Going to Chicago!

[MoneyGuy]

Originally Posted by Lithium

I'd goto Chicago for the wings.

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

The Wings play out of Detroit.

[4X4]

Originally Posted by MoneyGuy

The Wings play out of Detroit.

Don't tell that to Cameron Frye.

[Bean]

Wow, definately some great info here folks!

I really appreciate the suggestion for the John Hancock building instead of the Sears Tower and I will definately avoid Oprah....boy I can't stand her....(I have however signed up for Springer Tickets)

Okay; last question for you all....Can you recommend somewhere to stay? I've scoured Trip advisor and the hotels in our price range are pretty hit and miss; (more on the miss side.) I think I'd like to try to stay around the Millenium Mile area; but then it costs quite a bit more. Any suggestions??

I seriously can't wait for this trip....I've been hammering the ticketmaster site to see when the game will show up on the site and I'm just itching for the general public sale.


Thanks again to those who posted; especially to Oilers Baby..Much Kudos!
And to Red Sky...uh...thanks for coming out.

[getbak]

Sometimes you can get a pretty good price if you book your flight and hotel as a package deal. I assume you'll be flying United, but you can book it through Air Canada because they code share their flights. If you use aircanadavacations.com you can book the flight and hotel together, which will usually save you some money over booking separately (the only problem is that you have to pay the whole price up front, and can't change your hotel booking - which is why they give you a lower rate). You can also try the same thing through Expedia or Travelocity.

If you want to save the most, and don't have any specific hotel in mind, try using Priceline. There you specify which area of the city you want to stay in, the class of hotel you want, and the price you want to pay. They have agreements with various hotels to sell rooms at deep discounts and if your bid is high enough, they book your room. They only drawback is that you have no say over which hotel you get booked into, and can't specify anything more than the general area you want to stay in. Also, you can't cancel the booking, and your credit card is charged immediately. The advantage is that you can get a very nice hotel for significantly less than what you would pay otherwise.

A word of warning about Priceline, don't go for anything less than a 3 star rated hotel (try for 4 if possible) because things can get pretty dodgy if you bid on a 2 star or less. Anytime I've done at least a 3 star, I've had decent rooms in nice hotels.

[zukes]

We stayed up by O'Hare. It was a lot cheaper and right by the Blue Line which takes you right downtown. Public transportation is much quicker and you can get anywhere you need to go. Felt very safe on all of the trains.

Obviously, you need to hit up some Blues bars. There are so many. If you feel like going to a cool litlle sports dive, Harry Carey's is pretty neat. Dive bar, a few TV's and the bartenders free pour, so tip well.

Do not go west of the United Centre, it gets sketchy starting right about there.

Get a Chicago Deep dish pizza. It is well worth it, don't expect to be able to eat more than 2 pieces. Normally I can crush 6 to 8 pieces of a meduim, but damn, after two pieces I was full.

[Bill Bumface]

For hotels I would check out www.hotwire.com. I used that and ended up with the Hard Rock which was in a really good location. Chicago has so many hotels that the hotwire map is split into fairly small areas, so you know where you'll end up.

I would definitely not stay at O'Hare. Almost two hours of every day are gone just taking the train there and back. Plus you can't go back to your hotel to get different clothes if the weather changes, or drop off the stuff you bought or change into something nicer for dinner etc. Just not worth it when you are paying that much to be somewhere.

[schnee]

[quote=schnee]

Originally Posted by Bean

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.

I'm still catching up on things

Should be a good trip.. it's a great town. I'd love to get back there during hockey season.

For hotel.. we stayed at the Marriott on the Magnificent Mile (downtown). We lucked out on the rate & season... just keep checking rates online at Marriotts site and travel/discount sites.
From this location we were able to walk to a lot of cool places - and tolleys/transit are everywhere. You'll probably have to cab it to the United Center... but I think the magnificent mile is where you want to be if you are going to be there for a few days.

Trolley Info can be found here. Chicago Transit here.

Not sure if these are all must see's.. but these are some things we saw/did.


Chicago Tribune building was across the street from the hotel. There is a Tribune and Cubs gift shop there. Coolest thing was the bricks from other places embedded into the building.


Architechture of some of the buildings downtown is great.
ex. Carbon/Carbide building (Hardrock Hotel I believe)

p.s. If you missed buying something at the United Center, there was a Chicago hawkquarters official store is near/across from the carbon building.

Navy Pier was ok, lots of shops. But if you head there, do the Ferris Wheel if it is running ($5), take a camera - great view of the city. Bubba gumps resturant and a beer garden are also at the pier.

