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July 3rd Get up early (7-8 AM-ish), Breakfast at hotel
Drive to Oak Park, find street parking in a centrally located area
Check out Frank Lloyd Wright-designed buildings Have lunch somewhere (11 AM-ish)
Drive to the South Side, find street parking in a centrally located area
Visit Museum of Science & Industry (1 PM-ish)
Check out Jackson Park, the lagoons, Promontory Point Park really quick Have supper somewhere (6 PM-ish)
Take a walk on the University of Chicago campus
Drive back to Rosemont/hotel for the night
I believe there are 35 Wright buildings in Oak Park. It's walking tour, but I believe part of it can be a drive through tour, too..
Yep, we'll see what suits us best when we get there.
Quote:
Originally Posted by linicx
Sam's club was designed for busines/ bulk purchases. Some prices - fruits for example are very good. Other prices like a case of toilet paper or soup is iffy. Many time you can buy the same thing at Walmart at a cheaper price. [...] The prices are very reasonable for the quantity when compared to the quantity and price in a grocery store.
Oh, don't worry about us. I am an avid price shopper.
Some good places to check out downtown for lunches are:
The Gage (Michigan Ave)
Mercat a la Planxa (Michigan Ave.)
Takashi's Noodles (Loop - State street)
Xoco (River North)
Portillo's (River North)
There are many more places, but whatever you do avoid the many McDonald's and such and seek out the local places.
All right, guys, we're back! We ended up getting home at 2 AM this morning though, but that was clearly our fault for not leaving Chicago earlier...
First, you Chicagoans definitely have a lot to be proud of. The city is just plain stunning. We loved (or liked, at the very least) everything we visited and did during this trip, although I have to say that it didn't begin too well.
Upon trying to get to our Rosemont hotel room from the South Side on Friday afternoon, we got stuck in what I would call "the most extreme traffic I've ever been in" on the Dan Ryan Expressway (I-94) going north. I swear, it literally took us about 2 hours to drive the 5 miles separating the Chicago Skyway from 31st St. until I got completely fed up and decided to take the Stevenson Expressway (I-55) exit connecting us to Lake Shore Drive, ultimately ending back on Kennedy Expressway (I-90/I-94) through downtown. (I should have done that way earlier to save a load of time, but always kept thinking it would end up moving in the end!) Within that 5 mile span of I-94, everything was at a total standstill. I swear we must have sit in front of U.S. Cellular Field for close to 30 minutes. It was that horrible.
Second, thanks again for all of your help, as we succeeded in doing *almost* everything we had scheduled to do on our trip, and it's all thanks to the incredible deluge of assistance (there's no other words) we got from you guys in planning this Chicago trip right here on C-D. The only things we weren't able to do were to have lunch at Flo and Santos (no time, ate at the Field Museum McDonald's instead), check out Soldier Field from up close (no time, I had to take pictures from the Field Museum), get on the Navy Pier Ferris Wheel (although we went to the pier, it was WAY too packed), see the Jackson Park lagoons and Promontory Point Park (never found how to get there and our feet were *absolutely* killing us), walk the Gold Coast area (again, our feet were the problem), watch the July 4th fireworks from N. Avenue Beach (we saw them from the Lake Shore Marina just south of Navy Pier instead - which was probably even better in terms of view as they were right in front of us), and that's honestly it. Everything else we did/visited, and are very thankful for it.
In addition, we were able to do even more stuff than what we had planned! We were able to view the McDonald's Museum at Des Plaines IL, we did a late night "self-guided" tour of Terminals 2 and 3 at O'Hare (we had never been in an airport before, so that was pretty interesting), we did Lake Shore Drive southbound from start to finish, and we did the RiverWalk on our way back to the "L" from the fireworks display.
All in all, although we're still exhausted from the whole thing, it was definitely a wonderful experience. Chicago is a breathtaking city with something for everyone, and the people certainly seem nice. Definitely one of our best trips ever, despite the $60 parking ticket I got in the "No Parking" zone of a lakefront lot at Lake Shore/Oakwood. (I know, I was asking for it, although we were away from the car taking skyline pictures for a full 5 minutes at most. Not my brightest moment considering the cops were already on location when I got there, but all the real spots were taken...)
