Visiting Chicago

[Cottontail]

For pizza, I prefer Connie's which is on Archer over near Chinatown.

I think that a 14 and 17 year old would probably enjoy the Science and Industry Museum and the Skydeck at Willis Tower. I find the Field Museum to be a little dry, and the Shedd, while the dolphins are cool, is just another aquarium in my opinion.

If the kids like music, you can get into Andy's Jazz Club one night for dinner and live jazz. You are going at a time where the weather will allow you also to spend a little time on the beaches of the north shore.

Chicago is a fun city. My dad grew up on the far south side (163rd) so we went several times a year. Enjoy.

 

[jjchgo]

agreed. carmelized crust.

jj, you'll like this one....should be renamed "shit that white out-of-state transplants living on the northside not originally from chicago would say" but you'll get the point.

Wait for the hotgdog scene.

Oh, and colorado boy, stay downtown.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ofy5gNkKGOo

lmao...the hotdog scene had me die'n.

 

[macgyvr]

agreed. carmelized crust.

jj, you'll like this one....should be renamed "shit that white out-of-state transplants living on the northside not originally from chicago would say" but you'll get the point.

Wait for the hotgdog scene.

Oh, and colorado boy, stay downtown.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ofy5gNkKGOo

"There's always next year"

mac 'I thought the mayo on brats was bad' gyvr

 

[Beezil]

"There's always next year"

mac 'I thought the mayo on brats was bad' gyvr

you retards were putting ketchup on handmade italian sausage.

made me sick to see such disrespect.

goddamn rednecks

 

[macgyvr]

you retards were putting ketchup on handmade italian sausage.

made me sick to see such disrespect.

goddamn rednecks

no, it was mayo

yes we are rednecks down here cityboy

mac 'i thought chewy was going to lose his mind' gyvr

 

[1989TwoDoor]

Baseball game?

 

[XJFang]

Sorry I'm late to this thread, I've been busy.

I am severely bemused by all the suburbanites that have commented on this thread. The last commenter is from Greenwood, Indiana? sheesh!

Granted, what I have read is not necessarily bad advice.

But bringing a 14 and 17 year old to Chicago. your f'ing kiddin' me. You have bigger issues than what pizza or museum.

Give the 17 year old an unlimited 1-day CTA card, a map of the city and $40.
Tell them to 1) not venture south of 18th street; 2) stay off the Green 'L'-line and west branch of the Blue and 3) to be back in time for Pizza.
Repeat the next day.
I'm sure with that and their smart phone they will have all sorts of fun. Also shows you trust him/her. If they get really lost, the money can be used for cab fare to get back to the hotel.

Take the 14 y.o. to Navy Pier, catch a movie at the Imax. Try a Cubs game; get tickets on the street but not from a scalper. Don't bother with the White Sox. Their neighborhood sucks. You'll be here in August, presumably. It'll be hot and miserable. Take them to Logan Square and show them Hipsters in their natural habitat. Catch a movie in the Logan where you can have a beer. Take them shopping at the Alley near the intersection of Belmont and Clark.

On the third day send the 14 year old with the 17 year old and have a day to yourself (or yourselves if with a spouse).

Good luck!

 

[turtlexj]

Can't believe no one has said come in on the 18 and hang out with the mwc at brewfest

 

[FlexdXJ]

Can't believe no one has said come in on the 18 and hang out with the mwc at brewfest

I was about to, you beat me to the punch.

 

[Ronbo]

Ketchup...? Lol

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=F5JIpT4GkyM

 

[jjchgo]

Sorry I'm late to this thread, I've been busy.

I am severely bemused by all the suburbanites that have commented on this thread. The last commenter is from Greenwood, Indiana? sheesh!

Granted, what I have read is not necessarily bad advice.

But bringing a 14 and 17 year old to Chicago. your f'ing kiddin' me. You have bigger issues than what pizza or museum.

Give the 17 year old an unlimited 1-day CTA card, a map of the city and $40.
Tell them to 1) not venture south of 18th street; 2) stay off the Green 'L'-line and west branch of the Blue and 3) to be back in time for Pizza.
Repeat the next day.
I'm sure with that and their smart phone they will have all sorts of fun. Also shows you trust him/her. If they get really lost, the money can be used for cab fare to get back to the hotel.

Take the 14 y.o. to Navy Pier, catch a movie at the Imax. Try a Cubs game; get tickets on the street but not from a scalper. Don't bother with the White Sox. Their neighborhood sucks. You'll be here in August, presumably. It'll be hot and miserable. Take them to Logan Square and show them Hipsters in their natural habitat. Catch a movie in the Logan where you can have a beer. Take them shopping at the Alley near the intersection of Belmont and Clark.

