Downtown Chicago Slideshow.
Staying a few extra days during your training event? Visit the official City of Chicago web site to find out more on local events. You may want to extend your stay Things to see and do in Chicago.
O'Hare Area Attractions:
Nightclub in Schaumburg, IL - www.JohnBarleycorn.com/gallery_schaumburg_interior.htm
Zalute (across the street from DePaul U) Great food, 2 separate bars www.zalute.com
Tiki Terrace (Hawaiian - at Oakton & Manheim/Lee in Des Plaines) Thursday nights there is usually free
entertainment. Friday and Saturday Tiki has dinner+entertainment ($20-ish typcially includes entree+show)
www.thetikiterrace.com
Kampai Sushi Bar (Elmhurst Rd and Oakton, Mt. Prospect) www.kampaisteakandsushi.com/sushibarmenu.html
Photos at www.kampaisteakandsushi.com/sushibar.html
Chicago Attractions & Fun Facts:
Tours
http://www.chicagotours.us/ tours of all kinds…Hop on, Hop off tour, architectural tours, speedboat tours, walking tours, segway tours, biking tours, rollerblade rentals, ghost tours, trolley tours.
www.cityofchicago.org
Dining
Seafood (and gorgeous views of Navy Pier and the Lake) http://www.rivanavypier.com/
Shaws – seafood www.shawscrabhouse.com
Chicago Steaks - www.geneandgeorgetti.com or www.RuthsChris.com or www.petterinos.com
Smith & Wollensky – 318 N. State Street (at the River) Great burgers on patio that overlooks river.
Erie Street Café – Great outdoor dining and fantastic food! www.eriecafe.com
Chicago Chop House (steaks, ribs, etc) www.chicagochophouse.com
North Pond - Lincoln Park, on the lagoon. www.northpondrestaurant.com
Aria - At Fairmont Hotel on north Columbus near Millennium Park www.ariachicago.com
Greek Town - Pegasus - Greek tapas on a rooftop. Fun atmosphere and a phenomenal view of the skyline.
Lunch while shopping on Michigan Avenue? - Cafe Spiaggia www.cafespiaggia.com 980 N. Michigan, 1 block north of Bloomingdales, 2nd flr of office building. Great views!
Pane Caldo www.pane-caldo.com – Small, intimate, Italian (Jennifer Aniston's fave when she's in town). On Walton about .5 block west of Michigan Ave. Reservations recommended. Sept is busy.
Billy Goat Tavern - 430 N. Michigan Avenue (lower level…under the bridge) (photo LEFT) Comedian John Belushi brought Billy Goat fame when he portrayed a frenzied cook on "Saturday Night Live" in the '70s. It became a legend far earlier when original owner William Sianis was forbidden by Chicago Cubs management to bring his house goat into Wrigley Field during a 1945 World Series game. Insulted, Sianis' curse that the Cubs would never again win a championship has held true. The Billy Goat was founded across the street from the old Chicago Stadium on Madison Street in 1934. It later relocated to Michigan Avenue in 1964. http://www.gosleepgo.com/guide/us/il/chicago/billy-goat-tavern
Recommended restaurants by locals- http://www.wttw.com/main.taf?erube_fh=wttw&wttw.submit.CPRestaurantList=1
www.Metromix.com – pick your cuisine and Metromix will give you the list of options.
Theater
http://www.broadwayinchicago.com/
Cocktails
Park Hyatt - 800 N. Michigan Avenue - Drinks with a view from rooftop lounge
Jazz
Jazz Showcase at Dearborn Station (near Plymouth & Polk) http://www.jazzshowcase.com/
Green Dolphin Street (upscale) on Webster www.jazzitup.com
Green Mill - Historical jazz club in Uptown www.greenmilljazz.com
Blues
Buddy Guy's Legends showcases local and national blues talent (754 S. Wabash Ave.). www.buddyguys.com
Nightclubs - Dancing
Sheffield & Weed street area
Rush street (near State) or Rush at Division Street
Excalibur (Dearborn & Ontario)
State Street & Rush Street or Rush & Division Streets
Trendy Bars
J bar
Lincoln Park Neighborhood (along Lincoln south of Fullerton)
West Loop Area
Neighborhood Bars
Wrigleyville (Clark Street just south of Addison)
Lincoln Park
Wicker Park (Damen and North Avenue)
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
www.cso.org
Ballet & Dance
http://www.seechicagodance.com/ listed by venue or dates
Opera
http://www.lyricopera.org/podcast/index.asp#
Favorite PIZZA
Lou Malnati’s, Edwardos, Gino’s East, Giordanos in that order.
