Going to Chicago! - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Bean · 07-23-2008, 09:05 AM

Good morning CP braintrust,

So we're going to Chicago (conveniently during the same weekend the Hawks-Flames play in November) but we've got a few extra days in the city and I was hoping that somebody on this board would be able to suggest some "Must See" things to do in the city.

Anybody with insider tips on how to get supremo tickets at the United Centre will be sent good karma vibes from me!

I should add; where is a good area to stay? Hotels seem to be quite expensive over there.

burn_baby_burn · 07-23-2008, 09:21 AM

You have to see Wrigley Field. Whoops! Wrong time of year.

As for getting tickets. Anybody can get supremo tickets for any game. Its called Stubhub or ebay. Maybe even try Ticketmaster, since the Hawks are not selling out every game yet. If you do go the scalper route, make sure you know the venue. Scalpers can sense that you don't know the differance between the upper and lower decks and will take advantage of that.

I_H8_Crawford · 07-23-2008, 09:30 AM

If you can't get tickets through ticketmaster, I strongly recommend stubhub.com

Pricey, but I have NEVER had an issue with them, and they guarantee your purchase.

When I was in NYC I bought Yankees/Red Sox tickets off of Stubhub, and actually saved $20 having them shipped to my hotel as opposed to shipping them here to Canada.

troutman · 07-23-2008, 10:39 AM

CP poster Schnee was just there, and sent me a link to some great pictures he took there. Send him a PM and I'm sure he will tell you about his recent trip to CHI.

HelloHockeyFans · 07-23-2008, 10:45 AM

If you're a fan of fine dining and good food, I hear Chicago is the best city in the US in this respect.

FireFly · 07-23-2008, 11:05 AM

Go to an Oprah show taping?

Canada 02 · 07-23-2008, 11:07 AM

Stay on the Magnificient Mile (Michigan Ave.) lots of hotels, shops, hundreds of restaurants.

Checkout the Field Museum, Navy Pier, Millenium Park

That will keep you busy for a weekend

Drunk Skunk · 07-23-2008, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FireFly

Go to an Oprah show taping?

It's impossible to get tickets, I tried for months to get them for my ex-girlfriend and her mom. The Springer show is hilarious in person, though.

I would highly recommend Billy Goat's Tavern before the game, it's only a couple of miles from the UC.

I'll be up at the game in November as well, if the Farm Flames don't have a home game.

burn_baby_burn · 07-23-2008, 11:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by I_H8_Crawford

If you can't get tickets through ticketmaster, I strongly recommend stubhub.com

Pricey, but I have NEVER had an issue with them, and they guarantee your purchase.

When I was in NYC I bought Yankees/Red Sox tickets off of Stubhub, and actually saved $20 having them shipped to my hotel as opposed to shipping them here to Canada.

Stubhub has a ticket office outside the rightfield gates at Yankee Stadium. You can buy tickets on the web hours before the game and pick them up at the stadium. Which games were you at? I went to the July 4, 5, 6th games.

jolinar of malkshor · 07-23-2008, 11:19 AM

Thanks for the posts, I am taking my wife to the Tina Turner concert at the beginning of October in Chicago. Will be checking out the Sears Tower of course.

MoneyGuy · 07-23-2008, 11:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HelloHockeyFans

If you're a fan of fine dining and good food, I hear Chicago is the best city in the US in this respect.

Naw, San Fran has the Windy beat in that regard. I've been to both. Chicago is a great city. You'll have a great time. My daughter is going there next week, in fact.

OilersBaby · 07-23-2008, 11:32 AM

I was there last June to celebrate my bday with my sister, last November for work, I was also there this past February to hang out. The city is SO different in the summer than in the winter, but people are so friendly!!

So for the winter, you want to hang out in the Magnificent Mile area. Very nice restaurants, bars, shops. A popular bar is called the Hunt Club, and I think its walking (or a quick cab ride) distance from the MM. Navy Pier is nice also, but Im not sure how it will be in the winter..it was PACKED in the summer.

