Thanks to your rapid response, I was able to get tickets to see Wicked next month during my short conference-related visit to this exciting city (which I've never gotten to visit before).

I will have a Saturday morning until 1 pm and Sunday morning until the above production at 2 pm to walk around the city. I don't care much about shopping or sports, but would like to walk around and enjoy as much of the city as possible. Any suggestions? Any fun places to eat close to Ford Theater?

I'll be coming from the Wyndham O'Hare. What will be my best source of transportation into the city?

Thank you so much for your input.

OOPS! One more question...

Is there much chance of heading down to the Second City Theater right before the 8 pm performance Saturday and securing tickets? (I'm going to try to sneak out of my conference but can't be sure I'll succeed...LOL)!

Take the Blue Line El train from O'Hare (or stops along I-90) to downtown Chicago.
www.transitchicago.com

Top three recommendations in the Loop would be the Art Institute, Millennium Park and a walk around downtown, including Dearborn Street, State Street and the area around Michigan Avenue and the river. Get a map and you'll see that these are all close to your train stop (Washington) and to the theatre showing Wicked.

There's any number of restaurants around the Ford/Oriental. The Park Grill in Millennium Park has outdoor seating. There are several good Italian places and a couple good seafood restaurants. What sort of cuisine and price range were you thinking? If you post some guidelines, I'm sure someone can suggest something appropriate.

You can also check www.metromix.com. You can select a neighborhood, price range and cuisine and get a list of suggestions.

And to answer your Second City question - the odds of getting tickets last minute on a Saturday night are quite small. I've more than once had there be no tickets available for a weekend performance when I've called a week in advance. They're very popular. You might call them and ask whether their early show or late show is more likely to have last minute availability if going to either is an option. Or, if you know you could get to the late show, just buy tickets in advance.

Some we have used with teens and without within walking distance of the show:

Atwood Cafe

Trattoria #10 - quiet, downstairs Italian - very good for lunch at 10 N.Dearborn (my favorite- about $20-$25 each)

Italian Village (cheaper than above)

Petterino's (part of the Lettuce Entertain U group)

Many others too.

www.metromix.com for reviews and others within an expanded area.

Thank you so much for the great suggestions. Somewhere casual and fun are our main priorities for dining this trip - nothing gourmet really required. Maybe something especially "Chicagoan" like great pizza or even an exceptional dog! Not really thinking seafood (although I love it) or upscale...

Do you know about the Architectural Boat Tours?

I had not heard of these tours before now. It sounds like just the sort of thing I would enjoy.

I thought so.

Here's a website -
http://www.architecture.org/tour_view.aspx?TourID=8

There are copy-cats, but these are supposed to be the best.

Crazy4Hawaii, I heartily agree with the previous poster's suggestion about the CAF River Cruise. Get the earliest one you can on Saturday. You might want to purchase your tickets in advance due to coming on the weekend. (NOTE: If you do purchase them, they are yours, rain or shine.)

On Sunday, if you wanted to do a very nice walk, I'd suggest once you get off the Blue Line (at Washington/Dearborn), walk over east 1 block to State Street and pick up the #146 SB bus (or the free trolley, if it is running and not full). Take it to the Museum Campus (that's where the Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium and Adler Planetarium are located). But you don't want to go to any of these..instead you'll want to take a very nice little walk...make sure you have your camera ready for this one.

Go north along Monroe Harbor (a sailboat harbor) to Buckingham Fountain. Then walk northwest to Millennium Park (5 minute walk). You'll pass right by the Art Institute. Maybe if you have a couple of hours, you could stop in--really recommend that you do, if you can.

The Art Institute is a 10 minute walk from the Ford Center for the Performing Arts (aka Oriental) where Wicked is running.

Have fun!

I was in chicago 2 weeks ago with my kids (17 and 20yrs old). We tried to get tickets for a Friday night to Second City and was sold out....they also have Second City ETC. in the same building-it's a smaller theatre, and it was a GREAT show! We all loved it-it was hysterical!It was a mix of rehearsed comedy skits and improv skits with a 6 actor ensemble. Tickets were $18/ea. I bought the tickets online 2 days before at WWW.secondcity.com

I would recommend a walking tour of Chicago's outdoor art.

See the Calder Mobile in the lobby of the Sear's Tower, The Calder Stabile, "Flamingo", in the Federal Center Plaza, the Picasso in the Daley Center Plaza, the Miro across the street from the Picasso, the Chagall moasic, "Four Seasons", at First National Plaza, and the Dubuffet at the James R. Thompson Center (formerly the State of Illinois Center). Walk down the "Canyon" of LaSalle street.
Note the statue of Ceres on top of the CBOT.

All great ideas! Thank you so much. I'm a walker and will enjoy these routes you've suggested.

Since they are reasonably priced, I may just get Second City tickets in case I can sneak out. I went to look at The Grimmerie and listen to some clips from the Wicked CD to get myself even more excited about this show. May wait to buy them until after though, so that I can retain some of my innocence...