Anybody know anything about this “Chicago” place?
Get that garbage outta my way, I have places to go
The systematic chaos of the crowd parted before me, obeisance to my stride, which was suddenly comfortable after three months of lifestyle constipation. I suppose I’d failed at my attempt to move back to the US, but none of that mattered now, because everything was right, the last sunlight through the glass, the bag hanging off my shoulder like it was part of me, a sense of music in my veins.
I was traveling again. I was a traveler again. I was a traveler still! Those months of motionlessness had not been a tombstone on my vagabondery, just a pause, a rest, a Rip Van Winkle snooze button. And god it felt good to wake up.
Yes, on my first visit to the city, I loved Chicago.
O’Hare seemed nice. Not Taipei-airport-garden nice, but still.
Except that’s all I saw of it. One O’Hare hallway. So no, I’ve never been to Chicago. But next week I’ll change that, inshallah. My lady has a business trip and I can work from there, so Thursday to Sunday, I’ll be Windy.
I’m downright excited about it. Eager to begin. Looking forward to it.
Except I have no idea what I’m looking forward to. I know nearly nothing about what’s there, what I should do, see, eat, drink, hear, feel. And I’m torn between leaving it that way, arriving in perfect ignorance to take it in as it comes, versus preparing a plan, a schematic for experience.
Las Vegas, feeding the addiction until the last possible moment
What do you think? Show up tabula rasa, or do you have any recommendations for a couple free afternoons and an evening in the city of shikaakwa, the city of wild garlic?
No visit to Chicago is complete without visiting Millennium park and walking along the Lake. Chicago is a great place to see a sporting event if you are at all in to sports…hockey or basketball probably this time of year… River cruises are great. Walk along the magnificent mile and do some shopping. Make sure you eat a Chicago Dog! (I won’t take no for an answer.) I love the Field Museum. (Natural History Museum) It’s easy to spend an afternoon there. Have fun! I look forward to your photos from the Windy City.
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Check out the Chicago Architecture Foundation tours, especially the river one. There are also free volunteer guides run by the Office of Tourism, although you may be a bit short on time to book one. The Art Museum is great and thee’s a Shakespeare Theater. Also Frank Lloyd Wright buildings.
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I’ve never been… however I love the freestyle and free flow and discovering things. With only 1 or 2 things planned. If that.
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I LOVE Chicago. I’ve always been there on business, so never had anything planned. I enjoyed it that way. I walked, and walked, and walked, interspersed with standing still with my neck craned up to drink in the fabulous architecture. It’s a wonderful city to just wander around and explore. And the restaurants … it’s hard to find a bad one. Have fun.
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I’ve lived in the Chicago area for most of the last 44 years. If you like art, be sure to check out the Museum of the Art Institute–it’s first rate. If you’re into natural history, the Field Museum. Astronomy? The Adler Planetarium. Sea life? The Shedd Aquarium. (You can get a great shot of the city skyline, with the marina of the Chicago Yacht Club in the foreground, if you head out east in the direction of the aquarium.) Science? The Museum of Science & industry (though you’ll have to get yourself down to Hyde Park)..
Baseball? The White Sox are in town next weekend (plenty of good seats, surely, still available on Sat. and Sun.), hosting Cleveland. (The Cubs are in Phoenix, but I think they still offer tours of Wrigley Field when the club’s on the road.)
Someone above already mentioned Millenium Park. You might stroll the other direction, north, all the way to Lincoln Park (if the weather’s nice) and check out the Lincoln Park Zoo.
No recommendations (from me) on restaurants–that’s way,. way too much a matter of opinion (and I haven’t eaten anywhere downtown in a pig’s age anyway, for a variety of reasons, so I’m not up-to-date on that scene). Best of luck and have a good time…I hope you get good weather (but don’t count on it this time of year).
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