ATTN: Chicago peeps
 

I'm going to be there this weekend with 2 friends and am in search of fun things to do/places to go. We want to keep it on the casual side - nothing fancy schmancy. Help! Thanks!!

Cans Bar!

Nevermind, sorority women only drink beer from a glass. ;)

Last time I was there, the Shedd Aqaruim was NOT worth it. It was pretty expensive, and the only sections that were open were "Fish of Chicagoland", "Fish of Illinois", and "Fish of the Midwest". Growing up along the Illinois River, I was not impressed.:p

Off the top of my head...

Museums:

Art Institute, Field Museum, & Museum of Science & Industry (cab ride from downtown, but worth it, IMO). Gotta agree with AF about the Shedd. It's kind of blah. If anyone is interested in photography, the Museum of Photography in the Loop (Columbia College) is interesting.

Shopping:

I like North Michigan Ave and Watertower Place. Navy Pier is too touristy for me. Chicago Place is boring, but it offers a place to warm up. The Bucktown and Wicker Park neighborhoods have some fun and funky shopping.

Viewing the city:

Go to Hancock Observatory over Sears. Less crowded, and the employees are nicer.

Fun Stuff:

Hershey's Chicago, Lincoln Park Zoo.

Food:

Any restaurant in Greektown (I like The Parthenon and The Greek Isles best). Pizza - Gino's East on Wells or Pizzeria Ora on LaSalle, or you could venture to Pizzeria UNO or DUE.

Hope this helps.

Don't forget to bring your dolls so you can have lunch with them at American Girl Place.

Tee hee hee har har har.

What's the place with the Pizza Pot Pie? Everyone's been telling me to go there.

Aside from that, I'd agree with avoiding Navy Pier. Shopping on North Michigan is nice (pretty street) but it has all the same stores you'll find in any big city....Bloomingdales, Nordstrom, Tiffany :), etc.

I don't know if you're into this kind of thing but my sister and I went on a ghost tour that was a lot of fun. Even if you don't believe in ghosts, the guides really do know their Chicago history. It's a great way to see different parts of the city. Here's their website: http://www.chicagohauntings.com/ Click "schedule" on the menu. They meet outside the Rock and Roll McDonalds. You get on this funky black bus. A little quirky. The tour is 2 1/2 hours but they make lots of stops so you can get out and walk around. Anyway, it's something "different" to do.

Chicago's also got great theatre, improv and comedy clubs. I'll come back and list some things I can find.

Link to general stuff going on in Chicago (theatre and museums): http://www.broadwayinchicago.com/chicago-tourism.php
Wicked is the big show to see. I don't know if it's any good -- The Wizard of Oz scares the hell outta me so I won't see it.

What's going on in live music: http://www.centerstagechicago.com/events/music/date/


For comedy and improv:

Second City - http://www.secondcity.com *needs no introduction
Zanies Comedy Night Club - http://www.chicago.zanies.com *cute, casual place
Improv Olympics - http://www.iochicago.net
Chemically Imbalanced Comedy - http://www.cicomedy.com *heard good things about it
Chicago Center - Performing Arts - http://www.theaterland.com better link: http://theaterland.com/index.php?opt...id=9&Itemid=29
Annoyance Theatre - http://www.theannoyance.com


Have fun and dress warmly! :) (Actually, dress in layers. The weather changes every five minutes here.)

go ice skating at Millenium Park if it's not crowded
..but it usually is so.. lol

it's fun to just walk around and see where you end up , anyway :D
I have a friend who lives downtown and they've got a pool and a movie theater so that's where we usually go when it's late and we're tired from walking :)

I must interject here...Wicked is 1000000 times better than The Wizard of Oz. If it's not coming anywhere near you on it's tour, I would suggest going to see it. Spectaculum!!!!

::::flatlines::::

We ended up being cheesy tourists and basically just shopping, eating & drinking because it was so freaking cold. We don't have a lot of the stores that other cities do, so that was cool with me.

Although we did run up a $250 (for 4 people) bar tab. Yipes :eek:

Just think how much that bar tab would have been if there was a 10% sin tax on them! ;)

Did you get to the Billy Goat?

no, we skipped that.

I've never been able to there, either. :(

The Billy Goat is a shithole, unless you're already bombed by 11pm, in which case the ability to get ass food is relevant and its only redeeming quality.

In my professional opinion.

I'm headed up to Chicago this weekend (staying in Evanston) to see Dan Deacon/Girl Talk @ the Metro. I'm nervous as hell for how cold its going to be.