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Old 09-15-2011, 06:34 PM
 
Location: West Palm Beach, FL
590 posts, read 1,012,482 times
Reputation: 941

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Just a week vacation, but I can't wait for this coming Sunday when I will fly to Chicago and spend a week there.
I am done with all the museums in the City (I only need to go to the Chicago History museum as I have never been there), so the only must do is the Shedd as my wife said so....

The rest of those 6 days will be spent walking neighborhoods (a got a few great tips here a few months ago) and especially spending evenings listening to blues and jazz (Buddy Guy, Jazz Showcase, B.L.U.E.S and some smaller bars I found online).

I am also curious as I booked a Chicago Greeter tour, so Monday we will meet this local guy and he will take us around for about 3 hours in what should a tour of the city away from the typical tourist destinations accompanied by some local history lessons.

Of course I'll be back to my local favorite places, can't ever skip those: Quartino for food and The Joint. And I am pretty sure my wife wants to go back to Redhead as she loved it last time (I had a blast at the Joint instead, both during the week and on Saturday).

The only thing I don't like is I planned this wrong....the Bears are on the road so no live football...After watching my Dolphins being trashed by the Pats I needed an NFC game to recover...
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Old 09-16-2011, 01:59 AM
 
Location: Quincy, Mass. (near Boston)
2,941 posts, read 5,180,868 times
Reputation: 2439
Does one tip the person conducting the Chicago Greeter tour? It's a volunteer, no? But 3 hours is quite a commitment, so it would be nice if they're allowed to accept tips...
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Old 09-16-2011, 07:31 AM
 
Location: Chicago
2,884 posts, read 4,985,566 times
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Hi Mo, welcome back! We love having you visit.
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Old 09-16-2011, 09:54 AM
 
Location: Chicago, IL
77 posts, read 171,524 times
Reputation: 34
Mo, did you go to Chess Studios last time you were in town? It seems like something you would dig.
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Old 09-16-2011, 09:57 AM
 
1,325 posts, read 4,195,418 times
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MoItaly. I can't believe it has been two years! I remember you posting when you visited Chicago.
The Chicago Greeter tour sounds like fun and glad you will get to explore the neighborhoods.
Your trip sounds like a very good time.
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Old 09-17-2011, 11:04 AM
 
Location: West Palm Beach, FL
590 posts, read 1,012,482 times
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Hey guys, how are you doing?

Greeter Tour: the confirmation e-mail I got specifically says NOT to tip. But I know myself and my wife and there is no way we spend 3 or 4 hours with someone showing us around and not tip.
The easy solution, in case the guide might be offended by a tip (?) is to simply ask the guide to take us to lunch toward the end of the tour in a local eatery and pay the bill myself, so I am still respecting the tipping policy but give something to the guide.

Chess Studios: how did I miss that?? I just checked it out on explorechicago, there is no way I am not going there. Thanks for the tip, looks great!

We are flying tomorrow and Delta two days ago chenged my flight, so I'll be in CHI around 5:30 p.m., meaning by the time I get to the hotel, check in and walk as planned to Jimmy Green, the Dolphins's game vs. Houston will be over, so I had to take ten minutes yesterday just to curse at Delta...

Monday we have the greeter and in the afternoon we were planning to just walk downtown a little; guess what: Chess Studios to fill my first afternoon in Chicago sounds great!
In the evening we are going to Jazz Showcase for Ron Dewar concert.

Tuesday we complete the "things to do in Chicago" we haven't done yet, so it's Chicago History Museum and this Shedd Aquarium that my wife has been bugging me about forever (we were supposed to go last time we were in Chicago, but I was too busy touring pubs, bars and clubs...).
Evening at Buddy's Guy: it's blues, I can walk from the hotel on Balbo...can't beat that!

Wednesday-Thursday days we will follow advices we got from users here: Little Saigon, the Lincoln Ave between Wilson and Lawrence, Dank House german club (I am not german, but they gotta have some beer right?), Brown line to Francisco stop, where I was told to wlak the neighborhood, Argyle, Andersonville district, a beer or four at Hopleaf on Clark, Swedish-American museum in the area, pink line to Damen, Mexican Museum of Art, eat at Abuelo's, and a couple other walks, so I guess that's two full days (no cabs, I got my CTA cards in the mail a couple of weeks ago, I don't consider myself in Chicago unless I either walk or am on a bus or CTA line).

For the rest (night), beside Jazz Showcase and Buddy Guy's (Buddy is waayyy to close to the hotel, I can see stopping in there every night before going back to the room), I have a list of bars I wanted to check out but one I was thinking of going is B.L.U.E.S. on Halstead because on Yelp it got bad reviews from visitors and great reviews from locals...sounds just right to me.The have something going on on friday 9/23, my last night in CHI, so maybe that will be the right time (why fly sober the day after if you can avoid that??!).

I want to go back to some places we've been last time; beside Joint and Quartino, it might sounds stupid but a bar I really loved is Fado. We stopped last time for a beer around 2 p.m., left around 7 p.m., after I don't know how many beers and we actually had fun with the locals because they were all playing some kind of game in the bar, I think quizzies or something.

My wife wants to go to Redhead for at least a drink one night and to Disotto Enoteca (never been before); I want to go M Lounge because I read that Tue-Wed they have specials on drinks and free jazz LIVE! Specials on drinks+free live jazz = perfect combination for me.

So, we are going to keep busy, I am sure my wife will find the time to sneak a Macy's on State and pull an Italian job on my credit card, but that's part of travelling as well right?

I am looking forward to this trip and can't wait, I know this is going to be a week that goes by too fast.

Finally, congrats to the Bears for the big win against the Falcons and good luck vs. the Saints. Comes to mind: start of season against Atlanta, then New Orleans...did you guys upset somebody to get that schedule?
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Old 09-17-2011, 11:21 AM
 
Location: Cody, WY
10,420 posts, read 14,592,442 times
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The Chicago History Museum (Chicago Historical Society) is a great museum, one of the high points of a trip to Chicago. You could easily spend several most entertaining days there.

No one is offended by a tip.
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Old 09-17-2011, 12:33 PM
 
Location: Charlotte, NC
7,041 posts, read 15,027,604 times
Reputation: 2335
You should know that very, very few of the locals go to the Macy's and actually buy something. You can go there to admire the architecture, gawk at the lovely Tiffany ceilings and murals, but, never contribute to their bottom line. Why? Because they took away the name of our beloved Marshall Fields Chicago Wants Marshall Field's!

So, we boycott them. Ever wonder why the sales at Macys have been down the past few years? It's NOT about the recession!
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Old 09-20-2011, 09:36 AM
 
Location: Chicago, IL
77 posts, read 171,524 times
Reputation: 34
Chess Studios isn't fancy or anything and the tour is very minimal, but it's definitely an important place! The Rolling Stones even named a song after it when they recorded there (2120 South Michigan Avenue). Here's a photo of them recording at Chess:

http://www.streamingoldies.com/conte...ess-studio.jpg

Anyway, hope you have a fun trip!
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