Questions on Nightlife (Chicago, Ramsey, Milton: hotel, home, safe area)

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by RarelyOffended

Chicago nightlife has taken a dive in the last few years

How do you figure?

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by itskimmy

I only know this: S Long Ave, Chicago, IL, United States

A little FYI: In America, many streets are longer on average than in some European cities. Giving the name of the street doesn't mean much of anything 99% of the time in a big city like Chicago whereas in parts of Europe, it could be very specific. Western Ave in Chicago for example runs almost 40 km long, so saying "I'm on Western" could mean a HUGE area. Get used to saying address numbers (i.e. 4000 S Long) or better yet with cabs, use cross streets (i.e. Madison & State).

Originally Posted by Drover

"S Long Avenue" with a Chicago address and 16 miles from Broadway sounds like you're staying somewhere near Midway airport. It's an OK neighborhood, but there's definitely not much for a young-ish visitor to Chicago to see or do down there and it's a long way to travel from there to the parts of town that have the things most visitors want to see and do. Unless there's a very compelling reason to stay there, such as it being free or darn near free, consider looking for somewhere closer to downtown or the north side to stay. Otherwise you'll end up spending either a lot of time or money traveling from there to your night club hot spots, and public transportation back to that part of town probably won't even be an option in the hours after the clubs have closed.

Completely agree. I assume the OP is staying with her friend though. There's some clubs on the south side, but a lot of the well known, big ones are on the north or NW sides (and a few on the near south side like Shrine). With cabs, it will rack up every night.

[itskimmy]

Yes, he did mention that he is closer to Midway Airport.

He said he doesn't go downtown that often, he personally doesn't like going down there as it is always busy but he is willing to take me sight seeing. As mentioned there wont be much to do locally except perhaps eat out.

It will be good to try out some new fast food restaurants that we don't have in England such as Taco Bell and Wendys etc. I'm excited to dine at places with classic neon signs which again is something we don't have here or the 'all american diner'. This may sound bizzare but sometimes it's the smallest things like this that can make a trip great. My friend recommended Dell Rhea's Chicken Basket over on Route 66 so that will be something I will be checking out for sure, plus I can take pictures of Route 66.

With it being early January, I am not sure how limited I am going to be for sight seeing and attractions but I know I want to be taking snap shots of some beautiful scenery so any recommendations would be great.

I was thinking of maybe a small roadtrip but I don't really know where we could go. All I know is, I don't want to come down to the states and stay indoors, I want to make the most of my trip.

I was also considering seeing a basketball game, it's not really a thing down here so the prospect of seeing the Chicago Bull sounds exciting but the tickets are pricey.

I will be staying at my friends house for free so I can't complain with that, all I will be doing is funding my flight ticket. Staying in a hotel is not within my means financially plus I would rather use that money for spending.

I have just turned 24 so I guess I just want to have fun. My friend doesn't drink which is a bummer but his girlfriend does so we'll be heading to a club or a bar atleast, he said he can drop us off and then pick us up.

Apologies I cannot be more specific on the address, all I know is the street number and zip code but I am not willing to share that on a forum.

[Drover]

An exact address isn't necessary; knowing that you'll be staying near Midway is sufficient. As long as you have a free place to stay and free transportation when you need it, you're pretty much covered and staying near Midway is pretty much a non-issue. Plus, that part of town may in fact have much of the "uniquely Middle America" ambiance you're after; and having a personal guide who is familiar with that specific area will help too. It'll also help to have someone who can keep you from wandering into some of the rather not-nice parts of town that aren't too far away from there.

You're the first person I've ever heard of who's actually excited at the prospect of American fast food, but whatever lights your fire... we sure have plenty of fast-food options in Chicago.

As for what kind of weather to expect in January... it's hard to know. Celsius temperatures could be anywhere from 10 degrees to -20 degrees. In any case expect it to be substantially colder than you're used to.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by itskimmy

It will be good to try out some new fast food restaurants that we don't have in England such as Taco Bell and Wendys etc. I'm excited to dine at places with classic neon signs which again is something we don't have here or the 'all american diner'. This may sound bizzare but sometimes it's the smallest things like this that can make a trip great. My friend recommended Dell Rhea's Chicken Basket over on Route 66 so that will be something I will be checking out for sure, plus I can take pictures of Route 66.