Navy Pier Site



Billy Goats Hambugers is at the Pier and the original I think was not far from the hotel on the Magnificent Mile. Good burger, but I'd probably get a double or triple next time.




Sears Tower... .. we spent about 1.5 hours... about half an hour was waiting in line to buy tickets, and that included watching a video about the tower before heading up the elevator. Apparently it is hit and miss with the view..... so you want to time your trip up on a clear day (no refunds for bad weather/haze/limited view). A good day you can see everything.. Soldier field, Wrigley Field, USCellular Field, Navy Pier, etc...

Hancock building observation deck is supposed to be great as well... but we weren't able to make it there.

Sears Tower SkyDeck site
Hancock Observatory site




Wrigley Field... take the tour if they are running them! Tour is just under 2 hours... definately take a camera - they show you everything and pretty much take you everywhere. Tour guides will take pics for you too if you want to get in them. You might want to book/buy a tour ticket online early. They do sell out.

Wrigley Field Tours






Millennium Park - if you have the time...might be cool to see the silver/steel bean. Park Site



Chicago Sports Authority Store. Stummbled on this by accident. Cool store, hand prints of famous Chicago sports players on the outside (Jordan, Hull, tons..)



Museum of Science and Industry. If you are into museums, plan for at least half a day.. if not the whole day. Will need to take a 15 min bus ride, or cab it to get there.
Must sees:
U505- German Sub.. they only issue a limited number of tour tickets each day, so order a tour ticket early to get best times ($5 on top of museum entrance fee, I think you can do this online or via phone).
Toymaker 3000... pretty cool.. it's for kids but I still loved it buy a toy for $5.. watch it being built from from plastic mold injection to assembly and packaging on an automated assembly line.
MSI site





Food..
Repeating what others have already said
Go here:

best pizza I've had.... ever. Went there two nights in a row.
Locations: here
Blackies - great food.. had a hambuger, service was great too.
Regal Beagle - couldn't stay because of time.... they had 3's company playing, and the food menu looked good.. next visit.



There were lots of great places we went to for lunch/breakfast around the hotel. I took business cards, but have misplaced them somewhere between Chicago and Calgary I'll post the names/locations if I find them.

Other things that were fun... recognizing things from Ferris Bueller.
Outfield seats at Wrigley field.

Condo Tower (not far from hotel)


That red thing Cameron and Simone walk by

[Bill Bumface]

[quote=schnee;1399800]

Originally Posted by schnee

Architechture of some of the buildings downtown is great.
ex. Carbon/Carbide building (Hardrock Hotel I believe)

Nice! That's where I stayed. Got it off of hot wire. Pretty cool building. I love all the tall and skinny skyscrapers from that era.

[OilersBaby]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

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.

The old water tower (again I cant remember the name) IS cool, and the areas surrounding it are fantastic with restaurants etc around. There is a mall thats awesome (it has the best food court in the world at the bottom!)...there are lots of boutiques and things around. It's all in the area of the loop (ie in the same general area as the John Hancock Building, a Giarordano's etc). Definately go to the JH Building!! I LOVE CHICAGO! It will be FREEZING in Nov!! Although you live in Calgary....I live in California and anything colder than 10 degrees is cold

Oh yeah, and if you're into the bar/club scene..last call is at 4 (or 5, i forget) am.....people stay out and then go out for pizza while they watch the sunrise (in the summer).

[pepper24]

Chicago is my favorite US city hands down. You'll have an awesome time!

Do what I am doing and get tickets to the Bears/Titans game at noon at Soliders Field, then head to the Hawks/Flames game at 5 pm at United Center.

I agree with the sugeestions about Chicago Deep Dish Pizza (Gino's or Giordiano's), Michigan Avenue (Magnificant Mile), Hancock Tower over Sears Tower, Billy Goat Tavern and eating/drinking at many of Chicago's great restaurants/pubs.

[zukes]

Originally Posted by pepper24

Chicago is my favorite US city hands down. You'll have an awesome time!

Do what I am doing and get tickets to the Bears/Titans game at noon at Soliders Field, then head to the Hawks/Flames game at 5 pm at United Center.

I agree with the sugeestions about Chicago Deep Dish Pizza (Gino's or Giordiano's), Michigan Avenue (Magnificant Mile), Hancock Tower over Sears Tower, Billy Goat Tavern and eating/drinking at many of Chicago's great restaurants/pubs.

Yeah Giordano's that was it. Fantastic!

[Canada 02]

I had deep dish at Giordano's for the first time this week. It was meh and overpriced