I will be flying in to Chicago to enjoy the St. Patricks Day parade and all of the events surrounding that weekend. I would love some suggestions on suitable hotels and sights I should see.
Thank you,
Gladys (Tampa, FL)

They have two parades. Which one?

Hi X,
I believe its on Sat. March 15th at noon. I think the St. Patrick's Day Parade start up location is at Balbo and Columbus. I hope that helps... I had no idea there were two parades. Thank you for any help you can give.
Gladys

Stay downtown near Michigan Avenue if you want to be within walking distance to shopping and dining. You can take the EL to just about anyplace. I like the Hyatt at the Watertower and The Drake Hotel.

Both the Renaissance and the Burnham are on, or very near, the parade route. Do a search on chicago and you will find many suggestions for popular tourist activities; I might add that the Cultural Center (Michigan and Randolph) has free concerts almost every day, and check out the Hottix booth (hottix.org) for half-price theatre tickets.
One warning: St. Patrick's day in invariably cold and rainy here. Prepare to stand outside in temps as low as 35 degrees.

Thanks to both X and Patg for your suggestions. I may seem strange but since I live in Florida and don't really get experience winter, I am actually looking forward to cold weather.
Gladys

Make sure and find out what time they're turning the Chicago River green!!! What a hoot! We watched them do this from a bridge last year. Men driving around in speed boats dumping some sort of chemical in the water that instantly turned it neon green. Takes place right before the parade starts.

It's a biodegradable dye that is used to turn the river green ("chemical" sounds a little harsh).

At any rate, it looks cool:

http://www.msystems.com/mcohen/images/chicago-green.jpg

Hello,
Nothing like St Patrick's Day. I would suggest you check out the South Side parade as well. Many bars etc have shuttles from downtown.
Have a blast!

Check out the South Side parade too! But, get there early.....lot of fun!

Cork and Kerry`s

The downtown parade and the southside parade are usually on 2 different weekends.

The South Side parade is ALWAYS on a Sunday....not nearly as much fun since the cops clamped down on the drinking...
Oh, and the temps for St. Paddy's can be anywhere from the 60's to the 30's. (The 60's are rare, though.)