June Itinerary

Rough plan of our itinerary. Blocks of time left open on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning until 2 in afternoon for best friend%26#39;s daughter%26#39;s graduation from U of C. We%26#39;ve know each other for 20 years and look forward to a week of celebration and sight seeing. Open to any suggestions. Ideas for restaurants at end of post, have not found all on map yet. Started planning about 3 days ago...

Wednesday arrive around 10 am

Robie House (if open) U of C campus

Field Museum

Museum Science and Industry ( if no fireworks yet)

or Fireworks/wander in Park Grant or Magnificent Mile ? location

Thursday

? sunrise walk on Navy Pier could be a problem as we are staying in Crestwood, what are we talking on drive time, where to put rental car?

Shedd Aquarium ready prior to 11 am opening

Art Institute of Chicago

Grant Park Blues Festival with our Fox-Obel picnic

Friday

Buckingham Fountain

Millenium Park sculptures,

Walking tours on our own

Saturday

afternoon open and then

Sites at Nite, combo boat and bike with fireworks tour Bike Chicago FIREWORKS on according to young bike dude

Sunday OPEN except possible Blue Man Group

Monday

Oak Park Frank Lloyd Wright home and studio tour

Wicker Park/ Bucktown Thrift Store shopping (recent post)

Garrett popcorn really curious about this

Wrigley Field drive by not a game, ? souvenirs available in area

CAF Art Deco Happy Hour Tour sounded intriguing.

Tuesday OPEN

Planetarium to fit in with physics major grads giving tour.

Flight leaves about 7 pm

To fit in if possible: Hancock Observatory maybe Signature Lounge, Chicago Cultural Center Tiffany glass plus Marshall Fields in area, ? Wells Street Art Festival on Sunday, Water Tower ?where or needed to fit in?.

Restaurants: Blackies; sounds like huge debate on Giordino vs Lou Manetti vs Gino vs Due NOT a ? we%26#39;ll wing it; Bandera%26#39;s live jazz Friday and Saturday, Yolk and Orange, Tiffin on Devon (Indiantown), Sweet Thang, Cafe de Luca, Heaven on Seven ? largest blockpartyin the world Old St Pats Block Pary? any info. Do NOT alpn on doing all of this just open to suggestions and plan to go on Metromix.com for further research.

Great ideas! Thanks for all the information and ideas you have givien on recent posts.

June Itinerary

FYI - you need to allow at least a 1/2 day+ to see the Museum of Science and Industry. I don%26#39;t think you%26#39;ll have enough time for the MSI %26amp; Field on Tuesday. I%26#39;d replace the Field with Robie House on Wednesday, especially since you need to drive back to Crestwood.

Thursday - you can park your car at Navy Pier or Millenium Park.

Friday/Saturday - OK. Let the weather be your guide.

Monday - looks kind of busy. I would prioritize. Wrigley%26#39;s up on the north side. Oak Park is west of downtown. Wicker park is just northwest of downtown. No need to go downtown that day just for popcorn. Hit Garrets on Thursday or Friday.

Sunday - if you see Blue Man, do the Wrigley Field drive-by then. There are several souvenir shops across from Wrigley.

June Itinerary

Thanks for the suggestion. Tuesday is open so we could get Garrret%26#39;s popcorn/ souvenirs then.

Do you know when fireworks start? Not until Saturday 6/9?

Has anyone taken the Bike Chicogo tour/ Sites at Nite?

Can 9 day pass card Chicago City pass be used twice for same venue? Can we go to Field Museum on Wednesday and then on Tuesday?

General time needed for each Field 3-5 hours?

Museum Science and Industry 3 hours/

Chicago Art Institute?

Chicago Cultural Center?

Just found a post about Wrigley tours at $25, seems steep but any ideas on drive by vs. tour would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

';Thanks for the suggestion. Tuesday is open so we could get Garrret%26#39;s popcorn/ souvenirs then.

Do you know when fireworks start? Not until Saturday 6/9?

Has anyone taken the Bike Chicogo tour/ Sites at Nite?

Can 9 day pass card Chicago City pass be used twice for same venue? Can we go to Field Museum on Wednesday and then on Tuesday?

General time needed for each Field 3-5 hours?

Museum Science and Industry 3 hours/

Chicago Art Institute?

Chicago Cultural Center?

Just found a post about Wrigley tours at $25, seems steep but any ideas on drive by vs. tour would be greatly appreciated.';

Summer Fireworks FUN at Navy Pier

presented by Pepsi, B96 and Jack FM

May 26th - September 2rd

Never have a dull Wednesday or Saturday night! Spice up your midweek and weekend as Navy Pier lights up the sky with a spectacular fireworks demonstration every Wednesday and Saturday night.

As I noted previously, you need a minimum of a 1/2 day at the MSI.

The AI can be done in a few hours, depending on your particular interests.

The CCC can be done in an hour. Be sure to stop in at the Visitor Center on the first floor. Tons of local information to pick up.

The Wrigley Field tour is very interesting. I think it%26#39;s worth the money.

Thanks. So I assume the bike dude at Bike Chicago is wrong that fireworks don%26#39;t start until this Saturday, or perhaps we misunderstood why there is no Sites at Nite ride this Wednesday. Chance of rain on Saturday, or is that maybe a SURE thing??

How accurate is forecasting the weather in Chicago?

Fireworks on Wednesday evening after Blue Man Group 2 pm show sounds good. Just made reservations through Briar Street Theatre and BMG gave us best price $125/2 seats tax included.

I%26#39;ll try to post other questions separately as this started on itinerary.

Moved MSI to Tuesday for large block of time. Any input on the CSI demo, sounds pretty interesting.

I AM REALLY EXCITED!

There in 48 hours!

You may be used to being able to drive to an attraction and park close by, but downtown Chicago is not like that. Parking is expensive, and your first hour or two will be at the highest rate. Traffic can be at a total standstill around Grant Park and you don%26#39;t want to waste your vacation sitiing in fumes. It%26#39;s important to group your activities so that you can walk or cab it between them and not have to move your car.

Do Robie House and MSI on the days you are near U of C for the graduation activities, or at least do the two tourist sites on the same day. They are very close to each other.

Do Blue Man Group and the Wrigley visit on the same day if possible.

Buckingham Fountain, Millennium Park, the Art Institute and the Cultural Center are neighbors.

There are more than one Garrett popcorn shops. It%26#39;s easy to tie this in to either a downtown visit, or a North Michigan Avenue stop.

Coming from Crestwood, you may want to unschedule one day and use it to relax. Fighting downtown traffic gets pretty tiring.