Apologies to phone users. You can't just heap stuff up like this and be “responsive”. *sigh* embiggen

Table of Contents

Chicago originated at the marshy mouth of the river. (Go out the front of the hotel, turn left, go down to the corner of Michigan Ave., and there's a brass plaque dotted outline of the site of Ft. Dearborn.) The exponential growth of the city meant that drainage was a disaster. Chicago's solution was to raise the official grade level and lift the city. So along the river streets can be two level — East Wacker, West Wacker, North Wacker, South Wacker, Upper Wacker, and Lower Wacker. The development including our hotel has three-level streets.
When the Illinois Central Railroad was created in the 1850s it was given an area at the mouth of the river for a railyard — and to get to it had to run a trestle parallel to the lake shore, giving the city a free breakwater. In time, with the decline of railroads, the air rights over the yards became astronomically valuable, and “Illinois Center” was developed.

weather

The average high for Sept. 1 is 79° F, and the average low is 67° F. Our weather will probably be within 10° of that.

getting around

distance & orientation

Chicago is laid out on a grid. Streets are an eighth of a mile apart so a vernacular “block” is ⅛ mile (or 200 meters). Street addresses increase by 100 each block, counting from State (east of or west of) and Madison (north of or south of), so the address number also tells the distance. For example, the station name signs at L stations include the coordinates. The Hyatt Regency is at 151 East Wacker Dr., about 340 North. (The oldest part of the city is a little different. Roosevelt Rd (“Museum Campus”) is “1200 South” but only one mile south of Madison.)
The east-west streets in the Loop are named for Presidents, in chronological order, with some left out.

Here's a little map of 🗺️ the Loop (we're #9, top right), and another of 🗺️ “River North”/“Near North” (we're at the bottom, on the river).

Illinois Center’s building names and addresses are only loosely connected. The address of the west tower of the Hyatt iis 151 E. Wacker Dr, the east tower is 201 E. Wacker Dr; and the Fairmont is 200 N. Columbus Dr. On the other side (west) of the west tower is “One Illinois Center” and south of it is “Two Illinois Center”. One is 111 E. Wacker; Two is 233 N. Michigan. Continuing down Michigan Ave, the next building is Michigan Plaza at 205/225 N. Michigan Ave. There's a pedway through. The restaurant row is the stretch of the pedway through Two/233.

The vernacular city is a crazy quilt of 🗺️ “neighborhoods”. Any more detail is beyond our immediate scope, but a Chicagoan might identify a location by its coordinates or by its neighborhood. (I live in Rogers Park, 7800N and 1600W.)

all those funny names for the expressways

Lake Michigan squeezes together the east-west Interstates, giving us more numbers than we need, so the doubling up gets messy. You may want both a name-number cross reference and a 🗺️ map.

For understanding radio traffic reports, there are both narrative and 🗺️ map forms. Things are generally pretty smooth between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m.

parking

You'd rather not. By May, I'd already talked with someone considering leaving their car in Kenosha for the week and coming from there on the train.
((update 8/26)) The north exit from the Grant Park underground garage (by way of the Illinois Central station underneath Michigan and Randolph (the last electric interurban with a route across a state line)) is a quarter mile from the hotel. SpotHero lists places as low as $100 for five days, but convenience varies.
Fortunately, there's more than you need in walking distance, and a lot of things are a reasonable (under 3 miles) cab/lyft/uber ride.

CTA  (“Chicago Transit Authority” – where the band got the name)

Chicago has good bus & train service. (All one system, with transferring back and forth.) A lot of buses run on Michigan Ave., the corner downhill from the hotel. The hotel is about half a mile from the L or subway.

) credit/debit cards, so you really don't need to buy a fare card. If you will be making a lot of trips (more than one round trip a day), it's cheaper with a day pass. The closest place to the hotel to buy passes seems to be the Walgreens drug store at 300 N. Michigan. The ticket machines in the airports sell them too. Fwiw, there seems to be a Walgreens every block or three in all directions

The CTA does a good job with maps. There's a pretty well-arranged 🗺️ online map (we're “Illinois Center” on the south side of the mouth of the river). The easiest place to get a paper copy of the 🗺️ system map is from the attendant at a train station.
And for trip planning, Google maps or the CTA homepage.

(By the way, the L goes beyond the city limits. The Purple/Evanston line goes north into Wilmette (ah, the Baha'i Temple!); the Lake St. L Green line goes west into Oak Park, where they're still cashing in on Frank Lloyd Wright and Ernest Hemingway; and the Congress Blue Line goes to Forest Park, ending a couple of blocks from the Haymarket Memorial in Waldheim/Forest Home cemetery, set in the middle of the world's greatest collection of dead anarchists.  [2] )

from the airports

Taking the L from the airport is simple, but it takes you half a mile from the holel. You can hail a cab/lyft/uber or walk, but it's a nuisance. Sorry
There's a subway station under the middle of O'Hare. You don't even have to go outside, the tunnels go there. Your stop is Clark & Lake, a giant transfer station, but with plenty of elevators.
The Midway L station is a little odd to get to, since the airport has been expanded several times. The Washington & Wabash Loop elevated station is closest to the hotel.