On the third day send the 14 year old with the 17 year old and have a day to yourself (or yourselves if with a spouse).

Good luck!

lmao@you trying to call people out.

this is some of the worst advise ive ever heard. i would not send a 17 yr old off into the city by himself. since you are mr. chicago i would have thought that you know that this has been one of the most violent summers in chicago in recent memory.

you going to call bridgeport a shitty neighborhood but then tell people to go to wrigleyville/lakeview...again not such good advise. so far this summer i would be willing to bet you have a better chance of getting your ass kicked or your iphone stolen comeing out wrigley then coming out of the cell.

not that logan square is bad but is also not somewhere that i would recomend to out of towners.

cheers,

jj

 

[seanR]

I was waiting for that...

Good way to get your kids picture on a milk jug....

"Look ma, I have my own Amber Alert"

 

[XJFang]

Well, I see that jj and Sean have resorted to fear and 'be scared of the big city' tactics. Makes any suggestion easy to dismiss.

That is fine. You can stay in your basements. And jjchgo, you calling me Mr. Chicago is the best. What is your login?

i would have thought that you know that this has been one of the most violent summers in chicago in recent memory.

As to violence in the city, it has been far worse in the past; maybe you are not old enough to remember that. The present occurrences are mostly inter- and intra-gang and primarily occurring on the south side. Where is Bridgeport again?
You might as well argue that you shouldn't come to Chicago because of the killer heat wave. It has killed 20 people and hospitalized several dozen more. There are lots of ways to die: In Chicago homicide just beats out suicide as #10. Please don't come to Chicago and kill yourself.
Certainly theft happens, but it is most often opportunistic in nature and exercising common sense is the best preventative. Just like anywhere else in the f'ing world. Sorry I assumed that it is possible to have some common sense in a 17 y.o.

Matt is more than welcome to ignore what I suggest. Its an option that isn't the 'go to museums and eat pizza' that 99.99% of tourist do. When I go on to a forum, I'm asking for the local perspective, not suggestions verbatim from cityofchicago.org. Chicago is bigger than the Loop; I'd think you'd know that and encourage exploration to our ' friends'. So you two, Sean and jj, think it is crappy advice? OK.

 

[4wdParakeet]

When my wife and I went to Chicago it was to do the "tourist trap" things. Things that our town has but not to the same extent. You gave him advice of things to do that well he and his family could do at home. I'm sure they have a baseball game to watch, or an IMAX theater, or an amusement park and what city doesn't have an area of "hipsters".

My wife and I went to chicago to see a better quality of attractions. The aquarium is top notch there. One of the best I've seen. KC doesn't have anything like the glass rooms hanging off the Willis Tower. Walking around the Loop and makes KC's ritzy shopping areas look like a inner city mall. Our town doesn't have a science and tech museam that will hold a candle to chicago's. Among other things like the. Tourist traps are just that things that will draw the people to the city and what people go to see.


Are there many other things the locals like to do? Of course there are but most of the time when it comes to local flair it's not much different to home. We were there when a Bears game was happening. It looked like Arrowhead just a different colors in the crowd and a different stadium. It wasn't about fear, thier posts were about what to spend his tourist dollar on that they can't in their hometown.

I don't know if you are old enough to have teenagers but I would guess not. Your perceptions change once you have them and see how stupid the choices they make when your not watching them.


Parakeet

 

[seanR]

Not trying to disrespect you, but sending a teenager out into a strange large city alone is not a very good idea.
I know people do it all the time, but they grew up here, they know the area and are "street wise".

 

[XJFang]

parakeet,

I think this is beginning to get too off topic, but I respect your perspective. You provide a good rational without resorting to derision. As to age, I've friends of my age that have high-schoolers; mine is significantly younger.

Sean, no disrespect taken. When did you get to be so nice?

 

[87manche]

Sean, no disrespect taken. When did you get to be so nice?

his disposition has improved dramatically lately.

I should call him to make sure it's not someone that's stolen his identity.

 

[FlexdXJ]

his disposition has improved dramatically lately.

It has?

Definitely take the kids to the Aquarium. I went as a kid and loved it.

 

[seanR]

Shut up Flex, You think you are so F'ing smart not that you have a full head of teeth, don' you?

 

[FlexdXJ]

Shut up Flex, You think you are so F'ing smart not that you have a full head of teeth, don' you?

The tooth raised my IQ by 13 pts. I'm now at 14!