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Illinois
Chicago

Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau

Chicago Office of Tourism

Stuff that's worth checking out: In a city full of museums the Museum of Science and Industry is one of the top three on the list. It's the largest science museum in the Western hemisphere, and perennial favorite exhibits include a fairy castle, a coal mine, a passenger train, and baby chicks. The Terra Museum is dedicated to promoting the understanding of American art and has more than 700 works by American artists from the colonial era through 1945. Check out the Navy Pier for fun, entertainment, shopping, and food. Visit the Lincoln Park Zoo, one of the last free zoos in the U.S. If you're interested in architecture, East Lake Shore Drive has a historic district for exploring, and the old Water Tower and Chicago Avenue Pumping Station are the only public buildings left in the area destroyed by the fire of 1871. Frank Lloyd Wright fans can visit the Robie House on the University of Chicago's campus. If you want to see 80 miles and four states, go up, up, up to the Hancock Observatory or the Sears Tower Skydeck. When you get tired of looking at all the buildings, head out to Garfield Park Conservatory and its greenhouses and gardens.

Comments:

The Museum of Science and Industry is pretty cool. I am a sucker for the little chicks hatching out of their eggs. The IMAX Theater at the Navy Pier is way cooler than the one we have in Denver, but I guess it's wasted unless there is a really good movie there.

Oh, I love Oak Park ... it reminds me of Brookline, Massachusetts. I went to the Museum of Science and Industry so I would highly recommend that. Maybe walk around Lake Shore Drive or Lincoln Park and make fun of the Accenture yuppies, walk around the Water Tower area, and shop on Michigan Avenue. Most of the trips to the city are about the food, at least for me. I suggest Cafe Iberico!!

I like the turkey sandwich fully dressed at Potbelly the best, and don't be scared -- it's not a McDonald's-type chain, just a small local one. My boyfriend's brother is always snarfing down the smoothies and shakes --he claims they are really good, too. Yummmm, Potbelly's.

I visited the Terra Museum once and saw some good stuff in a traveling exhibit. The University of Chicago campus is gorgeous. The Garfield Park Conservatory is far from downtown and in a bad neighborhood, but it's big and cool and has some Chihuly glass in the pond, I think. It's worth considering. I think it's best by night. The 97th floor of the Hancock has a bar. For a $6 drink you have a view that I think is better than that from the Sears Tower because it's closer to the lake and the S-curve of Lake Shore Drive.

There's the Calypso Cafe (yummy Caribbean food and cheap) near the University of Chicago if you're in that area.