Union Station

Union Station is at the diagonally opposite corner of the Loop, about a mile and a half from the hotel. It's walkable if you want to.
You can take a cab/lyft/uber, of course.
There's a great big bus shelter on Jackson between Canal and Clinton, south side of the station the second block from the river. Take any bus going to North Michigan Ave., and get off at the Michigan Ave. Bridge. The hotel is a block up the slope.
Or the water taxi to the Michigan Ave. Bridge.

food near Union Station

besides the stuff inside the station

Greektown is two blocks west of the station.
A block west of the south side of the station is Lou Mitchell's, a great breakfast place. (closed Monday & Tuesday)
Two blocks east, over the river and past Sears Tower, is Luke’s Italian Beef, 215 W Jackson.

taxicabs

Chicago has two taxi-hailing apps, Curb, and ARRO, and a cab fare estimator. (Yes, there're lyft and uber and all them, but this will give you a reliable estimate of cost.)

water taxis

From the Michigan Ave. Bridge to the train stations and on down to Chinatown

bicycles, bike tours, segway tours

The geography is very flat, the city bike map is OK, there's a network of pickup-dropoff rental bikes, you can take a bike on the CTA or ride 18 miles of lakefront.

• maps and rides
• bicycle rental
  • Bike and Roll Chicago: rentals, tours, segway tours
  • Bobby’s Bike Hike: rentals, tours

Accessability

Chicon is serious about Accessability.
Rent a Scooter or Wheelchair “We strongly recommend making your reservation now to ensure device availability. All reservations should be made no later than 10 days prior to your arrival date. ”

less expensive accomodations

There's a Hosteling International hostel at Congress and Wabash, a mile south of the Worldcon. (And the Cuban sandwich place in the lobby is outstanding.) A mile from Worldcon is a serious inconvevience, but $60 a night is seriously cheaper! (see note on bus passes under CTA, mentioning a LOT of buses up & down Michigan Ave.) A week of a 10-bed dorm is $367.20.
They sell CTA passes there, too.

If you're looking further afield, keep in mind that a zillion busses go over the Michigan Ave Bridge, right past the hotel, and that all the L lines are about a half mile away. Plug the address where you might stay into Google Maps to see how to get to the hotel.

food

restaurant guides

There are 3,000 restaurants within 3 miles of the Loop. This is only what I know and like. It is not a comprehensive restaurant guide (if such a thing were possible).
(I assume if you're going to a famous expensive place you made your reservations months ago and don't need any help from me.)
Ten years ago there were half a dozen important restaurant guides. Now there's yelp. ☹️

South of the river and north of the river are different food neighborhoods, and there's a more recent West Loop. South of the river is mostly breakfast/lunch for office workers, and mostly only open on work days. North of the river is much more an entertainment-dining area. And the “West Loop” is a hot restaurant neighborhood.

Chicago food

There are a lot of dishes peculiar to Chicago.  [2]  [3]

I was close to middle-aged before I discovered that Italian beef isn't as universal as hamburgers or tacos or Polish. It's a Chicago thing.  [2]  Mr. Beef (666 N. Orleans, between Erie & Huron, about 1¼ mile) is the real deal.

Chicago hot dog: In Chicago, we realize the nutritional value of a hot dog is practically nil, but we love them anyway. We build a salad in a bun and, if there is room left over we'll add a hot dog...dragging it through the garden. A traditional Chicago hot dog has an all beef kosher style hot dog (usually Vienna), on a steamed poppy seed bun. It is topped with slices of pickle and tomato, diced onions and a nuclear green relish, yellow mustard, and celery salt. Sports peppers are considered optional. Ketchup is not used on a traditional Chicago hot dog (probably because the sweetness of the ketchup was not a good match for the spices in the hot dogs, but possibly because there wasn't room for ketchup on the Maxwell Street pushcarts where they originated). (There are hot dog stands that will tell you to go down the street to McDonald's if you ask for ketchup.)
If you want the full array of choices of Polish, Chicago dog, or Italian Beef, the place to go is Portillo's, a massive local chain with a big store at 100 W Ontario.