Now, does anybody know what happens when you have non-U.S. plates and you try to "contest" a Chicago parking ticket? I know Toronto just tosses out tickets on non-Ontario cars when they are "contested," so I'm very tempted to try my luck at it...
Now, does anybody know what happens when you have non-U.S. plates and you try to "contest" a Chicago parking ticket? I know Toronto just tosses out tickets on non-Ontario cars when they are "contested," so I'm very tempted to try my luck at it...
Pay the ticket. Even if the City of Chicago cannot nab you for it, consider it a "friendliness tax." Seriously, though, the city is broke, you were in the wrong and you would be doing the right thing by paying it.
I am delighted to hear that you enjoyed both Chicago and her people, VirtualAmerican. Brutal winters and a few bombed out areas aside, I think that it is one of the best cities in the world.
Pay the ticket. Even if the City of Chicago cannot nab you for it, consider it a "friendliness tax." Seriously, though, the city is broke, you were in the wrong and you would be doing the right thing by paying it.
No maclock, I don't think I'm going to do that. I'm of the school that teaches that if you don't bother to look out for yourself, no one else ever will. I'll try to save the $60 anyway I can. Money's a bit tight.
But I won't just ignore the ticket, either.
What I think I will do is send them a nice letter kindly requesting that they cancel the ticket saying I had possession of the ticketed car at the moment of the offense (I'm not the registered owner) explaining why I parked there (I wanted to take skyline pictures and no other legal spots were available) and how I wasn't preventing anything from happening as it should by parking there, informing them of the length of time for which I was actually parked there (all of 5 minutes at most), stating that I got back to the car before the officer finished writing the ticket and that, as a tourist, I actually remarked to the officer that I was surprised to see him ticketing me anyway, considering the car had Ontario plates and that I came back as soon as I saw him approach it.
If that doesn't convince them to drop it, I'll also remind them they are powerless to enforce the fine. I did some research - they obviously can't tow me, they can't prevent me from renewing my Ontario plates, and their collection agencies can't touch my Canadian credit. Here's why:
1. You need to accumulate as many as 5 (!) unpaid tickets before your car can be towed in the city of Chicago (That wasn't my car, I only have one ticket so far, I don't even live anywhere close to that city, and if I ever return, I will have a different vehicle so it won't be recognizable);
2. The City of Chicago issued the ticket, not the State of Illinois, so there is no reciprocal agreement for them to get the car's registration information from Ontario as there would be with a "moving violation" issued by Illinois;
3. If, by some unforeseen miracle, they go through the insane trouble of finding out who I am, where I live or what my phone number is (remember, the city doesn't have my information - this is a parking ticket), U.S.-based collection agencies cannot legally seize non-U.S. assets, and if they call me, I'll pretend I don't speak any English.
I'm thinking they're not going to bother getting a French-speaking interpreter on the phone for $60.
Quote:
Originally Posted by maclock
I am delighted to hear that you enjoyed both Chicago and her people, VirtualAmerican. Brutal winters and a few bombed out areas aside, I think that it is one of the best cities in the world.
I did. Immensely. Chicago is one of the most beautiful cities I've ever been to. I just cringe at the thought of spending a winter there - although the average temperature would probably be close to what we have in Canada...
Last edited by VirtualAmerican; 07-07-2011 at 09:38 AM..
No maclock, I don't think I'm going to do that. I'm of the school that teaches that if I you don't bother to look out for yourself, no one else ever will. If I can save the $60, I will.
But I won't just ignore the ticket, either.
What I think I will do is send them a nice letter kindly requesting that they cancel the ticket saying I had possession of the ticketed car at the moment of the offense (I'm not the registered owner) explaining why I parked there (I wanted to take skyline pictures and no other legal spots were available) and how I wasn't preventing anything from happening as it should by parking there, informing them of the length of time for which I was actually parked there (all of 5 minutes at most), stating that I got back to the car before the officer finished writing the ticket and that, as a tourist, I actually remarked to the officer that I was surprised to see him ticketing me anyway, considering the car had Ontario plates and that I came back as soon as I saw him approach it.
