Attractions off the beaten path (Chicago, Melrose Park: hotel, homes, neighborhood)

[noofensmoke]

[SIZE=3]I am planning a family trip to Chicago. We will see all the usual attractions Shedds, zoo, sears tower, the museums. I am looking for things to do or see that are unusual but family friendly.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]Thanks[/SIZE]

[jwaiter]

https://www.imss.org/

Museum of Contemporary Photography

What to do in Chicago, Chicago hotel rooms and sites - Choose Chicago

[Doglover5]

Jwaiter provided you with some good links. In the third link, there's a section on bird sanctuaries -- some of which I never knew about.

Here's another suggestion: If your kids are into trying different types of food, you could check out one of Chicago's great restaurants, specifically ones that capitalize on Chicago's "hog butcher to the world" reputation... To that end, the Publican, which takes reservations, has all sorts of great pork and other meats, plus seafood. Some tables are long and communal; other seating is available at booths. Publican Also in keeping with the food theme: Chicago is known for hot dogs, and there are a couple of gourmet hot dog places. Hot Doug's is fantastic, though check before going as they sometimes have a quirky vacation schedule. Lines can be long and out the door. Hot Doug's Finally, not sure where you hail from, but not all cities have a Chinatown, but Chicago does. Lao Sze Chuan has very good Chinese food, and I've heard good things about Lao Hunan. Chicago Top-Rated Chinese Restaurants with Authentic Szechuan Cuisine

Finally, I'd check out the Chicago Architecture Foundation's tours. Boat tours are great in the summer, but I'm sure they have some good alternatives for this time of year. http://www.architecture.org/tours#

[marothisu]

If you're going at least Mid to late March or later, then easily easily easily the Boat Tours. If you're into architecture, then there's some awesome old huge row homes/mansions (including the original playboy mansion) in the Gold Coast.

When are you going though? Some of this depends on when you'll be going....there's more to do when it's warmer out.

[Doglover5]

Never been on one of these, and I have no idea if your kids are too young, but these tours seem pretty unique.

About.com: http://www.gangstertour.com/times_price.htm

[noofensmoke]

What about pinballs. Isn't Stern in Chicago? Maybe some places to play them.

[rca215]

Baha'i Temple?

[Vlajos]

How old are the kids? My kids enjoy the Children's Museum on Navy Pier.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by noofensmoke

What about pinballs. Isn't Stern in Chicago? Maybe some places to play them.

Chicago was once the pinball capital. Stern still exists in the area in Melrose Park, which is a western suburb (a little south of O'Hare intl). Would be interesting to see if they did any tours. Midway Games is also located in the Avondale neighborhood near DeVry University along the river.


Arcades have fallen out of favor, but there's still some. Unfortunately, a few of the good ones are actually barcades. There are some others though where you might have luck. Actually the largest arcade in Illinois is in the suburb of Brookfield called Galloping Ghost. There is a place in Logan Square that has arcade games to play I believe...called Logan Hardware which is a cross between arcade and game/vinyl record shop. Then there's Dave & Busters in Gold Coast but mehhh. There's some other great video game stores in town too that sell for pretty much every console ever created (one is in the Lakeview neighborhood).

If you're into the old stuff, there's some real great record stores too around.

[nightlysparrow]

Boat tour?

Chicago Boat Tours Comparison Lakefront and River