LOL Taco Bell and Wendy's. Gross! There's MUCH better food, even "fast food" in Chicago. Taco Bell is not real Mexican food - it's Tex Mex, but there's almost 600,000 people of Mexican descent in Chicago aloneo. You can get better, more authentic Mexican food for the same price as Taco Bell. Same with burger places. Skip Wendy's and Taco Bell. Both of them suck royally and you can get tacos, burgers, etc at other places that are 100,000X better. You might be the first person I've ever come across that would actually be excited to eat at those two places.

As far as Neon sign stuff - I don't know. I think your view of America is years behind reality for the most part. Yeah that stuff exists, but your view of the country at least in the main cities is years behind reality I think if you think that neon signed diners are all over the place.

[BleedCubbieBlue]

If you are staying in the Midway area and want mexican food, try Zacatacos on Pulaski and 59th or second location on Pulaski and 71st. I get that you would want to try fast food american places, but you'll be greatly disappointed when you do. So give Taco Bell a try, but redeem yourself by trying real mexican food. Want an old school simple diner? Try Huck Finn on 66th and Pulaski. You'll get donuts and ice cream too. Pretty american i guess.

[Nafster]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Most of them are open until 4am on the nights they're open and 5am on Saturdays. FYI the closing time on Saturdays for any bar in Chicago is 3am. Not all of them adhere to this, but I'd be willing to bet that at least 90-95% of the bars in Chicago close at 3am on Saturdays.

Anyway, the clubs that are open until 4am/5am any night of the week that they're open would be The Mid, Sound Bar, Spy Bar, Smart Bar, Primary, Castle/Palladium, Ohm, Dolphin, Evil Olive, Bodi, Koncrete, Neo (more of an alternative club), etc etc. There's really not a lot of them that don't stay open that late. The ones that might not are more lounges like Y Bar, Bevy, NV Penthouse Lounge, Parliament, etc.

There's actually a lot. I'm a night owl, and I never found a shortage of bars open until 5am Sat, 4 am the rest of the week.

Here's a good list:

Chicago 4 a.m. Bar Guide: Full List, Map of Chicago's Late-Night Spots - Chicago - DNAinfo.com Chicago

More are opening up all the time, especially around River North.

[chet everett]

I agree with Drover that as long as you know what you are getting into, with it being a friend that'll put you up for free, being near Midway is not all that bad. I was worried that maybe some unscrupulous / illegal "landlord" was trying rent out "hot bunks" like for flight crews near the airport...
As long as your friend has a car or you understand that the Orange line has more limited service than the Blue line your nightclub adventures should be fine.

I actually live fairly close to Dell Rhea's and it is classic example of 1950s American "road house" food. Quite tasty and a good value. That said, the immediate surroundings are now mostly corporate office parks and warehouses so that is nothing to get too excited about ...

About the most "road trip" oriented place in the region is St. Louis, that is however about 4 hours away. A better alternative might be Milwaukee which is about 90 minutes north. If there is a Marquette University basketball game to take in that might be much more affordable. Milwaukee also some inexpensive music venues near the campus which might be fun... The campus "newspaper" is often helpful for planning out events -- http://marquettewire.org/2014/07/11/...nch-tradition/

[IJEJB12&2]

To the OP, maybe you should reconsider April. If travel costs are all the same, you'll be able to do MUCH more outside in April compared to January. It will still be cool but definitely not winter cold.

Given how cool it's been along the lake front this summer because of last winter's freeze, I'm going to guess this winter is going to be pretty chilly as well. Plus, our weather frequently doesn't cooperate for road trips in January.

Not trying to rain on your parade, but you'll also find a lot more people out having fun in April. If you get here and the weather is miserable then I think you'll find a lot of locals staying in. On the upside, it's not really a challenge to find a late night bar in any neighborhood in Chicago.

[Drover]

Eh... unless you want to jog or ride along the lakefront trail or some such, there honestly isn't much more going on outside in April than there is in January. The streets may be a small bit more lively but there still won't any outdoor concerts or festivals or block parties or sidewalk seating or the like yet until about late May...