Chicago
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A page for visitors to Chicago for the conference. If you know the city, please add any recommendations for restaurants, sights, books or anything else worth sharing. Just to start things off -
Contents |
Orientation
The conference hotel is the Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile on 540 North Michigan Avenue. The Chicago Transit Authority provides a [journey planner http://tripsweb.rtachicago.com/] - just type in the addresses you want to go from and to.
Books
My guidebook recommends Division Street: America by Studs Terkel for a chronicle of working class Chicago and Spinney's City of Big Shoulders.
Can anyone recommend some books by the Chicago School of sociology (or subsequent authors) that might be interesting to read as background?
Websites
Transportation
Important Travel Information for Sunday, October 9!
The Chicago Marathon will take place on Sunday, October 9, starting at 8 a.m. It is a fascinating thing to watch, and its route will take it right past the hotel on Grand Ave. If you are traveling to the airport please take into consideration that if you are driving, taking a taxi or airport shuttle bus, that you should budget extra travel time. For a detailed description of each airport facility and available ground transportation options, visit Fly Chicago.
If you are traveling by air:
There are a several ways to get to and from O’Hare and Midway airports and downtown Chicago. Both airports are served by local mass transit lines, regional trains and buses, downtown and suburban shuttle buses, and interstate highways. Ground transportation access areas are located at the main entrance of terminals on the baggage claim level. The conference hotel does not offer shuttle service.
Airport Shuttle Service: Continental Airport Express offers daily service between O’Hare or Midway airports and downtown Chicago from 6:00 AM to 11:30 PM. Shuttles depart every 15 minutes. The current fare from Midway is $19 (one person/one way), from O’Hare $24 (one person/one way)
Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) L Train: The CTA Blue Line provides 24-hour access between downtown Chicago and O’Hare International Airport, running every 8–10 minutes. Travel time to downtown is about 40 minutes. Exit the train at the Washington stop, transfer to the Red Line/Howard train. Exit the Red Line train at the Grand Ave. stop, and walk two blocks east, there is a hotel entrance on Rush St. just north of Grand. The CTA Orange Line connects Midway Airport with downtown Chicago in about 30 minutes. Exit at the Lake stop, transfer to the Red Line/Howard train, and follow the instructions as for the Blue Line, exiting at Washington. The one-way fare throughout the L system is $1.75. You must prepay for a train ticket at an automated ticket machine, usually available near the entrance to the station. See the Chicago Transit Authority site for maps and other information. This option is highly recommended. It is by far the cheapest way of getting to downtown (from both O'Hare and Midway) and depending on the time of day will get you to the hotel quicker than a cab.
NOTE from RKS: Just did this myself, this afternoon, having never been to downtown Chicago before in my life. It was a good option. Cheap, of course, but remember to bring coins or US paper currency for the $1.75 so you can buy your ticket (from the machines at the top of the platform). The ride is long but mostly above ground, so you get to see a lot of Chicago - if you are doing it during the day. Also, when you come up from the underground (the last few stops are underground), you many not know what "east" is. And, if you ask someone there are no less than three Marriott Hotels in the vicinity, so you might not get good directions. Believe me... So, instead, ask someone for directions to the corner of Rush St and Grand Avenue or Rush St and Ohio St - both of which are before Michigan, if you are coming from the Grand Avenue "Red Line" subway station. Oh, and *don't* be tempted to get out of the Blue line when it crosses Grand Avenue. Bad idea. Wait until Washington, walk the tunnel to the red line, and ride to Grand Avenue (just a couple more stops). The Grand Ave station for the Red Line is at State Street, the next street to the west is "Dearborn", so if you see that, you've turned west and should turn around and head the opposite direction. You want "State, then Wabash, then Rush, then Michigan" (although there is no need to go all the way to Michigan, since there is an entrance on Rush.
Taxi: Taxis run on meters. Expect to pay $35–$40 to downtown Chicago from O’Hare, $25–$28 from Midway.
Rental Car: All major national car rental agencies provide cars at O’Hare and Midway airports.