Go to the top of the John Hancock building for a magnificent view of downtown Chicago..you will go over 90 stories. There is a restaurant/bar at the top called "The Signature Room". It's a lil pricey so all I got is a hot chocolate and a dessert but the view was spectacular!

It's also right in the area of the shopping, restaurants, bars etc.

The view from the Sears tower isnt as nice as John Hancock.

Yeah Wrigleyville rocks, but its kinda dead in the winter unfortunately. I suppose you could check out a bulls game. The US college sports scene is big so you could go to a UIC game, I didnt..didnt really care.

Like someone before me mentioned, there are sooooooooo many restaurants there. If you're into Japanese food at all, there is this AMAZIN restaurant called Japonais..its a restaurant on the river and its also a BAR. Oprah and all these other stars go there. Its not as expensive as you would think, especially with the canadian dollar doing well vs the US one. My sis hangs out there a lot and she thinks its awesome. Its also not too far from all the other stuff I mentioned. All in the downtown area. http://www.luminomagazine.com/2004.1...japanoist.html

Im sure I will think of other things....

EDIT: ok i did, right after i posted. I cant believe I forgot to mention the Chicago deep dish pizza that its famously known for. Giordano's is a chain that is AMAZING....its not pricey and its sooo good. Saturday nights the lines might be long. It's the best pizza in the whole wide world. Fills you up because its heavy! http://www.giordanos.com/

Drunk Skunk · 07-23-2008, 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OilersBaby

I was there last June to celebrate my bday with my sister, last November for work, I was also there this past February to hang out. The city is SO different in the summer than in the winter, but people are so friendly!!

So for the winter, you want to hang out in the Magnificent Mile area. Very nice restaurants, bars, shops. A popular bar is called the Hunt Club, and I think its walking (or a quick cab ride) distance from the MM. Navy Pier is nice also, but Im not sure how it will be in the winter..it was PACKED in the summer.

Go to the top of the John Hancock building for a magnificent view of downtown Chicago..you will go over 90 stories. There is a restaurant/bar at the top called "The Signature Room". It's a lil pricey so all I got is a hot chocolate and a dessert but the view was spectacular!

It's also right in the area of the shopping, restaurants, bars etc.

The view from the Sears tower isnt as nice as John Hancock.

Yeah Wrigleyville rocks, but its kinda dead in the winter unfortunately. I suppose you could check out a bulls game. The US college sports scene is big so you could go to a UIC game, I didnt..didnt really care.

Like someone before me mentioned, there are sooooooooo many restaurants there. If you're into Japanese food at all, there is this AMAZIN restaurant called Japonais..its a restaurant on the river and its also a BAR. Oprah and all these other stars go there. Its not as expensive as you would think, especially with the canadian dollar doing well vs the US one. My sis hangs out there a lot and she thinks its awesome. Its also not too far from all the other stuff I mentioned. All in the downtown area. http://www.luminomagazine.com/2004.1...japanoist.html

Im sure I will think of other things....

I will second the Hancock building, it's really neat there. If you go down in Wrigleyville, make sure to stop at Nuts On Clark, best popcorn in the world.

Lithium · 07-23-2008, 11:38 AM

I'd goto Chicago for the wings.

http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_18268.aspx

Bill Bumface · 07-23-2008, 11:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jolinar of malkshor

Thanks for the posts, I am taking my wife to the Tina Turner concert at the beginning of October in Chicago. Will be checking out the Sears Tower of course.

If you have to pick one building to go up, go up the Hancock. Way better view, smaller lineups and they have this meshed off outdoor little deck you can go on. Also lots of cool history tidbits up there. I did both, and while if you have time for both I'd recommend it, the Hancock is definitely superior. The Sears tower is a big part of the view, and you can't see the Sears tower when you're in the Sears tower

I'd stay near the loop or Michigan for sure. Ride around the loop on the train and check things out. The Navy Pier is cool, but pretty dead in the Winter. If you can survive the blustering winds to make it all the way to the end you get a really cool view of the city.

The Aquarium is all indoors and really really good. Not far from downtown either, a quick train ride and a walk gets you there. The Zoo is free, but I never made it there. The Field museum kind of sucked, unless you like stuffed dead animals.