If that doesn't convince them to drop it, I'll also remind them they are powerless to enforce the fine. I did some research - they obviously can't tow me, they can't prevent me from renewing my Ontario plates, and their collection agencies can't touch my Canadian credit. Here's why:
1. You need to accumulate as many as 5 (!) unpaid tickets before your car can be towed in the city of Chicago (That wasn't my car, I only have one ticket so far, I don't even live anywhere close to that city, and if I ever return, I will have a different vehicle so it won't be recognizable);
2. The City of Chicago issued the ticket, not the State of Illinois, so there is no reciprocal agreement for them to get the car's registration information from Ontario as there would be with a "moving violation" issued by Illinois;
3. If, by some unforeseen miracle, they go through the insane trouble of finding out who I am, where I live or what my phone number is (remember, the city doesn't have my information - this is a parking ticket), U.S.-based collection agencies cannot legally seize non-U.S. assets, and if they call me, I'll pretend I don't speak any English.
I'm thinking they're not going to bother getting a French-speaking interpreter on the phone for $60.
It's your call of course. If I were you, then I wouldn't put any identifying information like your name, address or telephone number on any such letter. Of course, this may lead to you not knowing whether the ticket has been cancelled. If you are invited to telephone someone at the city, then you might be best advised to use the features of your phone to screen your telephone number. And even if Chicago as a whole is very friendly, I'd be surprised if the city bureaucracy were to cancel a ticket like that. They love a few bucks and they're in serious need of your dough.
Did you rent the car in the end? If you did and somehow they track it to the rental company, then you might end up paying for it anyway.
Quote:
Originally Posted by VirtualAmerican
I did. Immensely. Chicago is one of the most beautiful cities I've ever been to. I just cringe at the thought of spending a winter there - although the average temperature would probably be close to what we have in Canada...
It can be cold and snowy, but it isn't much worse than what you'd get in Toronto. I just don't care for winter anymore (if I ever really did).
I've never been much sold on the physical beauty of the place, but I love Chicagoans.
It's your call on what to do w/ the ticket, but let's just take everything for what it is:
-you parked somewhere you shouldn't have (even if for 5 minutes).
-you got a ticket.
-you can pay the ticket, or you can try to avoid it
-even if you try to avoid it in the "nice" manner you've described above, you're still avoiding it. Your explanation above is still an admission of guilt. To me, this is no different than skipping out on a restaurant tab. The city isn't some faceless entity. It needs money to function, and if everyone thought the way you did, they're going to get it from somebody...namely the residents that helped you out on this board planning your trip through property taxes, city sales tax, possibly a city income tax down the road.
-if you rented the car in Canada, and Chicago attempts to find out who drove the car, they will be able to get that information from the rental agency and the rental agency will hand it over to them. It also wouldn't suprise me if they have a Canadian-based collection agency under contract to at least try to convince you to pay, even if they can't legally make you pay.
-you can't be forced to pay, but with the city being in a poor fiscal position, they could implement future policies like hitting your credit, or heaven forbid, causing you an awful lot of trouble if you're ever back here and you get pulled over for something.
If you want to protest the ticket on the basis that you weren't violating the law, fine. But if you think you were violating and you don't want to pay, I see no difference between not paying and stealing $60.
Sounds harsh, but that's the way I see it.
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Back from the Windy City!
We loved (or liked, at the very least) everything we visited and did during this trip, although I have to say that it didn't begin too well. 
until I got completely fed up and decided to take the Stevenson Expressway (I-55) exit connecting us to Lake Shore Drive, ultimately ending back on Kennedy Expressway (I-90/I-94) through downtown. (I should have done that way earlier to save a load of time, but always kept thinking it would end up moving in the end!) Within that 5 mile span of I-94, everything was at a total standstill. I swear we must have sit in front of U.S. Cellular Field for close to 30 minutes. It was that horrible.
(I know, I was asking for it, although we were away from the car taking skyline pictures for a full 5 minutes at most. Not my brightest moment considering the cops were already on location when I got there, but all the real spots were taken...)
Seriously, though, the city is broke, you were in the wrong and you would be doing the right thing by paying it.