By train: The Amtrak Chicago Union Station is located at 225 S. Canal Street in downtown Chicago. A taxi from the station to the hotel is recommended, as it is a long walk. The commuter rail system Metra serves northeast Illinois, operating 12 rail lines into downtown Chicago from six counties. For details, visit the Metra website.
If you are driving: Chicago is served by several major interstate highways. Maps and detailed driving directions to downtown Chicago are available on the Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau website.
Tourism
Museums
All of the nearby major museums (Art Institute, Museum of Contemporary Art, Field Museum of Natural History, Shedd Aquarium, Adler Planetarium) are worth a visit. If you have the time the Museum of Science & Industry, near the University of Chicago campus, is also an excellent museum, and has an interesting exhibit called “NetWorld.”
The Art Institute is a must - with the Toulouse-Lautrec exhibition currently on http://www.artic.edu/aic/exhibitions/toulouse_lautrec/overview.html - and has good food. And don't miss U-505 at the Museum of Science and Industry http://www.msichicago.org/exhibit/U505/
Parks
Chicago’s outdoor spaces are wonderful, comfortable and friendly places for a stroll, a snack or relaxation. I’d particularly recommend visiting Millennium Park, just south of the conference hotel along Michigan Avenue, and seeing the Cloud Gate sculpture (referred to by locals simply as “the Bean,” the artist’s dismay), the video fountain, and the Pritzker Pavilion. All of the parks along the lake and by the museums have plenty of room for jogging, walking, biking, roller blading.
Going south from Millennium Park you'll find Grant Park. At the south tip of Millennium Park is a minigolf course called The Green. It is on Monroe, just East of Michigan Avenue.
Tours
The Chicago Architecture Foundation offers numerous tours. One I highly recommend is their guided boat tour along the Chicago River. It’s a side of the city that is rarely seen, even by locals, and the tour guides provide an excellent narrative. Chicago is a city of neighborhoods, and the Foundation also offers tours of many of them (some walking, some by bus). Some of the most interesting are those of Bronzeville, Old Town, Frank Lloyd Wright buildings, and the downtown area. Another interesting tour is the Chicago Segway Tour. After a brief lesson and some practice you’re off to explore the city with a small group of Segway riders. For those who want a somewhat tacky tour of Chicago’s gangster history, there is a “Chicago Gangster Tour” that should take you past some of the sites linked to people like Al Capone and made popular in movies and television. I have not taken the tour, but I expect that quite a lot of the sites are either gone or are non-descript, and that you will have to use your imagination more than your camera. And, finally, if you walk down to Navy Pier (about 15 – 20 minutes from the hotel) in addition to more shopping and restaurants you will find a number of tour boats that offer sightseeing aas well as lunch and dinner cruises along Lake Michigan.
Restaurants
Lunch near the Marriott: If you are looking for something more than the in-hotel sandwich, there is a "Corner Bakery" outlet at St Clair & Eire a few blocks away. If you walk West to State and then North across Chicago Avenue, on the West side at the next corner is a little deli (kind of greasy, but what the heck...) where you can get those "Vienna Beef" hot dogs. It is a true local experience to listen to the locals order their dogs, and see what they have on them - incredible.
Dinner: Speaking of restaurants, it would be impossible to list them all, and almost as hard to list my favorites. The hotel is within easy walking distance of literally hundreds of restaurants. I would suggest trying Chicago pizza (usually listed on a menu as the “pan” or “Sicilian” style), and the top two places in my opinion are Pizzeria Uno and Due (I count these as one restaurant as they are within a block of one another and owned by the same family) and Lou Malnati’s. Not that the others are not good, it’s just that these were the first I had as a child, and I’m biased toward them. If you do go to Uno - I just got back from there, and it is very close to the Marriott - beware of two things: the pizza's take at least 45 minutes to arrive, and they are very large. I should have ordered a "personal" size, but thought, since I was so hungry, that I could eat a small. Wrong. They are deep. Very deep. But excellent and highly recommended.