Yes, Chicago is serious about pizza. One "best" list lists Tavern, deep-dish, New York, Detroit, artisanal, "rare and regional", Sicilian, and Neapolitan styles.
[A local SMOF thinks this needs more detail. He writes:] Pizza: Chicago has three main styles of local pizza: thin crust, deep dish, and stuffed. Usually when people refer to Chicago style pizza they mean deep dish or stuffed, but many people don't know the difference between the two types.
Chicago thin crust has a stiff, slightly crunchy crust and is frequently cut "tavern style," which means squares instead of wedges.
Deep dish has a thicker crust and is baked in a two-inch deep pan with the crust rising up along the sides of the pan. Usually for a deep dish pizza, the cheese is placed on the bottom, followed by the toppings and then a thick layer of crushed tomatoes (and a heavy dusting of grated parmesan cheese on top).
Stuffed pizza uses the same deep pan but has a thin crust shaped to the pan, all the way up the sides. The toppings are laid at the bottom of the dough bowl, which is then filled with cheese. A second crust is placed on top and cinched around the sides. Holes are poked into the top crust and then the sauce is poured into the depression formed between the upper crust and the top of the pan.
The canonical folklore is that Chicago pizza originated after WW II as bar food at 🍕 Pizzeria Uno (I don't know why the colloquial pronunciation is "Uno's"), though the younger sibling a block away, 🍕 Pizzeria Due ("Due's") is at least as popular. Send someone ahead an hour early to wait in line to order your pizza(s); the rest of the party needn't be there until it's just about ready. You do want to take a look at Medinah Temple across the street. It was saved from the wrecking ball by being recycled into a department store, which is really weird, but at least its exterior is still there.
Most of Chicago's most popular chains have locations convenient to the hotel, including 🍕 Giordano's, and 🍕 Lou Malnati's. And there are half a dozen others within a 10 or 15 minute walk.  

🍿 Garrett's Popcorn is a popular downtown institution too. There are half a dozen locations up and down State St. and Michigan Ave.

There seem to be too many Harold's [(fried) Chicken Shack] locations to count, but one source said 40 in the city proper, mostly on the South Side. Harold's is more like a federation than a chain; a lot of the stores are different from each other. The closest to us are #62 at 636 S Wabash; #88b at 1450 S Michigan; and Clinton at 115 S Clinton.

south of the river,  “the Loop”

The Loop is heavily oriented toward office-worker lunches, with relatively little after 5 pm or on Sunday or holidays. Our hotel is part of an enormous development of about 8 city blocks. The pedestrian corridor through the office buildings is lined with breakfast/lunch restaurants. Unfortunately, they are only open on work days. Go to the Bronze level (one below the main entrance level), head west (your left as you face the river) out of the hotel as far as the corridor goes, and turn left. You'll be in the grand corridor running through the three adjacent office buildings. (I have been looking for a map or restaurant list since I started working on this list. THERE IS NONE!) Here is a diretory of 233 N. Michigan, the middle of the three office towers. However, Michigan Ave is crawing with lunch-y places (and more higher-rent places on the riverwalk). Here are some addresses: 410   Freshii 360   Corner Bakery Cafe 360   Smashburger 333   Pretzelmaker 333   Kaliflower 326   Naf Naf Grill 316   Chipotle Mexican Grill 307   The Sky-Line Club 300   Subway 233   list to the right     (few open weekend/holiday) 225   Starbucks 225   Sweetwater Tavern & Grille 225   Mezza 224   Venteux Brasserie, Cafe & Oyster Bar 189   Nutella Cafe 181   Stan's Donuts & Coffee 180   Noodles & Company 180   Five Guys 180   Au Bon Pain 168   bout Last Knife 151   Sbarro 151   Garrett Popcorn Shops 151   Protein Bar 151   Auntie Anne's 150   sweetgreen And more a block east on Wabash. 216 N Emerald Loop 185 N Elephant & Castle 180 N Panda Express 174 N Capriotti's 172 N The Halal Guys 156 N Popeyes 152 N Deep Purpl - Acai Bowls   21 N Oasis Cafe   way in the back of the Jewelers Mall   18 S JIAO by Qing Xiang Yuan Dumplings   22 S Nando's PERi-PERi   28 S Naf Naf Grill   30 S Flat Top Grill   60 S Corner Bakery 134 S Miller's Pub 226 S Exchequer Restaurant & Pub

north of the river, “River North”/“Near North”

Due to history and density, there are a lot of neighborhood names overlapping in a small area: “River North” is from the river to Chicago Ave. (800 N); “Near North” is from the river to Division (1200 N). From Division to North Ave. (1600 N.) is the Gold Coast.  (explanation of Chicago's "hundreds" street numbering above)
The stretch of Michigan Avenue north of the bridge is “the Magnificent Mile”. East of Michigan is “Streeterville”. ("Cap" Streeter may be the most implausible celebrity in Chicago's history. The Wikipedia article is wildly hostile, and not too accurate, but it is not possible to be completely accurate  [2],  [3],  [4].)

North of the river there's a lot more for tourists and conventioneers.

Just over the bridge, across Michigan Ave., and downstairs ("lower Michigan Ave." looks nothing like "the Magnificent Mile"!) is the . . . famous? notorious? legendary? 🍔 World Famous [sic] Billy Goat Tavern & Grill (430 N. Michigan).

west of the river,  “West Loop”/“River West”

Downtown has been spreading west for a while. There's a lot to eat across the (South Branch) river.

The old Haymarket, Randolph west of Halsted, is a stretch of Randolph St. that's extra wide to support all the wagon traffic it used to have. There's a not-bad statue with bogus commentary plaques where the speakers' platform cart was on May 4, 1886, for the rally that ended in a police attack and a dynamite bomb. There are now myriad restaurants about 800-1000 west.