If you happen to be in the Evanston area, Gulliver’s on Howard Street has incredible turn-of-the-century décor that you have to see to believe.
Jewelry Row – 2 block area on S. Wabash Street (under the “L” tracks) just south of Madison Street.
http://gochicago.about.com/od/chicagoshopping/p/jewelers_row.htm
Chicago Sites - Interesting Reading
“Return to the Scene of the Crime: A Guide to Infamous Places in Chicago”
“Hour Chicago” – Things you can do in Chicago in under an hour.
“The Devil in the White City”
Shop The Magnificent Mile – High end stores, boutiques, Water Tower Place, John Hancock building, Apple store, American Girl store. Find souvenirs to take home!
http://www.tourillinois.org/searchdetail.asp?id=9
http://www.themagnificentmile.com/
Tickets for Chicago Events – brokerage…
Click on the View Chicago Events link at… http://www.onlineseats.com/chicago/chicago-brokers.htm
Sports Tickets (we’re a little out of season for most)
http://viptickets.us/ResultsCity.aspx?city=Chicago&stprvid=15&location=Chicago,%20IL
Wrigley Field – Clark Street at Addison – Historic Park and Home to the Chicago Cubs!
Tours – Last tour of the 2008 season is Sunday September 28th. Reserve your ticket now!
http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/chc/community/com_tours.jsp
Museums
Museum Campus
Adler Planetarium www.adlerplanetarium.org
Shedd Aquarium www.sheddaquarium.org including the Oceanarium which overlooks Lake Michigan.
Field Museum of Natural History www.fieldmuseum.org If you like Dinosaurs, you’ll love the Field.
Museum of Science and Industry www.msichicago.org
Lincoln Park Zoo www.lpzoo.org
Peggy Notebart Museum www.naturemuseum.org beautiful live Butterfly exhibit you can walk into.
Museum of Contemporary Art www.mcachicago.org
Chicago History Museum - www.chicagohistory.org
Art Institute of Chicago - www.artic.edu Seurat, Monet, Magritte and so many more!
Sears Tower (Wacker and Adams) – Tallest building in North America…3rd tallest in the world.
www.searstower.com 1,450 feet tall – antenna not included.
John Hancock Building www.hancock-observatory.com
Try the Sunday brunch at this beautiful landmark skyscraper at the Signature Room or go to the Tuesday Lunch buffet www.signatureroom.com It’s only 2 floors below the main Hancock observation skydeck.
Wrigley Building – Michigan Avenue at the River (identifiable by its clocktower)
Bike Rentals – Tour the Chicago Lakefront by bike! We have a world class 18 mile lakefront bike/walking path. – Bike rentals at Navy Pier McDonald's Cycle Center.
Navy Pier - www.navypier.com
Ferris Wheel ride is a great way to view the city. Crystal Gardens –glass atrium of plants and water fountains http://www.navypier.com/about/ov_crystal_gard.html
Art Galleries
Many galleries throughout the city. Great spots also in River North and River West areas (north and west of Hotel Blake by a short cab ride). Most are not open during the weekend, so go during daytime hours on a weekday.
Walking Tour - Gold Coast - Walk north from Division and Astor Streets north to North Avenue. (often cited as the most beautiful street in Chicago, filled with brownstones and graystones typical of post-fire built-to-last architecture). Turn west and walk 1 block, passing the Cardinal's mansion. Turn south on State Street and walk back. This area is rich in historic landmarks, such as the Charnley House, designed by Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan, with a little help from their pal and co-worker, Frank Lloyd Wright.
Street paved in wood - (alley actually…south of North Avenue, between State and Astor…adjacent to archdiocese property). Looks like cobblestone, but it’s actually pieces of wood on end. Chicago had many of these streets. Now, there are only 2 or 3 still visible. Most have been covered by asphalt.
Walking Tour - The Loop - and where to even begin? So many historic buildings there...Hotel Burnham (aka The Reliance Building) - and maybe you'd like to have a meal at the Cafe Atwood to check out the property...The old Carson, Pirie, Scott building with the facade designed by Louis Sullivan...The Rookery, designed by Burnham and Root with the lobby remodeled by Frank Lloyd Wright...The Auditorium Theatre, again designed by Adler and Sullivan, Wright assisting.. The Art Deco buildings in the LaSalle Street canyon (Rookery and American Bank bldg). Not to mention the outdoor artwork of Picasso, Calder, etc.