Chicago hot dogs are excellent – make sure that you see a “Vienna Beef” sign on the vendor’s cart or in the restaurant. Chicago is also well known for its Italian Beef sandwiches (the “Vienna” tip applies to these, too). Speaking of Vienna Beef, if you want to see how hot dogs are made, the Vienna Beef Factory offers tours. Be warned that it is quite some distance from the hotel, and it is not for the squeamish and certainly not for vegetarians! Among my favorite restaurants…Frontera Grill/Topolobampo (quite possibly the best Mexican cuisine anywhere, Bin 36, Sayat Nova, Buca di Beppo, Ron of Japan, Indian Garden, Star of Siam, Shaw’s Crab House, Sugar (specializing in excellent desserts)…I could go on, but space will not allow it (these are just the ones within walking distance!). There are plenty of little bakeries, delis, and convenience stores, and on the way to Navy Pier (at Illinois and McClurg) is a top-notch gourmet grocery, Fox & Obel, that also has a little cafeteria. Last, but not least, mere steps from the hotel, on lower Michigan Avenue (a part of the city few people see, there is in fact a rather extensive network of underground streets below downtown) is the Billy Goat Tavern, a favorite hangout for journalists and the site that inspired the “Cheeseburger” character on “Saturday Night Live.”
A bit pedestrian, but I plan on making a stop at Portillo's on Ontario and N. Clark, for some Italian Beef -- tasty stuff.
It's a pity that VI Warshawski's favorite bar the Golden Glow isn't (yet, as far as I know :-) ) on any map, tourist or otherwise.
It's quite a while since I was in Chicago, but I've always enjoyed a sandwich (or something more substantial) and a beer at the Berghoff on W Adams http://metromix.chicagotribune.com/search/29379,0,2260631.venue - and their own site at http://www.berghoff.com/ (Berghoff choice seconded!)
I (David Brake) have also heard the Prairie Restaurant is good (though possibly now closed?).
I have plotted some of my favorites in the area on this map (be sure to zoom in by choosing the colored marker first and then zooming in). Closest to the conference hotel are Pierrot Gourmet and 1492 Tapas, both are great (although perhaps a bit pricey for graduate student budgets). [posted by Eszter]
I have now tried two more places that are close by (three if you count the deli at State and just north of Chicago Av) and can recommend them all.
- *Big Bowl* is good asian influenced food and it is just half a block from the hotel on the north side. If you go out the Rush Street doors (where the driveway comes in, the West side of the hotel), and turn right (North) and then go west (Left) on Ohio, you'll find it right after the Harley Davidson store on the N side of the street. Not cheap, but not out of sight, either (Reviews).
- Next to it is *California Pizza Kitchen*, which doesn't serve "Chicago Style" pizza but is quite good, nonetheless (Reviews). I had a "Tostada" pizza (believe it or not) that was actually very good. I ate the whole thing, too.
Music
Another love I have is music, and there are plenty of places to hear it and buy it nearby. Andy’s Jazz Club is nearby, as is the incomparable Jazz Record Mart. House of Blues is also nearby, as is a Virgin Megastore. Several blues clubs are within walking distance, and others are within a short cab ride. The Hothouse offers a broad range of music nightly. The Chicago Symphony and the Chicago Lyric Opera are close by, too. Most of the rock and rap clubs are not within walking distance but are generally easy to get to via cab or L.
You can get a list of concerts going on in the city at this website if you search for Chicago, IL :
Among the concerts of potential interest to some (with altrocky tastes):
4th: Antony & the Johnsons. The International Noise Conspiracy. 5th: Humungo and no doubt sold out but who knows Hurricane benefit at the House of Blues with Pearl Jam, Robert Plant, and more. 6th: Sleater-Kinney. Fleshtones. 7th: The Posies. Steve Winwood. The Fiery Furnaces. Dan Wilson. Josh Joplin. 8th: Dungen. Steve Winwood. Built to Spill. John Vanderslice.
Also, if you're a blues afficionado (or rock for that matter) you might want to find time to visit Chess Studios, which is about a 10 minute cab ride from the hotel. There's a good, brief history of it at http://www.bluesaccess.com/No_36/chess.html. There's a foundation, Blues Heaven, that Willie Dixon's widow operates from there, I believe. It's at 2120 S. Michigan Ave., the phon number is 312-808-1286, I'd suggest calling ahead to make sure it's open, I don't know what the hours are.