“Greek Town” is just down Halsted St., a great place to overeat. Ya gotta start with saganaki, which may be a Chicago invention

a little further

There were once a lot of great delis to choose from, but not any more. The last survivor is Manny's down by Roosevelt Rd (1141 S. Jefferson). It really is posible to run into anyone in Chicago there. When the Mayor or the President do photo ops, they really eat lunch. ("Holiday Menus: High Holidays; Passover; St. Patrick's Day")
A newer place that's also pretty good is Eleven City Diner at 1112 S. Wabash.

Chinatown is 3 miles or a short subway ride south, and, of course, has LOTS of restaurants. My favorites include Joy Yee and Lao Sze Chuan (map) in the big mall on Archer; Little Three Happiness (which has a “Chicago-based culinary chat site” named after it) on Cermak; and Evergreen down Wentworth.

a few more suggestions

🚕 = too far to walk

• off-menu Beijing Duck Dinner (must be ordered in advance)

Sun Wah BB

🚕 5039 N Broadway
around the corner from the Argyle Red line L station

• Italian beef

Buona Beef - Streeterville

613 N. McClurg Ct.

• hot dogs

The Wieners Circle

🚕 2622 N Clark St
famously abusive staff

Superdawg

🚕 6363 N. Milwaukee Ave
It's closer to O'Hare than the Loop, but it is beloved.

• barbecue

Chicago q

🚕 1160 N Dearborn St

• Thai

Star of Siam

11 E Illinois St.

• my favorite Indian buffets

India House

59 W Grand Ave
Lunch, Friday, Saturday, Sunday

Indian Garden

2nd Floor, 247 E Ontario St
Every day 11 am - 3 pm

• frozen treats

Mario's Italian Lemonade

🚕 1068 W. Taylor St.

Rainbow Cone

Navy Pier, 600 E Grand Ave

Black Dog Gelato

🚕 1012 W. Lake St.
🚕 859 N. Damen Ave.

JoJo's Shake Bar

Water Tower Place, 835 N Michigan Ave

23 W Hubbard St

Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams

🚕 908 W. Randolph St.
🚕 1419 N. Wells St.

Shopping

There's a Target just over the river at 401 E Illinois St., about half a mile (go over the bridge to the east), and another in the fabulous Louis Sullivan building at State and Madison, about three quarters of a mile.

shopping for party supplies

This is a little trickier, because parking and convenience to other stores are important.

• The two dominant supermarket chains are Jewel and Mariano's.
  The very closest is a Mariano's at 333 E Benton Pl. Since some of the streets here have three levels, ask the concierge for directions. It's about a third of a mile.
• (When the wind is right, parts of the Loop smell like chocolate. Blommer Chocolate Company is that close. Alas, the factory store is no more.)
• Binny's Beverage Depot is probably the biggest liquor dealer in the city. The nearest store is at 213 W. Grand Ave. The parking lot is tiny, but they'll bring your order out to your car.
  Binny's mother ship is at 1720 N Marcey St. It's out of the way, *BUT* it's on the way to a COSTCO, a mile or so further.
• The nearest COSTCO is at 1430 S Ashland Ave (Google doesn't know any better than to send you through the "Spaghetti Bowl" interchange. Just go down Michigan and over Roosevelt.).
• The nearest big supermarket is a Jewel at 370 N Desplaines St, which has a parking lot
• There's a Mariano’s in the West Loop, with rooftop parking, at 40 S Halsted.
• The closest Trader Joe’s is at 44 E Ontario St, but forget about parking.

There is a Jewel (with a big parking lot) at 1224 S Wabash Ave, kitty-corner from a Trader Joe’s (1147 S Wabash Ave) – and up the street from a Binny’s (1132 S. Jefferson St.) and the Roosevelt Rd. Staples (below).

shopping for chocolate (north)

• There's a Fannie May two doors down at the corner of Wacker and Michigan, 343 N Michigan Ave
• Ghirardelli Ice Cream & Chocolate Shop is in The Wrigley Building, right across the river, 400 N Michigan Ave
• ROYCE' Chicago is in "The Shops at North Bridge", 520 N Michigan Ave Space 520, about a 10 minute walk
• L.A. Burdick Handmade Chocolates is at 609 N State St, about a 15 minute walk
• Leonidas Chocolate Cafe is at 59 E Chicago Ave, not quite a mile
• 900 N Michigan Ave has three chocolatiers, 1 mile
• Teuscher Chocolates of Switzerland on the 5th floor
• The Chocolate Bar on the 5th floor
• Madame Delluc Artisan Chocolatier on the 3rd floor

shopping for chocolate (south)

• Kilwins is at 310 S Michigan Ave, just south of the Art Institute, not quite a mile

“dispensaries”

Sunnyside Cannabis Dispensary 436 N Clark St
Ascend Cannabis Dispensary 216 W Ohio St

shopping for office supplies

There's a Staples a few blocks south of the hotel, and another at Roosevelt Rd., near the shopping listed just above. And there's a big Office Depot at 352 W. Grand.

