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Old 11-07-2012, 09:16 PM
 
5 posts, read 6,420 times
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Hi,

I'm from Brazil and my husband will attend a conference in Chicago (RSNA). We will stay 9 days in Chicago, but I think is too long for just one city, so we are planning to visit another place near Chicago (some place a couple of hrs drive for stay 3 days).

I read about Galena, Saugatuck, Lake Geneva, Door Country, and others. But we really in doubt what to do.

To add, I am pregnant and we have a kid with 2 year old. Any suggest or tips for us?

Tks a lot
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Old 11-07-2012, 10:34 PM
 
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Milwaukee - a city like Chicago but it is north and in another U.S. State.
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Old 11-08-2012, 08:18 AM
 
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What time of year is this conference? Honestly if it is winter there are some places on the OP's list I would ABSOLUTELY cross off -- Galena is too far and unless you are sure to have good skiing probably not worth going in winter. Similarly Door County is down right hostile weather after the middle of November and not really nice again until late spring. Towns like Saugatuck and even Lake Geneva are similarly so "summer vacation" focused that it becomes a challenge to entertain one's self in the off season.

I can sorta see the recommendation of Milwaukee, but it is remarkably similar to a much more compact version of Chicago so I am not sure that it is worth spending three days there.

I might recommend visiting other cities in the region -- Madison WI is their state capital and home to a very vibrant Big10 University as well as signficant population base that is mostly well educated / progressive, can be fun for a night or two. Heading the other direction, into Indiana or Michigan the college campus at University of Notre Dame is really an iconic setting. A bit further north in Ann Arbor MI the University of Michigan is very bustling town with many stereotypical American academic touches.

The difficulty of traveling with a child that is not yet of school age is that there really is not a whole geared toward them specifically but most "college towns" do have a child-friendly attitude in hotels & restaurants so that you wont feel as out of place as you might in a more "resort town" area that tends to be focused on adults or at least kids that enjoy things like "go kart tracks"...
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Old 11-08-2012, 08:31 AM
 
Location: Wicker Park/East Village area
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You'll find plenty to see and do in Chicago to more then cover 9 days!
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Old 11-08-2012, 08:50 AM
 
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Default I dunno -- the two year old will get antsy in the same hotel for than many nights...

Quote:
Originally Posted by jwaiter View Post
You'll find plenty to see and do in Chicago to more then cover 9 days!
If it was two adults or even kids a bit older, that might actually not get worn our "exploring" the city and surround area I'd agree that staying in Chicago for 9 days is fine. With a child that young I would worry that they'll get tired out, need to come back to hotel for naps and then get bored / cranky...
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Old 11-08-2012, 09:00 AM
 
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Saugatuck, Michigan
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Old 11-08-2012, 09:14 AM
 
28,453 posts, read 85,403,413 times
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Default Nice is summer...

Quote:
Originally Posted by rca215 View Post
Saugatuck, Michigan

... shutdown in fall / winter.

And arguably not really worth the extra driving time compared to town closer to the Indiana / Michigan border even in "peak season"...
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Old 11-08-2012, 09:19 AM
 
5 posts, read 6,420 times
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Tks a lot for the answers =)

The trip will be November 24 until December 2.

We think 9 days is too much, because it probably will not come back for this part of the USA anytime soon (or even again), so we thought it would be cool to know some more city in this area.

And what about Gurnee, Illinois (IL) ?
I saw in TripAdivisor that have a very nice resort for children in this city (KeyLime Cove Resort).

Other question, in this time of the year, snow a lot? cause we never drive in the snow (the really, we never ever see snow)

Sorry for my poor english
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Old 11-08-2012, 10:06 AM
 
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You're unlikely to see snow and if you do it's very unlikely to be significant...most likely just a dusting.
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Old 11-08-2012, 10:21 AM
 
1,325 posts, read 4,198,887 times
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Gurnee IL is a boring far north suburb of Chicago. I would not recommend it. Nothing to offer culturally in that area.
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