if you want to look it up on google maps. You can see more info at www.originalpancakehouse.com On weekends a very long line can form. Not sure how bad it will be on Monday, but it does move reasonably quickly. They don't take reservations.

tlf18

awesome. looks like a unaminous choice for breakfast monday!

and that's good news about hitting the Signature Lounge instead of the Signature Room restaurant.

we're hoping to get into town around 1230 sunday. hopefully we can check in early, but if not, maybe they'll take our car into the garage.

if we want to hit Giordano's on N.Rush, would we have time for that and still make it to a 3pm achitectural boat tour?
is it feasible to walk down Mag.Mile from our hotel, stop at Giordano's and continue walking to the bridge where the river tour starts? (i guess if we do that, we'd need to keep a quick pace on mag.mile and not really "shop")

seems like we'd be rushed, especially if Giordano's takes a while.

debating which timeslot to get our boat tour tix for. i need to check the weather again, but looks like sunday should be nicer, and 3pm is the latest tour that day.

tlf18

woops. i looked back at my itinerary thread and ended up bumping that, when i meant to put that post in this thread.
sorry for confusion of multiple threads.... and thanks for all the help.

FainaAgain

If you like Italian food imported from Europe, like Nutella, cookies, oils, pastas, check out that small cafe in the Hancock plaza, don't remember the name, but it's easy to find.

And they have slices of all cakes imaginable, and ice-creams too, in case you want a cuppa coffee.

tlf18

thanks for the tip!

as of now, looks like sunday will by sunny 74, and monday cloudy 61.

it would still be okay to do the architectural river tour on a cloudy monday as long as it's not raining, right?

still deciding which day to do which stuff.

jlm_mi

The boat tour on the river should be fine on a cloudy day (actually, probably nicer than a sunny day), but less fine in rain. From the lake, if the clouds are very low, the tops of the tallest buildings may be blocked on a cloudy day.

Deep dish pizza along the lines of giordano's and the others takes a long time to get. It can be 45 minutes easily from the time of ordering (after a possible wait for a seat, etc) just to get the pizza. Then you still have to eat it. I wouldn't put that in such a short time frame.

You should be able to park your car when you arrive whether the room is ready or not, but note that the garage is not actually at the hotel. It's a couple blocks south on State Street, and is independent (not run by the hotel). It's valet, and I believe there is a hotel guest rate. The bellman at the hotel can direct you if you want to stop and let someone out with your bags before parking the car.

tlf18

yea, i realized after posting that we shouldn't try to rush pizza (on n.rush st!) on our way to the boat tour.

perhaps i should just schedule the boat tour for monday afternoon (or first one in the AM monday). that way we can get into town, walk down Mag.Mile, hit giordanos, then walk off the big meal at the Institue and then millenium/grant park.

jlm_mi

Depending on your timing and when you get hungry, there's another Giordano's at 135 E. Lake, which is 2 blocks south of the river and 1 block east of Michigan Ave. If you're going to the Rush Street location, you'd want to go there before walking down Michigan Ave, as it is essentially between your hotel and the north end of Michigan Ave.

tlf18

so the real main drag part of Mich.Ave is south of the river, along Millenium park?

thanks.

jlm_mi

No, the main part of Michigan Ave is between Oak Street and the River. I was mistaken on where the Giordano's on Rush is - I thought it was further north (near where Rush meets State), but it's not. It's actually at Superior Street, which is maybe 1/3 to 1/2 of the way from Oak Street to the River, and a block west of Michigan Ave.

The two Giordano's locations are about 1 mile apart.

tlf18

ah... okay. cool...

so my revised itinerary is likely:

SUN
arrive 1230ish.
walk down michigan, hit giordanos, continue walking down michigan, hit the Institute. walk thru park to fountain and down to Adler to pick up water taxi up to Navy Pier. cab from Pier back up to Ambassador East to shower/change. hit the Signature Lounge for drinks.
we'll probably be pretty full from our late lunch, so sunday eve we might head to a bar to catch the Steelers game (wife's a crazy steeler fan, and me too by marriage). found these "steeler bars" online:
JOE’s, 940 W. Weed St.
Durkin's Bar 810 W Diversey Pkwy
The Dark Horse Tap and Grille 3443 N. Sheffield

durkins and darkhorse look to have decent bar-food options assuming we'll want to eat again later.

MON
breakfast at Original Pancake House, walk/cab to Architectural River tour, walk/cab back to hotel for check out. hit Photography museum and/or other spot. early dinner somewhere (greek town, or something near the Photog musuem, suggestions welcome).
head to midway around 7 for 9pm flight.

patg

Good luck with your trip! Please note that the water taxis are out of service for the year. See
http://www.shorelinesightseeing.com/...sschedules.htm

Think you should check out on Monday before breakfast and stash your things in the car trunk. That way you won't run up against the hotel's late charges if you get delayed. Or, ask for a late check-out time when you first get there - many places will give you an extra couple of hours at no charge.

tlf18

aw, no more water taxi??

thanks for the info pat. so instead of going from the fountain down to Adler to grab a ferry up to Navy Pier, i guess we'll just wander millenium and grant park until we're ready to head back to the hotel.

FainaAgain

The water taxi work in the summer only, I think. Saw those boats docked at the Navy Pier.

jlm_mi

You might enjoy some wandering around in the loop too. Chicago has some great architecture, and much of it is there. There's also the Chicago Cultural Center, Marshall Fields (which will always be Marshall Fields to many, even if they have changed the name to Macy's) - go inside and see the Tiffany ceiling. Carson Pirie Scott (possibly the last chance ever to see this operating as a department store, which it was explicitly designed to be) - the exterior maintenance/upkeep is only recently finished.

Whenever you're tired of walking through the Loop or need to head back to the hotel, hop on the red line el toward Howard and exit at Clark/Division, just a few blocks from the hotel.

tlf18

yes, the "walk of the town" feature on the main Fodors site maps out some cool "outdoor art" and other places to see walking around the loop. might do that if our feet hold up.

thanks for the info on the el.

sweet_polly

One of the best breakfasts I've ever eatem was at Orange in Lincoln Park. Unique and delicious! I hear the lines are long on weekends, but my husband and I scooted right in on a weekday morning a few months ago.

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