post office and shipping

Streeterville PO
355 E Ohio St Ste 200
Mon-Fri 9:00 am-6:00 pm

Finance Station E
100 W Randolph St (State of Illinois Building)
Mon-Fri 8:00 am-5:30 pm

Fort Dearborn
540 N Dearborn St
Mon-Fri 8:30 am-6:00 pm
Sat 9:00 am-3:00 pm
Sun 10:00 am-2:00 pm

MAIN
211 S CLARK ST
Mon-Fri 7:00 am-6:00 pm

drug stores

The two dominant chains are Walgreens and CVS. You can't be more than a block or two from one.
The very closest is a tossup. The CVS at 205 N. Michigan Ave. is the other end of the pedway through the office buildings. There's another CVS at 205 N. Columbus Dr.
The nearest Walgreens is just over the bridge at 410 N Michigan Ave (Michigan Ave & Kinzie). The next closest are 342 E Illinois St (McClurg & Illinois — over the bridge to the east of us), 151 N State St (State & Randolph), 30 N Michigan Ave (Michigan & Washington).

Lake Michigan is 50% larger than the Netherlands

• Chicago River 1893 (We're approximately the location of building #3.)
• Lake Shore Drive
• Oak Street Beach
• the North Ave. Beach Chess Pavilion  [2]


• the largest freshwater dune system in the world
  • Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore
  • Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

the ball parks

• Wrigley Field
• getting to Wrigley Field on the L
• Wrigley Field Tours
• Cubs schedule
  
  
• New Comiskey Park
• getting to New Comiskey Park on the L
• “U.S. Cellular Field” tours are available for groups of 10 or more on Tuesdays and Fridays - 10:30 a.m. on game days and 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on non-game days. Advance reservations are required. For details and rates, call 312-674-1000.
• White Sox schedule

Museums

• lists of museums
  • Museums in Chicago / The Complete List (2022) (sic)
  • MuseumsUSA
• discount packages
  • Chicago CityPASS: 5 museums within 9 days
  • Go Chicago Pass: 26 attractions; prices from 1 to 7 days
  • Chicago Tourist Pass Comparison  [2]
• the Biggies
  • Art Institute
  • “Museum Campus”
  • A. Montgomery Ward Bust  —  the man who gave substantial parts of his fortune and his life to establish this park for us
  • The Field Museum of Natural History
  • Shedd Aquarium
  • Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum
  • 🎡 Museum of Science and Industry  [2]
  • 🎡 Oriental Institute Founded in 1919 by James Henry Breasted.
  • The Grand Army of the Republic's gift to Chicago of a uniquely gorgeous Library, now Chicago Cultural Center
  • Chicago Historical Society History Museum
• relatively close by
  • McCormick Bridgehouse & Chicago River Museum; “99 Chicago Riverwalk” SW Bridgetower at Michigan Ave. & Wacker Dr.
  • Chicago Children’s Museum; Navy Pier
  • American Writers Museum; 180 N Michigan Ave, 2nd Floor
    “Ray Bradbury: Inextinguishable” Sept. 1-5
  • Driehaus Museum (Robber Baron mansion); 40 E Erie St
  • Columbia College Museum of Contemporary Photography; 600 Michigan Ave
  • Chicago Sports Museum; Water Tower Place, Level 7 (835 N Michigan Ave)
  • Chinese American Museum of Chicago; 238 W 23rd St
  • Museum of Broadcast Communications; 360 N State St, 2nd Floor,
  • Museum of Illusions Chicago; 25 E Washington St
  • Chicago Fed's Money Museum: temporarily closed
  • Pritzker Military Museum & Library; 104 S Michigan Ave
  • International Museum of Surgical Science; 1524 N. Lake Shore Dr.
• Lincoln Park
  • Lincoln Park Zoo  “Free and open to all, 365 days a year!”
  • obligatory Illuminatus! trivia
  • “Caligula X. Bushman”, the caricature of Judge Julius Hoffman of the Conspiracy Trial, is named after Chicago's favorite gorilla.
  • Lincoln Park Conservatory
  • The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum
• Art (besides the Art Institute)
  • Public art in the Loop
  • If you go see the Picasso, go back to the corner of the building behind her and look at her one quarter profile. She is not at all abstract.
  • Museum of Contemporary Art
  • Museum of Contemporary Photography, Columbia College
  • Loyola University Museum of Art
  • Richard H. Driehaus Museum “one of the few remaining examples of the palatial homes erected by the wealthy of America's Gilded Age”
  • National Museum of Mexican Art
  • 🎡 The David & Alfred Smart Museum of Art
  • The Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art
  • National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum
• national, ethnic, &c. museums
  • 🎡 DuSable Museum-African-American History
  • Mitchell Museum of the American Indian
  • Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies
  • Hellenic Museum and Cultural Center
  • Chinese-American Museum of Chicago
  • Irish American Heritage Center
  • Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture
  • Polish Museum of America
  • Swedish American Museum Center
  • Ukrainian National Museum of Chicago
• Jane Addams Hull-House Museum
• list of museums with kids' stuff
• specialized & further out away
  • Bronzeville Historical Society
  • Bronzeville Children's Museum (9301 S. Stony Island Ave.)
  • neighborhood & township museums
  • A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum (10406 S. Maryland Ave. in Pullman)
  • Chicago Baseball Museum [in development]
  • Cernan Earth and Space Center [River Grove, 25 mi.]
  • Lederman Science Center [Batavia, 40 mi.]
  • Fox River Trolley Museum [Elgin, 45 mi.]
  • Illinois Railway Museum [Union IL, 60 mi.]
  