The old water tower (not sure if that's the right name for it) was one of the few buildings to survive the fires and is really cool.

Ask about one of the good local deep dish places. We have no idea what deep dish is supposed to be like here... Grab a steak somewhere nice too.

People will tell you it's not safe to go to the United Center via public transport, but I found it to be BS. Cabbed it there, but took a bus back and felt completely safe. It's a really good arena and I'd love to see it with more than 9000 people in it, which you will be lucky enough to experience. I'm hoping to head there again this November.

Oh yeah, and getting to O'Hare sucks, and O'Hare itself sucks. We took a cab to the airport from downtown at 6am on a Friday morning. Going away from downtown traffic on the Don Ryan stopped dead. The airport terminal was completely full of cars and jammed as well. The lineup for security was all the way through the terminal and there were only two xrays. We missed our flight and so did pretty much everyone in line around us... Try fly through Midway.

OilersBaby · 07-23-2008, 11:44 AM

Yeah Midway to the loop and the downtown areas is also a short ride on the train. Its not confusing because only one train goes from Midway so you dont have to worry about what train to take..and from Midway to the MM or the loop or downtown (all the same thing pretty much) its only about 15-20 minutes.

Do not attempt to take the train from O Hare to those areas unless you have 2 hours to spare.

Judging from what my parents said, I think the major airlines leaving Calgary dont fly into Midway, you have to go to O Hare. But if you're in the US, Southwest flies into Midway (American does not).

red sky · 07-23-2008, 12:10 PM

I am going to go out on a limb here and assume that the game is in the early afternoon... haven't checked yet though

I will also predict that the Flames will play down to Chicago's level and lose in overtime

Sorry for adding absolutely nothing to this thread but that is the way I roll

Bill Bumface · 07-23-2008, 01:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OilersBaby

Yeah Midway to the loop and the downtown areas is also a short ride on the train. Its not confusing because only one train goes from Midway so you dont have to worry about what train to take..and from Midway to the MM or the loop or downtown (all the same thing pretty much) its only about 15-20 minutes.

Do not attempt to take the train from O Hare to those areas unless you have 2 hours to spare.

Judging from what my parents said, I think the major airlines leaving Calgary dont fly into Midway, you have to go to O Hare. But if you're in the US, Southwest flies into Midway (American does not).

United sometimes flies to Midway. I was supposed to land there last time but they changed it last minute.

And it's only 45 mintues on the blue line to the loop, although it does feel like forever.

Quote:

Originally Posted by red sky

I am going to go out on a limb here and assume that the game is in the early afternoon... haven't checked yet though

I will also predict that the Flames will play down the Chicago's level and lose in overtime

Sorry for adding absolutely nothing to this thread but that is the way I roll

That's exactly what happened when I was there.. haha.

jam26 · 07-23-2008, 01:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OilersBaby

EDIT: ok i did, right after i posted. I cant believe I forgot to mention the Chicago deep dish pizza that its famously known for. Giordano's is a chain that is AMAZING....its not pricey and its sooo good. Saturday nights the lines might be long. It's the best pizza in the whole wide world. Fills you up because its heavy! http://www.giordanos.com/

I was going to recommend this as well.

HelloHockeyFans · 07-23-2008, 01:34 PM

Here's an article from last year on America's Top 10 Restaurant Cities:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18180062/

http://www.forbestraveler.com/food-d...hisSpeed=20000

Chicago's description:

Chicago’s restaurants live off the enormous waves of big conventions coming to the city, so if you’re among them, book tables early. Or drop in and eat at the counter at Avec, which makes its own charcuterie ($75). The venerable Gene & Georgetti’s still has great steaks ($100), and for cutting edge experimental cuisine, get a table at Alinea and prep yourself for a 22-course extravaganza ($195 per person).

Their rankings are:

1. New York
2. Chicago
3. San Francisco
4. Los Angeles
5. New Orleans
6. Houston
7. Washington, D.C.
8. Atlanta
9. Boston
10. Las Vegas

Enjoy your trip! I'm planning a trip out there just to eat in October!