A few days in Chicago

[vrdiver]

Mrs VRD wants to see Gordon Lightfoot in concert, so we'll be in Chicago at the end of September.

I've been through O'Hare a few times and done some work in Chicago, but never spent much leisure time there. We'll be based Downtown; any suggestions for things worth spending time on much appreciated.

VRD

[Dod101]

It's a long way to go to see an 80 year old (assuming I have got the right man) I would just about go to Glasgow to see Dylan who is not far off the same age but I can drive there in an hour.

I almost went to Chicago on 9/11 but for obvious reasons did not make it so I cannot help you. Enjoy.

Dod

[Lootman]

I've been three times. Not for a while but I would characterise Chicago as more of a place that is pleasant to be (except in the winter) than a place crammed with must-see sights. So just walking around, taking a boat trip on the river or the lake, and the shoppinng, food, drink and nightlife is a big part of the appeal. If you like large chunks of red meat you will be sorted.

That said, the architecture is spectacular, especially the "old" skyscrapers. A good place to focus on that if you are interested is:

http://www.architecture.org/

There are various walking tours about gangsters and the mob, as you might imagine. If you get an entertaining tour leader that can be fun.

If museums are your thing then the Art Institute of Chicago is world class:

https://www.artic.edu/

Whilst for modern art there is:

https://www.mcachicago.org/

And look for an excuse to ride the elevated subway system. The subway into town from O'Hare is a cheap, easy way to arrive anyway, but rattling around the Loop gives a good impression of the central district.

[vrdiver]

It's a long way to go to see an 80 year old (assuming I have got the right man)

Yes - that's the one, and him being 80, and not into global touring so much these days, she decided it was "now or never". I would have voted for "never", but was disabused as to how democracy works in the VRD household...

It will be an honour and a privilege to escort Mrs VRD to the concert. I now have just under two months to brush up on my Gord's Gold repertoire, and to figure out how many Brownie points I have earned, and therefore the new negative running total...

Last time I was in Chicago, a colleague and I popped into a "men's shaving emporium" where I was somewhat amused to be instructed by a sixteen* year old girl on the art of shaving with a cutthroat blade. Being approximately x3 her age and blessed/cursed with normal masculine facial hair growth, and generally being clean shaven, and not sporting reams of tissue paper stuck with blood to my face, I did imagine, briefly, that I might have more experience in this department than her, but the shear chutzpah and confidence she exhibited had me hooked within seconds.

My colleague, who purchased the recommended accoutrements and carefully listened to her advice, reported into the office the following day with quite a few small scraps of tissue paper stuck to his face...

VRD

*an estimate, but I'm assuming that's the minimum age for shop work.

[Percol351]

The science museum is quite good - it has a submarine and a coal mine in there.

Vatural history museum has the T-Rex Sue there.

Hancock tower and Willis tower.

Percol

[Leither]

Ah Gordon Lightfoot! In Chicago, you’ll not be too far from The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, wonderful song. I’d love to see him, Lightfoot that is, not Fitzgerald. Coincidentally I’ll be in Chicago in November, a bit too late unfortunately. Wonderful voice, wonderful song writer. Now I think about it,maybe I did see Lightfoot, in Edinburgh back in the 60s, with Ian and Sylvia, also Canadian. If you bought tickets for that concert, you got on the list to buy tickets for Dylan later that year. But I digress.

Re Chicago, my brother lives near Milwaukee so my son and I stopped off in Chicago a few years ago. Things to do:

1. Wrigley Field - old baseball ground, interesting even to me.
2. CAF river tour - architecture of the town, excellent.
3. The Loop - ride the elevated tube line.
4. Art Institute - wonderful collection.
5. Museum of Science - excellent, varied collection.
6. Shedd Aquarium - good.

Really there’s loads to do, I’ve whetted my appetite just looking at my last itinerary.

Regards,

Leither.

[goggog]

I was in Chicago a few years ago and discovered the Chicago Greeter service, they will ask your interests and give a great tour of the city, they are free and you are not allowed to tip or pay them.

We had a great guy called Richard, he showed us places we would never have discovered on our own.

At the end I asked him why he did this, and it was simply because he was proud of his city and wanted visitors to appreciate it.

Chicago is one of my favourite US cities, not a place to go in the winter though!