  
  • collections
    • Chicago Baseball Museum
    • Fire Museum of Greater Chicago
    • Lincoln Park Zoological Library, Chicago, Illinois
    • Chicago Jewish Historical Society
    • Leather Archives & Museum

• Chicago Jazz Festival

  September 1 – September 4

• cemeteries

  • Graceland Cemetery is where the great and mighty are buried
  • Rosehill Cemetery ("Roe's Hill")
    A. B. Dick is here.
    Rail fans! George S. Bangs, inventor of "fast mail" (railroad "mail cars" like in all the Westerns), is too. (mid-page – the marker with a rail car on it!)


• Reebie Moving and Storage is a contender for the most over-the-top King Tut enthusiasm ever.

Architecture / going walkabout

• original site of Fort Dearborn
• go down to the corner of Michigan Ave. and look for the dotted line of bronze strips in the sidewalk.
• the one and only Chicago Architecture Foundation 👈 is right next door to our hotel.
• walking tours; boat tours; bus/trolley tours; L train tours; bike tours; segway tours
• A good Loop Art Tour map

• over the Michigan Ave. Bridge & “the Magnificent Mile”

• Michigan Avenue Bridge  [2]  [3]
• McCormick Bridgehouse & Chicago River Museum
• visible from the bridge . . .
• Trump International Hotel and Tower
• spoils the view of what was “IBM Plaza”, a classic Mies van der Rohe
• Marina City really is designed to look like corncobs; it was decades early for the trend of multi-use residential downtown development
• Wrigley Building Mr. Wrigley put his building here to give his friend, "Big Bill the Builder", Mayor William Hale Thompson, an additional excuse too build the Michigan Ave. bridge.
• The Tribune Tower, "Colonel" (“the greatest mind of the fourteenth century”) McCormick's monument to his ego newspaper. The walls are studded with his collection of rocks from every important building in the world.
• What is currently the InterContinental Chicago Magnificent Mile was built by the Masons in 1929 as a health club. From the onion dome atop its tower, to the Babylonian frieze running around the building to the tenth floor swimming pool to the Moorish staircase entryway to the Medieval-oid feast hall, it has to be seen to be believed.
• Navy Pier has a varied and colorful history, but its current use is housing for half a mile of generic tourist traps, although the way cool hemmispherical ballroon at the far end is still really neat.
• Tree Studios housed artists for generations, until recent rising real estate prices forced the building into normal use.
• The glorious Newberry Library, a stupendous research library, is a couple of blocks west of Michigan Ave.
  And it's across the strteet from Washington Square Park aka Bughouse Square, a permanently deeded free speech area with heaps of colorful history.
• The ill-fated Chicago Water Works Pumping Station was completed just before the Fire, but its standpipe ("a castellated monstrosity with pepper boxes stuck all over it" – Oscar Wilde) has become indelibly notorious. (Yes, it really did inspire the White Castle Hamburger motif)
• The very first tourist tip in Chicago is about going up on The John Hancock Center. Don't go to the observation deck. The floor below is The Signature Lounge where, for the price of the deck, you can have a snack or a drink in a comfy chair. Also, the view from the Ladies’ is supposed to be spectacular.
• When Hugh Hefner got rich and famous, he bought what had been the tallest building in Chicago when he was a child, The Palmolive Building. (Until the Hancock went up, there was a revolving beacon on top, called the Lindburgh Light.) It was here at the Playboy Building that Wilson and Shea got so much nut mail for the Playboy Forum that they were inspired to write Illuminatus! . . . and Frank Robinson, whose office was between theirs, saw an apartment fire one day way up in the Hancock which eventually became The Glass Inferno with Tom Scortia, which became about 2/3 of "Towering Inferno" . . .


• And at the top of Michigan Ave. is the Oak Street Beach, one of the great Chicago experiences. It's the beginning of more than eight miles of uninterrupted park.
• The Oak Street Beach sort of segues into the North Ave. Beach, *BUT* at the south end of the North Ave. Beach is the North Avenue Chess Pavilion.

• Michigan Ave. southward & Grant Park

Note for walkers: From the hotel down Michigan to Congress and over to Buckingham fountain is a total of about a mile. From the fountain down to the Field Museum is about another mile.