Wizard of Oz Has a Chicago Connection
Bldg where Hackney’s restaurant resides 1 block south of Hotel Blake on S. Dearborn (at Polk St) in Printers’ Row – printed the 1st edition of the Wizard of Oz (Hackney’s restaurant, now on the first floor, is famous for their onion rings)
Hotel Blake
1896 this building was constructed to serve as headquarters for Morton Salt. (Morton Salt got started in Chicago in 1848 as a small, Midwestern sales agency. It started to grow as the population headed west and kept growing long after the West was settled. Today the business, still headquartered in Chicago, is North America 's leading producer and marketer of salt for home, water conditioning, industrial, agricultural and highway use. 1914 - The famous Morton Salt Umbrella Girl and slogan, “When it rains it pours” first appear on the blue package of table salt and in a series of Good Housekeeping magazine advertisements. 1922- Joy Morton dedicates his farm in Lisle, Illinois, as the Morton Arboretum in memory of his father, J. Sterling Morton, founder of Arbor Day. The renowned Morton Arboretum has grown to over 1,700 acres of trees, flowers, shrubs and vines from all over the world. Lisle is in the west suburbs of Chicago off of I-88. This building was renovated in 2006 to become hotel condominiums.
Alphonse Capone – a name synonymous with prohibition, the Chicago mob, Scarface, St. Valentines Day massacre, speak easy rooms, tax evasion. He was everywhere in this city. Everywhere. Constantly moving around so as not to be caught by the authorities.
Capone is buried in Mt. Carmel Cemetery in Hillside, Illinois.
Untouchables Movie filming sites in Chicago - http://www.movie-locations.com/movies/u/untouchables.html
The Picasso sculpture (untitled sculpture in Daley Plaza) on Dearborn
The 1st U.S. Car Race was held in Chicago
It took place just before 9am, day after Thanksgiving, November 28, 1895 (sponsored by the Chicago Times-Herald). It was a 54-mile course from Jackson Park to Evanston and back (in the snow). At the time, vehicles looked a lot like powered buggies. Six were called “motocycles.” The Number 5 (driver and inventor Frank Duryea) won the race in just over 10 hours. There were five competitors in addition to Duryea: 2 electric cars and 3 gasoline-powered Benz machines imported from Germany. Frank Duryea survived a journey punctured by numerous breakdowns and repairs. He had averaged 7.3 miles an hour and his prize was $2,000 ($49,500 in today's money).
Lincoln Park Conservatory - 2391 N. Stockton Drive, Chicago
Be transported to another place and time… tropical palms, ancient ferns, all in the heart of Lincoln Park. Constructed in 1890’s by architect Joespeh L. Silsbee. It’s a FREE "tropical paradise" in Chicago. Four display houses: the Palm House, Fern Room, Orchid House and Show House. Open daily 9am to 5pm.
Chicago – THE Film capitol of the early 1900’s
The Essanay Film Manufacturing Company was a motion picture studio founded on August 10, 1907 in the neighborhood of Uptown, Chicago, IL by George K. Spoor and Broncho Billy Anderson under the name Essanay ("S and A"). It’s best known today for its series of Charlie Chaplin comedies of 1915. Originally located at 496 Wells Street (modern numbering: 1300 N. Wells). The studio prospered and eventually moved to its more famous address at 1333-45 W. Argyle Street.
The silent films had stars like Ben Turpin, Wallace Beery, Francis X. Bushman, Gloria Swanson, Tom Mix, Ann Little, Helen Dunbar, Lester Cuneo, Virginia Valli, Edward Arnold, and Rod La Rocque. The mainstays of the organization, however, were studio co-owner G. M. Anderson, starring in the very popular "Broncho Billy" westerns, and Charlie Chaplin. Allan Dwan was hired by Essanay Studios as a screenwriter and went on to be a famous Hollywood director. Louella Parsons was also hired as a screenwriter and went on to be a Hollywood gossip columnist. Both George K. Spoor (in 1948) and Broncho Billy Anderson (in 1958) received Oscars, specifically Academy Honorary Awards, for their pioneering efforts with Essanay.
