We made it back from an extended weekend exploring Chicago! And boy was it cold! They weren't lying when they called it windy. We were bundled up three layers deep and still were shivering. But it was nice being able to dress warmly and investigate a new city that actually sees a winter season. In this first part, I will review things we did during our three days there and getting around the city. The second part will be kind of a food review of places we ate at, but I will also include other hot spots around town that are must tries when in Chi-town. I will also include in the second part hotels and places to stay around town.
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| View of Chicago from the 94th floor at Hancock Tower Observatory. |
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We flew United in from Houston Intercontinental Airport (IAH) and arrived in Chicago O'Hare (ORD) around midday Saturday. On our decent to the runway we flew directly over the city for an amazing view from above. If you are into stunning skylines, this is one of the best. Once we landed, we headed over to the train/subway station, which is a short walk through Terminal 1. The subway (Blue line/ 'L' Train) takes you on the 18 mile ride all the way to downtown from the airport. The fee for each ride is just $2.25 per person and takes around 35-45 minutes. We bought the 3-Day unlimited ride pass for $20 each because I knew we would be taking full advantage of riding the trains around town. If you aren't into riding the train from the airport, you can catch a cab to downtown for about $35, but the ride will still take 30 minutes or more most likely. Riding the train wasn't bad at all. You get to see some of the suburbs leading into downtown. You can check out the transportation website here:
During our three days we probably rode the trains 9-12 times so it was definitely worth it to buy the 3-Day pass. If you are going to be there for longer than three days there is also a 7-Day and 30-Day for $28 and $100 respectively. You can also use this pass to ride buses around town, which we only did once. Make sure to look at the map of the trains to understand where you want to go, which line to get on and at what locations to get on:
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| Train tracks above ground on the Loop around downtown. |
Walking around the city really is not a bad way to go either. Although it is a big city and you will most assuredly get your exercise in, it seemed very easy to walk wherever we wanted to go. We stayed at the Springhill Suites by Marriott on Dearborn and Hubbard which is in the River North area just north of downtown. The hotel was very nice but more on that in part 2. Once we put our bags into our room we started off for Michigan Ave., which is also called the Magnificent Mile. This is the place to be for all you shopaholics out there. Lining both sides of the street for many blocks are high end shops among skyscrapers and restaurants. One could spend a whole day shopping here without a doubt.
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| The Magnificent Mile AKA Michigan Ave. |
At the very end of the Magnificent Mile lies the Historic Water Tower along with Hancock tower.
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| Historic Water Tower |
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| Hancock Tower |
My favorite part about the trip had to have been going up to the Hancock Tower Observatory which boasts the fastest elevator in North America! It takes only an average of 48 seconds to get from ground level to the 94th floor at over 1,000 ft high! The views were stunning to say the least and we got there just in time for sunset which was amazing. You have to buy a ticket to go up which costs $17.50 each. Kids ages 3-11 are only $11.50. It is a bit pricey but well worth it. Here is the website:
You can also get a City Pass deal where you would get over 50% off five attractions within Chicago. We didn't get this due to not knowing if we would have enough time to do all five things but if you are there for 3 or more days it is definitely doable and a good deal. You get into the Hancock Observatory, Shedd Aquarium, the Field Museum, Skydeck Chicago (Willis Tower) and pick between Adler Planetarium and Art Institute of Chicago. The price for all five is only $84.
We ended up going to four places that were on the City Pass list but paid the regular price for each. We went to The Art Institute of Chicago, which is between Millennium Park and Grant Park and is an easy walk from downtown or the River North area (Magnificent Mile). We also went to the Shedd Aquarium and the Field Museum which are both south of Grant Park. You can take the Green, Orange or Red trains and get off at Roosevelt and be within a half mile or so from these places. All three places could very well end up being an all day venture. Especially the Art Institute and Field Museum. The Art Institute has many great works of art including those of Van Gogh, Georges Seurat, Jackson Pollack, Claude Monet, Roman artifacts and modern art among much, much more. Take a look at their site and see what current and upcoming exhibitions they have:
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| Claude Monet |
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| Georges Seurat |
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| Knight in shining armor |
The Field Museum was a natural history museum with lots and lots of things to see. There is a lot of interactive things to do for kids as well. We only spent two hours here but could have stayed the whole day as there was so much stuff to see. You should really allow for at least 3-4 hours here to take in all this museum has.
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| Field Museum |
The aquarium was in a very neat looking building right off of Lake Michigan. We bought general admission which was only $8, but it only allowed us to view three exhibits of the aquarium. There were a few other exhibits that we didn't have access to such as a 4D show and aquatic show. Full access to everything would be $34.95 per person and $25.95 for kids.
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| Beluga whale |
Finally, we also checked out Millennium Park and Grant Park. Millennium Park has the famous sculpture 'Cloud Gate', Jay Pritzker Pavillion and Crown Fountain. It is a very clean park and even with the cold, there were a lot of people around checking out the sites. I really enjoyed this area as well, because it gave great views of the city and surroundings. The Cloud Gate sculpture was pretty neat. You can see the sky, the skyscrapers and people mirrored onto to. Grant Park is south of Millennium. It has walkways, gardens and also Buckingham Fountain which was off due to the cold.
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| Statue of Abe Lincoln in Grant Park. |
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| Jay Pritzker Pavilion with Cloud Gate behind. |
There are so many things to do that would fill your time up in Chicago. These are just some of the major attractions available to you and all of them were worth while going to. We didn't even get to go to Wrigley Field or any of the theaters here. Big cities are an endless list of things to do and see. I hope these things I outlined here help you if you ever intend to visit Chicago. Feel free to leave comments on if this review was helpful to you or not and stay tuned for Part 2 of this post about the best part of traveling to a new place. The food! And also I will talk about places to stay and the best locations to stay at in the city.
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