THANK YOU Chicagoans!!!
 

"Chicagoans"----is that what you call yourselves?? :) I took everyone's advice re: Parking the car at Cumberland, taking the Blue Line in, stayed at the Emb. Suites Lakefront (good location), stopped at the Fox and Obel gourmet food store and sampled away!!, ate tapas at Cafe Iberico, took Bus #19 to see Simon and Garfunkel (who were AWESOME btw), Bus #19 back to the hotel with all the other people who attended S&Garfunkel, and it all went off without a hitch!! We may even do Christmas shopping on the Mag Mile this year since it was all so slick! Thanks to everyone. Colette

Colette - You got it right, re "Chicagoans." I thought the parking lots at Cumberland, etc. had a 12-hour limit? Can you expand on how you handled your parking...and was it just one nite? Also...what's the gourmet food store? Have never heard of it. Thanks!

Isn't Fox and Obel the gourmet store that is fairly close to the entrance to Navy Pier? I think I have passed it on the way in.....

I had been meaning to post a thank you also-went to Oprah in September and found free street parking and had a great breakfast at the Wishbone. Went this past weekend and loved Cafe Iberico had breakfast at Tempo. Got our hotels, Tremont and Westin Michigan Av respectively, through Hotwire.
Chicago Fodorites steered me right!
Collette-glad the Cumberland/bus worked out for you.When I saw The Boss there that's what I did.

Glad you enjoyed our city, it is great if I do say so myself! Yes, Fox & Obel is in NOrth Pier, just west of Navy Pier and is a great store with great samples and a good coffee shop for light eats.

Topping - with a repeat question about parking at the Cumberland (or other 'el" parking lots - My iimpression is that they are for 12 hours only - so how does that work to get cheap parking for a downtown hotel stay? Sure hope someone has a useful answer - we love getting cheap Priceline rates downtown...but HATE then having to part with nearly as much for local parking...!

Cumberland is the only "L" stop with long term parking; 10.75 per 24 hours.

http://www.transitchicago.com/maps/park.html

This is the link to park & ride in Chicago
Cumberland is a 40 min train ride to downtown.

Thanks very much! Though I'm a former Chicagoan, I did not know about Cumberland offering 24-hour parking. But does that mean - if one was downtown for more than one nite - another trip out on the el to pay for another 24 hours? Or is it possible to use the lot for long-term (say 2-3 days) and just pay up at the end?

You get a ticket when you go in and pay when you leave. The link says "Longterm parking at Cumberland only" so I believe you can just park and go for as long as you want. I don't know the upper limit on days. You could call CTA and ask. I have only left my car for 1 night at a time. It's 10.75 for the first 24 hours and 10.75 for each additional 24 hours or fraction thereof. You certainly won't find that downtown!