Most Movable Bridges in one city? YES, Chicago! This city is truly an engineer’s dream!
http://www.gapersblock.com/airbags/archives/chicago_the_movable_bridge_capital_of_the_world/
The bridge type most associated with the city of Chicago is the trunnion bascule (French translation “teeter-totter”). It rotates on a shaft, or trunnion, located on the shore. The complex system of counterweights, gears, electric motors are operated by a bridge tender who raises the leaves up and away from the center. The first trunnion bascule bridge in the United States ever to be built (1902) is at Cortland Street, still there today. The design was copied around the world and became known as the Chicago-type bascule. Most of the bridges in Chicago now are of the bascule-type, but examples of the swing bridge, vertical lift and Scherzer lift still exist. Unfortunately, many are now inoperable.
Today Chicago has approximately 37 and 43 movable bridges-- more than any other city in the world. At least 20 of these are in the downtown area. During Chicago's boating season, which runs from April 15 through November 15, over 52,000 boats pass through the Chicago River and the bridges are opened nearly 30,000 times a year. Few bridges are manned full-time (bridge tenders who work for the Chicago Department of Transportation operate bridges in moving teams). Each takes only 8 minutes or so to raise or lower.
Chicago had THE 1st Skyscraper in the World – 1885
Home Insurance Building. It was demolished in 1931. The Field Building (now the LaSalle Bank Building) was built in its place. The Home Insurance Building was the first to use structural steel in the frame. The majority of its structure was composed of cast and wrought iron. It was 10 stories and rose to a height of 138 feet. William LeBaron Jenney, was the architect and engineer. The building weighed only one-third as much as a stone building. It was prime example of the Chicago School of Architecture, characterized by the use of steel-frame buildings with masonry cladding (usually terra cotta), large plate-glass window areas and use of some exterior ornament. Neoclassical style was common. You’ll commonly see three parts of classical column. The first floor functions as the base, the middle stories, usually with little ornamental detail, act as the shaft of the column, and the last floor or so represent the capital, with more ornamental detail and capped with a cornice.
Architects associated with the Chicago School of Architecture - Henry Hobson Richardson, Dankmar Adler, Daniel Burnham, William Holabird, William LeBaron Jenney, Martin Roche, John Root, Solon S. Beman, and Louis Sullivan. Frank Lloyd Wright started out in the firm of Adler and Sullivan but created his own Prairie Style of architecture. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, who had run the Bauhaus in Germany before coming to Chicago, is sometimes credited with the rise of a second "Chicago school" between 1939 and 1975.
Chicago Architecture (noteworthy buildings)
Some of the more famous Chicago School buildings include the following:
Louis Sullivan's Carson, Pirie, Scott & Co. Building
Louis Sullivan's Auditorium Building
Reliance Building
Gage Group Buildings
Chicago Building
Brooks Building
Heyworth Building
Leiter I Building
Leiter II Building
Marquette Building
Monadnock Building on South Dearborn
Montauk Building
Rookery Building on South LaSalle
Wainwright Building
Chicago Board of Trade – Lasalle St. & Jackson
Dearborn Station - Just 1.5 blocks south of Hotel Blake (landmark clock tower). Oldest surviving railway building in downtown Chicago. It’s now filled with restaurants & businesses. Jazz Showcase on Plymouth Side.
The Blackstone Hotel at 636 S. Michigan Avenue has been dubbed "The Hotel of Presidents." At least a dozen 20th century U.S. Presidents have stayed at the hotel. Interesting history goes back to the 1860 Republican National Convention hosted at the Wigwam. The hotel had a special room designed for use by presidents which was separated from the rest of the hotel by hollowed out walls in which the Secret Service could operate. In 1920, Warren G. Harding was selected as the Republican candidate for the Presidency at the Blackstone. Although the convention was being held at the Chicago Coliseum, a group of Republican leaders met at the Blackstone on the night of June 11 to come to a consensus. When the Associated Press reported on the decision-making process, the reporter stated it had been made “in a smoke-filled room." The phrase entered American political parlance to denote a political process which is not open to scrutiny. Guests ranged from Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson, Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter.
The Fine Arts Building 1885 – 410 S. Michigan Avenue 312-566-9800
Inside it’s like Chicago’s own Venetian courtyard. Artists and musicians currently occupy most of the space. Tours are $5.00 Tours held once per day.
