One week vacation: Chicago or Texas?

[augiedogie]

If you want to visit Texas/San Antonio, Austin Hill country, that's a pretty nice time to go. Right now would be perfect. If you like sunshine and warmth, Texas. Too hot in the summer. Chicago at that time of year could end up being not much better or maybe worse than Seattle. Check the average snow in December. Breeze off the lake in the afternoon in DEc. No thanks.

[eskercurve]

(former Chicagoan here) If you go to Chicago, check out Blue Man Group. I've been twice and luckily been picked to be a part of the show once. It's quite the experience! Great music and if you're lucky ALL your senses get a workout. Yes, all 5. Most people at least 3.

Another thing to check out is the wide variety of food. Best gumbo and Louisiana style cooking north of the Mason-Dixon line there is. And yes, you should experience Chicago pizza at least once in your life. At least you'll get to know whether you like it. I would steer clear of the seafood. It's ... not as fresh or local as it is here. We're blessed in Seattle for seafood. Worst of all, you might run into a restaurant that serves Orange Roughy, which is one of the delicacies there but is way overfished. Unless of course you want to try some of that Asian Carp that's been invading the waters there. Heard it's like eating dirty clams. Bleh.

The weather could vary from rainy kinda cold, like here, to sunny and cold, to snowstorms and sub-zero temperatures. Meaning sub-zero F. Not C. Sub-zero deg C is easy in November in Chicago.

I second an architectural tour. I also second taking time to check out both museums of art (modern and classical), and there's other museums that might fit your fancy. The plantarium is cool, and off the beaten path compared to the Industrial and Aquarium. They're all fantastic but if you don't have a lot of time you can choose. You like opera or classical? The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is world-known and is one of the best.

If you're into sports, they have hockey and basketball and hand-egg (american football) this time of year. ... assuming the hockey player lockout gets resolved that is.


Do go to the Sears Tower (or the 'whachoo-talkin-bout-Willis?' Tower). And the Hancock building.

Do go to the Drake Hotel for a piece of classic American charm in hotels (though don't expect stellar rooms if you stay there ... it's going on 100 years old and the rooms are currently being renovated). Do go to the bar there, if you're lucky you'll have a charming asian man who knows his BMWs serving you the best Manhattans in town. Just as well, you likely just walked the Magnificent Mile and need a drink to warm you up.


Chicago Metromix is one website to check for local attractions and stuff going on. There's a HUGE comedy scene there now. And of course, check out a blues joint for Chicago blues.

[hamellr]

Originally Posted by usernametaken

I prefer Chicago unless the temperature is < 40F when you go there. I got bored in San Antonio and hated the driving and drivers and in-obvious possibly automatic tolls in Dallas. After I returned my rental car, a month later I got a $50 bill in the mail for two missed 50 cent tolls! Still no idea how I could have missed them since I never saw any staffed toll booths nor signs recommending people to slow down for tolls ahead. Austin is good, but a bit overrated.

You might have got scammed by the car company. There was some news about this a while ago, independent operators were charging for "missed tolls," but when asked could never produce the actual fines from the Highway Division.

At this time of the year I'd probably lean towards the Texas route. I'm not a fan of either option though. While parts of downtown Chicago are great, the endless suburbs bug the heck out of me. As a tourist it's a very expensive city too. $20+ parking at the museums for instance. The general attitude of people there, sales people at retail stores are extremely hard sell and won't take "no" for an answer. Chicago has some good public art, the Naval Pier isn't bad for a one time visit.

As others have pointed out, the driving habits of Texans are pretty bad, even compared to NYC or LA. It's the only place I've ever actually been afraid to drive. The Alamo was OK to visit, the river front in San Antonio was cool for about an hour, but not as awesome as everyone has told me. Food wise SA is BBQ and Mexican, other choices are hard to find unless you want fast food. Dallas is an OK city to visit but the downtown is very "sterile." It's shifted to be more touristy in the past few years but still has a long ways to go. Austin feels like it's trying to hard to be a west coast city so it can thumb it's nose at the rest of Texas. It has a good music scene, good food, decent public art, OK museums, but unless you're "in the know," via local knowledge, it's as boring as other Texas cities.

If you want to explore urban, I'd suggest something more along the lines of Philadelphia. South Street has a ton of great food, including one of the best BBQ places in the US. There are a ton of museums there that would take a week to explore properly, not to mention the amount of public art and the art museum. It's fairly compact so you can walk to most of the interesting points, and if you can afford it, the Loew's hotel is highly recommended. (Work puts me up there all the time.) There is a great Marketplace right across the street who's name escapes me right now, but it's sort of like Pike's Place but more heavily oriented towards food.

[Peak2Creek]

San Antonio river walk. Worth the trip IMO.