Long layover at O'Hare airport (plus overnight stay) (Chicago, Washington: credit card, theater)

[Mayel]

^^^^
I guess so.
Anyway, very courteous. Thank you.

[lizziebeth]

If the weather is iffy, I'd trust the blue line over a cab. Traffic may be a mess and on days where the weather isn't great or wasn't great the day before, it's more difficult to get a cab though not as bad downtown. That said, cabs are pricey. I'd estimate $40 from the airport to downtown before tip. Before I lived here, the blue line was my default for any travel downtown. Very easy trip. It's a 40 minute ride to the Loop.

I booked a room at the Hilton Garden Inn on 12/23 to spend a little time downtown around Christmas. I think my room is around $90 before tax. There may be other places that are slightly less expensive. There are a ton of hotels downtown and there won't be a lot of business travelers the week of Christmas. Or try Priceline, Expedia, etc.

Chicago is a beautiful place to visit for Christmas. You can definitely get a good sample of town from late afternoon through the evening. Enjoy!

[Mayel]

Originally Posted by lizziebeth

If the weather is iffy, I'd trust the blue line over a cab. Traffic may be a mess and on days where the weather isn't great or wasn't great the day before, it's more difficult to get a cab though not as bad downtown. That said, cabs are pricey. I'd estimate $40 from the airport to downtown before tip. Before I lived here, the blue line was my default for any travel downtown. Very easy trip. It's a 40 minute ride to the Loop.

I booked a room at the Hilton Garden Inn on 12/23 to spend a little time downtown around Christmas. I think my room is around $90 before tax. There may be other places that are slightly less expensive. There are a ton of hotels downtown and there won't be a lot of business travelers the week of Christmas. Or try Priceline, Expedia, etc.

Chicago is a beautiful place to visit for Christmas. You can definitely get a good sample of town from late afternoon through the evening. Enjoy!

Thank you.

Another question: Say I want to eat something at a place that isn't too expensive (or just affordable for someone being on a budget) where do I find that?

[chet everett]

Depends on what you mean -- Chicago is known for having an abundance of "affordable" places to grab a anything from a a delicous all beef hotdogs dressed with tomatoes, onions, hot peppers, neon green relish, a pickle spear, mustard and celery salt along with a pile of freshly cut french fries for under $5 to a massive bowl of beefy pho for about the same to all kinds of small plates at many newer "gastro pubs" for not much more, the difficulty is determining which of these are closest to where you are visiting...

[chet everett]

And I believe the good hosts of this forum have smart phone app designed to do exactly that.

(Of course there are other apps too...)

[Mayel]

Originally Posted by chet everett

Depends on what you mean -- Chicago is known for having an abundance of "affordable" places to grab a anything from a a delicous all beef hotdogs dressed with tomatoes, onions, hot peppers, neon green relish, a pickle spear, mustard and celery salt along with a pile of freshly cut french fries for under $5 to a massive bowl of beefy pho for about the same to all kinds of small plates at many newer "gastro pubs" for not much more, the difficulty is determining which of these are closest to where you are visiting...

I see. That sounds good.
I still haven't decided where to go exactly.

When does it get dark in december?

[chet everett]

We are not that far north but we are on the eastern edge of the central time zone...

Sunrise and Sunset for U.S.A. – Illinois – Chicago – January 2013

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by lizziebeth

If the weather is iffy, I'd trust the blue line over a cab. Traffic may be a mess and on days where the weather isn't great or wasn't great the day before, it's more difficult to get a cab though not as bad downtown.

As an almost everyday CTA train rider, I disagree. The trains are pretty on schedule even in less than optimal weather. The only times they get bad is when a tree falls on the tracks somewhere, which doesn't happen very much (maybe a few times a year at most). The only time I've legitimately seen the weather delay the train was once maybe 3 years ago when it was so cold (way below normal, in the negatives) that it screwed up a few relay stations in the Loop and things were running very slowly for a few hours. Otherwise, it's never even a thought that the CTA is going to be screwed up due to a little snow.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by chet everett

And I believe the good hosts of this forum have smart phone app designed to do exactly that.

(Of course there are other apps too...)

I made a smart phone CTA tracker, though I'm not going to post a link on here, but it's out there and free The CTA does have an app, but it's very basic. There's apps out there with better user experience than it - a lot of the apps kind of require you to know the name of the stop you're looking to go from which if you're unfamiliar with an area doesn't always work well if you aren't already at the stop or don't know the name of it.

[baileyvpotter]

Blue line overhaul.


O'Hare Blue Line to stay open during 4-year renovation - chicagotribune.com