Tribune Tower – 1925 423 N. Michigan at the River. John Mead Howells/Raymond Hood Architects. Gothic Architecture, flying buttresses. You’ll see stones from around the world build into the outer façade as you walk around it at street level.
The Transportation Building – 608 S. Dearborn (Half block south of Hotel Blake) –Eliott Ness operated out of Room 308 in the Transportation Building, still standing but now converted into stores and apartments.
Civic Opera House / Lyric Opera House – Built in 1929 by Samuel Insull, who had the idea that, by combining theaters and offices, the opera company (which was supposed to own the building) could be self-sufficient. It would have been an interesting experiment, except that the Depression intervened. It’s remarkable structure. It’s built on the Chicago River in the shape of a throne, facing west (supposedly the architect had been spurned in New York, and was turning his back on it). Ironically, current air conditioning units create a visual “cushion” on the throne today.
Frank Lloyd Wright
Tours in Oak Park, IL www.GoWright.org www.wrightplus.org
Wicker Park historical district – Victorian masterpieces with beautiful leaded glass windows (2100 W. Pierce/Hoyne)
Lincoln Park historical district - Arlington and Roslyn Place. Fullerton (west of Clark Street)
Playboy Mansion - Hugh Hefner, publisher of Playboy Magazine, bought the 1889 mansion at 1340 State Parkway in the 1950s and named it the Playboy Mansion.
Playboy Building - When the 37-story Palmolive Building was built at 919 N. Michigan in1930, it included a beacon on top of the building named after aviator Charles Lindbergh. Hugh Hefner bought it in the 1960s and named it the Playboy Building.
Chicago Auditorium Building – said to have perfect acoustics! (3 blocks east of Hotel Blake…follow Congress east to the Lake.
Da Bears! - Famous architectural column inside Soldier Field was a gift from Musilini
Montgomery Ward opened his first store here at 825 N. Clark in 1872.
Chicago has Great Gargoyles! - Looking upward in Chicago, you’re likely to see historical creatures and unique ornamentation. Fisher Building - 343 S. Dearborn at Van Buren (just 1.5 blocks north of Hotel Blake) has a terrific ornamental façade www.fisherbuilding.com
http://www.stonecarver.com/gargoyles/terracotta.html University of Chicago http://home.uchicago.edu/~jswaters/web/stone/about.html
http://gargoylepostcards.com/gargoyles/chicago.html
FREE in Chicago…
Lincoln Park Zoo – FREE admission. Must see the seals and the lagoon www.lpzoo.org
Famous Water Tower – Chicago Ave and Michigan Ave on the Magnificent Mile.
The old Water Tower and Chicago Avenue Pumping Station are the only public buildings to survive in the area destroyed by the Fire of 1871. Both structures were designed in a castellated-Gothic Revival style. Both buildings have come to symbolize Chicago's fierce drive to continue, as well as rare monuments to the 19th century. The Water Tower was originally built to house a 138-foot standpipe, which became obsolete and was removed in 1911. The district also includes a turn-of-the-century fire station and two small parks. 1871 - The Great Chicago Fire was followed by months of dry, hot weather and fueled by the Michigan Pine that built the city. The fire destroyed a 600-block area.
Site of the Chicago Fire??
Some say the Chicago Fire in 1871 started in the O’Leary barn at 558 W. De Koven Street, Chicago, others say that this was a fabricated story by the media to sell papers. Should you care to visit the site of the O’Leary barn (which is no longer there…but a statue was erected) it is a short cab ride southwest of the Chicago Printers’ Row neighborhood.
The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre took place on Feb 14, 1929 at 2122 N. Clark Street (roughly a 25 minute cab ride from the Loop…depending on time of day). It was 15 degrees below zero when a black Cadillac disguised as a police squad car, pulled up in front of the "Bugs" Moran S-M Garage at 10:30am. Shortly after, five men dressed in police uniforms got out of the car, entered the garage and shot seven men with machine guns (said to have been the directive of Al Capone). Currently, that address is just an empty lot next to a nursing home facility. The Oven Grinder Pizza Co. faces the site.
The Biograph Theater - 2433-43 N. Lincoln Avenue – John Herbert Dillinger (notorious mid-western bank robber) was killed here in 1934, after being named "Public Enemy No. 1" by the FBI.