• The London Guarantee and Accident Building (360 N. Michigan Ave.), at the south end of the bridge, is the one with the Greek temple on top.
• The Carbide and Carbon Building (230 N. Michigan Ave.) has awesome, distinctive gold-on-black detailing.
• The The Crain Communications Building (150 N. Michigan Ave.) has the stupidest roof in Chicago: the entire thing is one enormous slope. The first couple of winters, pedestrains were in real danger of getting avalanched.
• The old Library and Grand Army of the Republic Museum, now the "Cultural Center"
• The “Chicago Cultural Center” (78 E. Washington St.; Michigan from Randolph to Washington) was the library for a century. A gift to the city from the Grand Army of the Republic, it also housed a Civil War museum. The entire 4 1/2 floors of the building are mosaic, floors, wall, and ceilings, and it has the two largest stained glass domes Tiffany ever made. (Tours are Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.) At present, it seems to be threatened once again by Chicago's incorrigible Plow&Build fixation.
  I recomment entering on the south end, through the pseudo-Roman entrance, walking slowly up to the third floor rubbernecking in all directions, up, down, sideways, and around. The dome on the third floor was the main circulating desk. Then up and across the fourth floor, and down to the second floor and Grand Army of the Republic Hall. Finally out through the north, Greek-style entrance.
• Chicago Cultural Center
• The original main desk, now "Preston Bradley Hall". The same Bradley family as Alice Bradley Sheldon.
• The other Tiffany dome, in the anteroom to G.A.R. Hall.
• The Pittsfield Building (55 E. Washington St.), half a block east of Michigan, across from the library, has one of the enormous meant-to-impress atria from the earlier days of skyscrapers.
• Go over to State Street and go through the north-south axis of “Macy's” the Marshall Field’s building, along the State St. side. (“111 N. State St.”; Randolph to Washington & State to Wabash), watching the upper floors and the ceilings all along the way.
• Reliance Building (1 W. Washington)
• Millennium Park (east side of Michigan Ave., Randolph to Monroe) is Mayor Daley the Lesser's Versailles (56 pp. puffery). It ended up costing two or three times the original astronomical estimated cost, but it's very nice.
  It's most famous feature is “The Bean”, one of the most successful pieces of public art ever.
  Behind The Bean is The Pritzker Pavilion (most things in Millenium Park have corporate names) where there is music of all sorts all summer.
  
  (The jazzy new Pavilion superceded the Petrillo Music Shell behind the Art Institute on Jackson, still used for the biggest shows, like the Chicago Jazz Festival; which superceded the old bandshell just northwest of the Field Museum, which was "temporary" for the Century of Progress in 1933 and ended up being used until 1978.)
  The Crown Fountain is another spectacularly successful piece of public art, but doesn't seem to have a vernacular nickname. It is always surrounded by a lot of people, of all the many kinds Chicago has, enjoying it. Especially kids.
• The Chicago Athletic Association (12 S. Michigan Ave.) is a club in the old plutocratic sense. There's recent news that the building is going condo, which at least will keep it intact.
• I doubt you can do The Art Institute (111 S. Michigan Ave.) in one day, but you can overload in less than a day. About the only thing to say about it is, please go if you can! You can get vertigo in the Impressionists from all the deja vu – painting after painting that you're familiar with . . . from reproductions; these are them! Wandering through the 20th century wierd and coming face to face with American Gothic. (Nighthawks is out on loan.)
  My own first stop is always the Japanese print gallery to see what novel, informative theme is currently curated from the Institutes enormous collection.
• The “Symphony Center Arcade” (220 S. Michigan Ave.) used to just be Orchestra Hall until a big expansion a few years ago. Yes, the home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
• The Santa Fe Building is beautiful terra cotta, with a gorgeous atruim — and the Archicenter store.
• The Fine Arts Building began life as the Studebaker carriage company showrooms. Take an elevator, still is run by elevator operators, up and walk down the stairs, admiring the increasingly elegant decoration as you descend
• The Auditorium Theater Building is a world-class treasure. (Tours Mondays at 10:30am and noon and Thursdays at 10:30 am.) Admire the original hotel lobby, on Michigan Ave., and if you can, go up to the top floor, where the library is now in what was the grand restaurant.
• The Indians (“The Bowman” and “The Spearman”)
• Between the Indians and over the tracks is Buckingham Fountain, an apotheosis of American excess. There are shows of the jets on the hour, and light shows after dark (until 10). Around the fountain are the largest surviving stands of elm trees, and stretching north and south are rose gardens (though I don't know how they've been doing this year).
• We have a lot of statues of Abraham Lincoln. Here's one.

