jent103

I'll be going to Chicago with a friend the weekend of September 12. Our flight lands around 9:30am Saturday, so we'll have a lot of Saturday, all of Sunday, and most of Monday to sightsee (we'll need to leave downtown around 3 or 3:30pm). The main purpose of our trip is to see U2 at Soldier Field on Sunday night, but otherwise we're pretty open. We're staying at the Westin River North.

We've both been to Chicago a few times, but have really only done the "first-timer" things - shopping on State Street and Michigan Avenue, the Art Institute, Millennium Park, Wrigley Field, that sort of thing. We've both done the CAF architecture cruise and really liked it. I've been to Second City and my friend isn't super interested in it; same for the Field, I think. We're both interested in music, though jazz isn't either of our favorites. I'm interested in history, architecture and photography. She's mentioned a tour of Frank Lloyd Wright homes.

Things I've thought about are the Museum of Contemporary Photography, MOSI (I'm iffy on that), Bobby's Bike Hike (this was met with "hmm..." from my friend - has anyone here taken them?), and maybe seeing the Lincoln Park area or another neighborhood, and/or one of the beaches. I looked at things like the Segway tours, but we ended up spending more on the hotel than we planned, and I don't really want to drop $50-$75 on a tour. Any thoughts on any of those? Anything else you'd suggest for someone looking to see a bit more than Michigan Avenue? I think we do plan to go to the Celtic Fest for a bit. I saw on Metromix that there's a musical version of High Fidelity - has anyone seen it? We both love the movie but I'd love to hear reviews before we start looking for tickets or anything.

Thanks so much for your thoughts!

jent103

Forgot to add, in case it helps: we're women, ages 28 and 31, not into clubbing. And restaurant suggestions would be great as well - probably a max of $15-$20 for an entree.

LindainOhio

1. Why don't you try to Priceline your hotel. Look at www.biddingfortravel.com for tips. You can always cancel your existing reservation.
I have never had a bad 4*hotel in Chicago and never paid more that $90/nt--and that includes taxes that are terrible in Chicago.
2. Don't miss Gaelic Storm on Sunday night at the Celtic Festival--they are great. My daughter is your age and we both enjoy them. Leahy is there on Sat. night--just heard them for the first time. They are good too. But we love Gaelic Storm (Bag that idea--forgot about the U2 concert)

3. My daughter and I love renting bikes and riding up the bike path along the lake. We walk it too.

4. We got decent seats for Jersey Boys with same day tickets. They have rush tickets they sell at the box office at 10:00 and special $25 tickets. Very odd seating in that theater. If you sit above Row C in the dress circle you won't be able to see the top half of the stage--everyone moves down at intermission. You don't miss a whole lot--there is a screen and some walk ins you can only partially see. We sat in Row D and then moved to the front seats at intermission.

jent103

LindainOhio - thanks! We actually already Hotwired our hotel. I've gotten good deals with Hotwire in Chicago before and we did try Priceline, but apparently there is a LOT going on in town that weekend, so we feel like we got a decent deal given the circumstances and how late we waited (in hopes that the prices would go down!).

Thanks for the suggestions! I'll see how my friend feels about Jersey Boys - that could be a fun option for us. I think the bike path sounds great as well - I'd really like to see the lakefront. Do you rent the bikes at Millennium Park?

notbob

The Westin River North is one of my favorite hotels in Chicago. You'll enjoy it I'm sure.

You are on the river between Dearborn and Clark. There are a couple of blues clubs over on Clark walking away from the river. Blue Chicago is one of them. CLose to the hotel.

http://www.bluechicago.com/

Also close and on Clark is Chef Rick Bayless' operations, Topolobampo and Frontera Grill for wonderful Mexican food.

http://www.rickbayless.com/restaurants/

jent103

notbob - thanks for the suggestions! For some reason I had thought that Frontera and Topolobampo were further north, close to Second City. That could be a good lunch option for us one day for sure - I'd love to try one.

Judy24

If you're looking for something beyond Michigan Ave, you might want to consider spending a half day in the Hyde Park area. You can get there easily via the underground L. You'd be able to explore the campus of the U of Chicago, check out the home neighborhood of our current president, and take a tour of Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House.

gumbo999

I don't think that I would recommend Hyde Park to two females. Sorry, but its a bit too far south.

Gina817

If you like history, I'll quickly add the suggestion of the Chicago History Museum. Sure, it's local history, but you learn so much more - culture of the area, how things have changed, etc. It is very small and manageable. It's in the Lincoln Park area, close to Old Town. There are a lot of restaurants in the area as well as shops.

bachslunch

Am thinking that Hyde Park during the day would be all right for a visit by two women, though I wouldn't stray more than a couple blocks off of 57th street to the north or south or any further west on 57th than Cottage Grove Ave., nor would I be there at night. I don't remember the El or subway going to this area from downtown, though -- seems to me one would take either the Metra Electric commuter train to 55th/56th/57th Street or a CTA bus -- am thinking the former is a better option. There's about a day's worth of attractions to see in this area, including the Museum of Science and Industry, Robie House (a classic Frank Lloyd Wright home, though its tour hours are limited -- check their website -- and reservations ahead are a very wise idea), and various attractions allied with the University of Chicago (including the Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, Oriental Institute Museum, and Smart Museum of Art).

Whether one enjoys a visit to either the Institute of Contemporary Art or Museum of Contemporary Photography will likely depend on how much you like their temporary exhibit(s) at the time. The latter doesn't have a permanent collection, while the former is likely to have little to none of theirs on display (there was almost nothing from their permanent collection when I went there, and I was very sorely disappointed with my visit).

One small off-the-wall museum I liked a lot was Intuit: the Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art. They have a nice collection of this kind of work as well as an affecting reconstruction of Henry Darger's one room residence/studio, including many of his personal effects. I also very much enjoyed the Stained Glass Museum at Navy Pier.

If you like Wright's architecture, you might seriously consider going out to Oak Park to see Wright's House and Studio as well as Unity Temple (both of which can be toured, and again a pre-arranged reservation for a tour at the former is prudent). There are a few Wright-designed houses located in this area as well as a number of attractive Victorian homes in various styles, though none of these are open to the public. Oak Park can be reached via El on the Green Line.

There are a ton of attractions in Chicago, including world-class art museums and architecture. A board search is recommended.

jent103

Thanks, everyone! bachslunch, I have read several trip reports and a lot of posts on the boards about Chicago, but many cover things that we've already done, and lots of other things are only mentioned in passing, so it's great to get more information on things like the Museum of Contemporary Photography. Plus I find that when posters mention what you're interested in specifically, I'm likely to give more specific suggestions as to what they would enjoy. Gina817, thanks for the Chicago History Museum suggestion! I took a quick glance at the web site and it does look interesting - I'll check it out more thoroughly when I have a little more time.

Thanks to everyone for the Hyde Park information. The two of us are pretty used to large cities (we live in a decent-sized one and both have spent time in several other large ones), and I know that some people feel the Hyde Park area is close to some not necessarily safe parts of town. If we decide to go to MOSI or the Robie House we'll be aware, of course, but it sounds like as long as we have a good idea of where we are and where we're going, we'd probably be OK (and wouldn't be there at night).