Help for a traveler (Chicago, Evanston: good hotels, university, live in) - Illinois (IL) - City-Data Forum

cldwv · 05-24-2010, 07:01 AM

My daughter and I are traveling from Indianapolis, IN to Milwaukee, WI next week and want to stop ~half way, have dinner, rest, maybe visit a city. My questions is:

I was sort of thinking Chicago was about half way but I'm not sure I want to stay in (especially downtown) Chicago. Can anybody recommend a nice suburb with good hotels and restaurants around that area (keeping in mind we are leaving for Milwaukee in the morning)?

It doesn't even have to be the Chicago area. If anyone who is familiar with the route could recommend a really nice place to stop for the night, it would be much appreciated as I am totally unfamilar with the area (traveling from Morgantown, WV).

Thanks so much!

Ace Rothstein · 05-24-2010, 04:11 PM

I'd say there is nowhere worth stopping near Chicago since you might as well just finish the trip as Milwaukee is only 90 miles or so north of Chicago. The entire drive should take you about 5 hours, just don't go through Chicago during rush hour.

dewthedru · 05-24-2010, 04:15 PM

totally agree. it's not that long of a drive and stopping for dinner/hotel doesn't make sense unless you're only doing it for the sightseeing.

soulful · 05-24-2010, 06:23 PM

If you want to stop somewhere, I would suggest staying in downtown Evanston, IL. Evanston is a suburb immediately north of Chicago. When you are on I-94 you could exit at Dempster Eastbound (verify on mapquest as their are other exits that might be slightly better). It will be about 15-20 minutes from I-94 to downtown Evanston. You could stay at the Orrington Hotel which is a large older hotel with excellent restaurant(or several other downtown choices). Stay somewhere near the Orrington as that is sort of the general epicenter of downtown Evanston. You will also be only a couple of blocks from Northwestern University and Lake Michigan. Lots of restaurants and shops in Evanston downtown due to the University, etc.

The other option would be just to stay in downtown Chicago at any hotel in the North Michigan Avenue area (where a lot of the restaurants and major dept stores are located). In all honesty, that might be more interesting if you have never been to Chicago (and if you stay on I-90/94 it is only about 10 minutes from the interstate to North Michigan Ave. hotels...you would use the Ohio / Ontario exit/entrances.....one goes east to North Michigan and the other will take you west back to I-94 after your overnight...mapquest is your friend). It is really easy and this part of the city is so safe. You will have to pay mega bucks to park overnight at your hotel but it is worth it and the easiest option. You can go to Priceline.com and bid on a 4 star hotel in the "N Michigan Ave area" using their "name your own price option" to get a good deal.

Either of the above would be good options. Have fun.

cldwv · 05-25-2010, 06:25 AM

Thank you so much everyone, for the thoughtful replies. We basically have a day to burn, which is the reason for the stop (we're following a concert tour). I think I've decided on Warrenville, IL. I know nothing about the town but it looked decently outside the city and only about 1.5 hours from Milwaukee.

I have to be honest, I'm a little afraid of Chicago because it's so big. I'm not sure why I feel this way. Granted, I now live in Morgantown, WV (which is small) but I'm from Pittsburgh and used to urban environments. I do have GPS on my side so I think I'm going to spend the day in Chicago taking in the sights then drive to Warrenville for the night.

dewthedru · 05-25-2010, 07:09 AM

hey...i moved to chicago from a smallish city in michigan and there's nothing to be afraid of. it's very easy to navigate and there is almost no worries about safety if you're in the touristy parts. if you've never spent time in the city, i would highly recommend doing so. if you have a day to burn, i would highly encourage you to spend the money, find a place on michigan avenue, and spend the day walking around. go look at the bean, the fountain, the lake front, and maybe the museum. you wouldn't regret it!

cldwv · 05-25-2010, 07:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dewthedru

hey...i moved to chicago from a smallish city in michigan and there's nothing to be afraid of. it's very easy to navigate and there is almost no worries about safety if you're in the touristy parts. if you've never spent time in the city, i would highly recommend doing so. if you have a day to burn, i would highly encourage you to spend the money, find a place on michigan avenue, and spend the day walking around. go look at the bean, the fountain, the lake front, and maybe the museum. you wouldn't regret it!

I think I'll take your advice. Thank you!

chet everett · 05-25-2010, 08:35 AM

If the intent is to add a tourist stop to / through Chicago I agree that North Michigan Ave is the way go, but it is quite pricey and just one day is going to make for quite a rushed attempt to do more than see a tiny bit of anything.

In some ways, depending on where you'll be staying in Milwaukee, I might lean toward just getting to your destination a night early and adding a whole other trip to Chicago at some future time.

Another thought is that if you really just want a 'break' from being in the car all day I can whole heartedly recommend an EASY diversion to one of the very fine regional malls like Oakbrook Center or Old Orchard, either of which would NOT be out of the way like going into Chicago or Evanston would be. In terms of what that does to one's schedule, if you were to leave Indy at 9AM EDT you'll probably be at Oak Brook very close to lunch time. You could easily spend a pleasant three hours or so shopping and eating then leave for Milwaukee to arrive by dinner time.

Now, before all the "urbanophiles" of the the forum jump be for the mere suggestion that one even consider a stop at so suburban a place, I will remind them that aside from some pretty high end boutiques the outdoor experience and selection at Oakbrook Center really is pretty special, the parking is FREE, the salestax rate is much lower and the diversion from the fastest path between Indy and Milwaukee is minimal. Grub is first rate too.

dewthedru · 05-25-2010, 08:45 AM

a $%&#ing mall????

chet everett · 05-25-2010, 09:29 AM

Yessir. Oakbrook Center , and Old Orchard for what its worth, BOTH are GORGEOUS OUTDOOR MALLS that are lovely in any weather due to the lay out. The massive amount of flowers that each have planted are surely the model / envy of Ritchie Daley and his planters / fences. Additionally the FOUNTAINS at each mall provide a relatively tranquil level of background noise that is much more soothing than the traffic clogging NoMi Ave. when you've been on the road all morning.

The choices in resturants is not quite as broad as you can find in Chicago, but given how many folks in Chicago choose corporate food any how at least it is done spectacularly well at Oakbrook Center, if you choose Old Orchard the Jewish specialities at The Bagel are pretty solid.

By staying at Oakbrook Center you will save a considerable amount of dough on parking and salestax, which certainly seems wise to me.

I can honestly say that there probably no other outdoor malls anywhere that really make Oakbrook Center look other than great. Well worth spending a few hours at for the shopping alone. Should you want to do something more culturally stimulating I can fully understand taking a few days to explore Chicago's superior ast museums, architecture and lakefront, but that is precisely why I would recommend making that a whole separate trip.