Beaches
Oak Street Beach (where Oak Street meets the lake)
North Avenue Beach (where North Ave meets the lake)
Chicago Cultural Center – 77 E. Randolph (Preston Bradley Hall at 78 E. Washington Street contains the famous Tiffany dome, completed in 1897. It’s 30,000 pieces of glass in 243 sections within an ornate cast iron frame. The body of the dome has a “fish scale” pattern. Restoration/cleaning and repair will be completed in July 2008. It will take the dome back to Tiffany’s original vision and once again allow natural light to shine through it and reveal the full beauty of the glass. HOURS Monday - Thursday = 8am - 7pm Friday = 8am - 6 pm
Saturday = 9am - 6pm Sunday = 10am - 6pm
Grant Park – Buckingham Fountain - www.cpdit01.com/resources/buckingham_fountain.cfm
The fountain runs from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. daily from mid April to mid October, depending on weather. Major water display every hour on the hour. Influenced by Latona Basin in Louis XIV's gardens at Versailles. Three pumps push 14,100 gallons of water per minute through 134 water jets. It holds 1.5 million gallons of water. The fountain is controlled by a "Honeywell Excel-Plus" computer located underground in the fountain's pump house. Until the 1994 renovation, the computer was located in Atlanta, Georgia.
Thompson Center – Incredible building in the Loop. Must see it from the inside…so go inside and have a cup of coffee.
Macy’s on State Street (former historic Marshall Fields store) – 111 N. State Street
See the historic building and Tiffany Dome inside! The ceiling was done by Tiffany using 1.6 million pieces of Favrile iridescent glass. (The Walnut Room restaurant is signature in Chicago).
Former Carson Pierre Scott building – Architect Louis Sullivan (currently under renovation)
Ornamental façade from outside. On State Street between Madison & Monroe.
www.ChicagoGreeter.com – free Chicago tours! Set them up in advance.
Cruise the Drive
We have one of the most spectacular lakefronts. If you drove here or have a rent-a-car, you must take a drive up Lake Shore Drive (very scenic area between Balbo on the southern end and Belmont on the northern end). If you have extra time and it’s a clear day, have your cab driver take a small diversion on your way to or from the airport.
Millennium Park – area encompassed by Michigan Avenue, Monroe, Randolph and Columbus. www.millenniumpark.org The Bean (left) – Cloudgate by Anish Kapoor – Larger than life stainless steel sculpture with optical illusion feature. The Crown Fountain - The water is on from mid-spring through mid-fall each year (weather permitting,) while the images remain on year-round. Designed by Spanish artist Jaume Plensa and inspired by the people of Chicago. The fountain consists of two 50-foot glass block towers at each end of a shallow reflecting pool. Plensa has faces of Chicago citizens projected on LED screens and water flowing through a water outlet in the screen to give the illusion of water spouting from their mouths. The collection of faces, Plensa's tribute to Chicagoans, was taken from a cross-section of 1,000 residents.
Sculpture Walking Tour – Miro, Calder, Chagall, Picasso and more
Hilton Hotel on S. Michigan Avenue – Beautiful landmark building with extraordinary architecture. Walk through to see the grand architecture!
Chicago Union Station
Originally designed by famed architect Daniel Burnham (“make no small plans, they have no magic to stir men’s blood”) and completed in 1925 by the Graham, Anderson, Probst and White Firm, the Great Hall is considered to be one of the greatest indoor spaces in the United States. Enter this 20,000 foot classic Beaux Arts style room which boasts 18 soaring Corinthian columns, terra cotta walls, a pink Tennessee marble floor, crowned with a spectacular five-story, barrel-vaulted, atrium ceiling. Opening onto the Great Hall is the Union Gallery, a beautiful 3,500 square foot room. Located a few blocks NW of our hotel.
FREE Loop “L” Train Tour – (info at Chicago Cultural Center) Chicago Architecture Foundation, in conjunction with the CTA, has a FREE Loop Train “L” Tour on Saturday mornings to early afternoon. No cost, but you have to pick up the tickets in advance or go to the Chicago Loop Alliance's web site www.chicagoloopalliance.com There are three FREE downloadable walking tours of the Loop (art, theatres and historic buildings) - with maps available there.
Come in the summer! - These listed things only occur in the mid-summer months…come back for a visit! FREE Fireworks display every Wednesday and Saturday night at Navy Pier.
Ask about the FREE Trolley rides around the city too!