Chicago Trip Report

I received so much help from this board I wanted to let you know what a great time we had in Chicago from May 12-17. We did a lot in our four days.

Highs:

The museums - especially The Art Institute. My daughter also really loved the Science Museum and the Field Museum was also great. The Contemporary Art Museum was nice but not really our cup of tea.

Shedd Aquarium - Very nice and it only took 2 hours so there was time to see the Field Museum on the same day. The views are stunning.

Wicked - Wow - LOVED it! We can%26#39;t wait to see it again.

Belmont area - My daughter loved this funky shopping area.

Architectural River Cruise - great but...(see below)

Hancock Signature Room - loved the view from the bathroom.

Chicago in general - everyone was friendly and helpful. Loved the whole downtown area from the loop to Michigan Avenue. Felt safe walking around at night.

Amtrak train ride home - It was my first time on a long distance train. It was very relaxing and a great way to end the trip.

Lows (very few and just added to the adventure)

We didn%26#39;t have time to do everything! (We%26#39;d have to spend months!)

Red Line was closed on our way to our hotel from the airport so we had to use the Brown Line and were not sure where to get off and took the advice of passengers. Hauled our luggage down two flights of stairs and ended up walking half an hour to our hotel! It was an adventure but everyone was helpful in pointing us in the right direction. I%26#39;m sure we were a sight when we arrived at our hotel!

Lots of street people and some were fairly aggressive in asking for money.

Rained hard the entire time on our Architectural Boat Tour that I had scheduled in advance. We still loved it but had to stay inside on the boat. It never rained that hard before or after those two hours! The guide was great.

Thanks to DVD we ended up in nice rooms at the Intercontinental and The James at a good price.

The Intercontinental room was small but had a nice view of the lake and was clean. It was very adequate for the $84 Hotwire rate we paid and the location cannot be beat.

My daughter loved The James and I loved seeing her face when she walked in. The room was fairly large with a nice view and decorated all in white with red accents. Very modern with a plasma TV. We paid $199 per night on Hotwire for two nights but rooms were going at a premium because of a convention.

I can%26#39;t believe I live so close (6+ hours by car) to this great city and I have never been there. I will definitely be returning. There is so much to do - we just scratched the surface. Thanks to all who helped with our plans. We LOVE Chicago!

Chicago Trip Report

Thanks for the great report Boardwalk2003, too bad about the train but there has been lots of construction in the subway tunnel lately that has caused the Red Line to run ';up and over.';

If it happens next trip, remember that when CTA closes or reroutes one of the trains, it runs shuttle buses between the detour stations and the regular ones. Always ask the customer agent in the station, you can save yourself a walk.

Chicago Trip Report

So happy your trip went well!

Glad I could help with the hotels (glad you got a view at the Intercontinental and very happy the James worked out), and thank you for a detailed trip report.

Thanks for your sharing your info. I%26#39;ll be taking my first trip to Chicago in July so this is very helpful information. Glad you had a good experience

I meant to ask you about your Architectural Boat Tour, which boat were you on? I%26#39;m thinking about going on one myself. Would you recommend buying in advance with the weather being unknown, because of you experience ? The weather is one factor that concerned me so I%26#39;ve held off buying tickets but I also want to make sure that it isn%26#39;t sold out. Any thoughts?

stef: Depends on how long you%26#39;ll be there or how jam-packed your days are arranged. If you are there for a few days, I%26#39;d wait until you get there, maybe buy it a day ahead when the weather is pretty safely predictable. Saves the Ticketmaster fee, too.

stef26 - Our tour was with the Architectural Foundation and was great in spite of the weather. I know they had just a couple of openings the day before our tour. I did try to change our tour because of the rain forecast but was not able to as they were made through Ticketmaster.

I know their cruises sell out so is a tough call whether or not to make reservations in advance - there were only a few openings the day I scheduled and that was weeks in advance. Maybe you can call them directly to see if there are openings. Those Ticketmaster fees are high.

Citylights - I%26#39;ll remember your advice for next time. As we had never been to Chicago we were not sure what to do. We would have taken a cab but did not see one.

DVD - Thanks again for all of your help and advice in planning this trip. We loved both hotels and would stay at either again. Hopefully I%26#39;ll be asking for your assistance again. After my glowing reports both my husband and other daughter want to go (just have to find a place for the dog!)