• Dearborn &c

• under construction

• The Loop
• George Washington-Robert Morris-Hyam Salomon Memorial: East Wacker Drive at North Wabash Avenue
• Marina City (300 N. State St.)
• (330 N. Wabash)
• (55 W. Wacker Dr.)
• Chicago Theater (175 North State St.)
• Macy's on State (111 N. State St.)
• The Reliance Building (32 N. State St.)
• Daley Center (55 W. Randolph St.)
• Daley Plaza
• Picasso, Miro, Blues Brothers
• our Picasso, her origin story, & her profile, my favorite obscure aspect
• 1st & Chagall
• Chase Tower (10 S. Dearborn)
• The Marquette Building (140 S. Dearborn)
• The concept and detailing of the Marquette Building [2] are superb, the reliefs of Marquette and Joliet over the entrance are grand, but go into the lobby for the balcony-level mosaics
• The Mies van der Rohe Federal Center
  • United States Post Office - Loop Station (211 S. Clark)
  • Kluczynski Federal Building (230 S. Dearborn)
  • The Dirksen Federal Building (219 S. Dearborn)
  • Alexander Calder’s “Flamingo” The enormous lobbies of the office buildings are decorated with large stone Seals of the United States. If you look south from the Flamingo, through the glass to the wall of t he lobby, you'll see the biggest Eye in the Pyramid evar.
• The Berghoff (17-27 W. Adams)
• Monadnock Building [2] (53 W. Jackson)
• Fisher Building (343 S. Dearborn)
• S. Dearborn Street [Fisher Building]
• Chicago Board of Trade (141 W. Jackson)
• Chicago Board of Trade Building
• Chicago Board of Trade
• Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago: 165 West Quincy Street
• The Rookery: 209 South LaSalle Street
• The Rookery with the radical showoffy atrium made possible by the cutting edge cast iron skeleton.
• Rookery Building
• The Home Insurance Building: Adams and LaSalle
• 190 South La Salle Street: 190 South La Salle Street
• Union Station: Great Hall


• a list of all the showiest Tiffany

• Prairie Avenue Historic District

• under construction

• In the 1880's, Potter Palmer built his mansion here. The two-year construction was completed on schedule, but finishing the interior took two more, for a final cost of $1,000,000. Mrs. Potter Palmer's guests eventually included three U.S. Presidents and the Prince of Wales.
• Prairie Avenue
• Glessner House
• Glessner House
• Clarke House “the oldest house in Chicago”, moved in 1977
• Clarke House
• National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum
• 🎡  

  Hyde Park / U. of C.

• ( besides the Museum of Science and Industry)
• University of Chicago [2]
• The Oriental Institute
• Robie House
• Public Art in Chicago: University of Chicago [Nuclear Energy, The site of world's First Nuclear Reactor - by Henry Moore]
• Fountain of Time
• Jackson Park
• Statue of the Republic

• Oak Park & Frank Lloyd Wright

• Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust, Oak Park
• Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House, Hyde Park (University of Chicage neighborhood)

• under construction

• Charnley-Persky House (Wright under Sullivan; Gold Coast)
• charnleyhouse.org
• Frank Lloyd Wright architecture tours, Home and Studio
• Jane Addams Hull-House Museum
• Unity Temple: Frank Lloyd Wright's Modern Masterpiece
• Haymarket Memorial
• last of the Gold Coast: the Cardinal's mansion

some used bookstores

well, mostly used bookstores
roughly sorted by neighborhood

• more or less downtown

  After-Words
  23 E Illinois St
  312-464-1110

  Newberry Library Bookshop
  60 West Walton St.

  Abraham Lincoln Book Shop
  824 W Superior St, Suite 100
  312-944-3085

  Open Books West Loop
  651 W Lake St
  312-475-1355 x2008

• Lincoln Park

  Bookman's Corner
  2959 N Clark St
  773-929-8298

  The Gallery Bookstore Ltd
  923 W. Belmont Avenue [@ Belmont L]
  773-281-9999

  Unabridged Books
  3251 N Broadway St
  773-883-9119

• Wicker Park / Milwaukee Ave

  Occult Bookstore
  2032 W Grand Ave
  773-292-0995

  Quimby's Bookstore
  1854 W North Ave
  773-342-0910

  Myopic Books
  1564 N. Milwaukee Ave
  773-862-4882

  Bucket O'Blood Books & Records
  3182 N Elston Ave
  312-890-3860

• Ravenswood

  Ravenswood Used Books
  2005 W Montrose Ave
  773-661-6020

• Lincoln Ave.

  The Book Cellar
  4736 N Lincoln Ave
  773-293-2665

• Andersonville

  👩👧👦 💖 Women & Children First
  5233 N Clark St
  773-769-9299

  Uncharted Books
  5140 N Clark St
  872-208-7021

• Rogers Park

  Armadillo's Pillow
  6753 N Sheridan Rd (way north)
  773-761-2558

  Heirloom Books
  6239 N Clark St
  239-595-7426

• Pilsen

  Open Books Pilsen
  905 W 19th St
  312-243-9776
  FREE KIDS BOOKS, and pay what you want for everything else

• 🎡 Hyde Park

  Seminary Co-Op Bookstore
  5757 S University Ave
  773-752-4381

  Powell's Bookstore
  1501 E 57th St
  773-955-7780

  57th Street Books
  1301 E 57th St
  773-684-1300

• WAY South

  Bookie's
  10324 S Western Ave
  773-239-1110

  Bookie's
  2015 Ridge Road, Homewood
  708-377-0789

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• Download Chicago Audio Tours

credits

Sources are embedded in URLs already, of course, and I used a lot of Google and wikipedia, but a couple of sources stand out.
First and foremost, Google introduced me to an avid architecture photographer named Jyoti Srivastava.
“Artefaqs Corporation is a leading provider of stock and custom architectural photography . . . ”