Chicago on a Budget with Children

The American Girl store, Festival of Lights, and the Art Institute Museum were highlights for the children - staying well within my budget by finding lots of free activities was a highlight for me.

Quick Tips:

I was on a tight budget during the trip and didn't buy the kids any 'stuff' - well, I let them buy books but I don't think those count. Instead I bought disposable cameras (so I wouldn't cry if mine got lost or trampled) and put the film in the shop each night so the girls and I could spend part of each day putting together a travel journal. The cameras and film development weren't exactly cheap but they functioned as a free activity at both ends - while taking the pictures and while putting together the journals.

Best Way To Get Around:

I rented a car, a must if you want to get out of the city on a whim. While in town walking/bus is perfect, especially near Michigan Avenue where parking lots charge by the minute.

It did not snow much while we were there, so I felt comfortable driving. Had there been a lot of snow we would have strictly gotten around on foot or used public transportation.

After allowing myself to be run ragged through the American Girl store I felt it was time for a little quiet luxury and where better than the tea room at the Drake Hotel.

The ambience was lovely - there''s a fountain in the middle of the room in which the girls could pitch coins and make wishes without disturbing the other guests. The wait staff did not look askance when we spilled ice water all over the floor not once, but twice. The room was full of all sorts of people, divorced dads with daughters, ladies who shop, hotel guests, lone tea drinkers and parties so the girls and I blended in easily despite the occasional bit of bad behavior.

Recommendation - if you''re there with young children, choose one of the tables around the edge of the room, you''ll be less conspicuous. I sat near the steps leading down to the main lobby. The girls could run up and down the stairs and knock each other silly without getting in anyone''s way as the stairs were blocked with a rope at both ends. Also, we were there just before Thanskgiving and there was a beautiful Christmas tree in the lobby that they enjoyed.

The food - the usual tea room fare. Nothing remarkable but all quite good. I ordered a full tea for myself, fyi. you can''t just order a cup of tea & an a''la carte scone or something - it''s all or nothing. However I didn''t think the girls each needed a $35 tea so I bought them overpriced ($6) smoothies and let them eat my scones & cream.

Well, I am writing about a vacation with kids after all and the MacDonalds in Water Tower Place was a two-for-one huge hit!

First, the girls loved the escalators, they loved the fountain that runs between the up and down escalators on the first floors, they loved running around each floor, they loved poking their fingers at the windows of the candy store on the second (or third?) level, there was nothing about the building they didn't love actually. They were so entranced by the escalators that they wanted to ride up and down them quite a bit -- and since it was a free activity, I let them! I was bored silly but hey, I'm a grown up, I've had my fun. Neither the building nor its shops did much for me, nevertheless I was quite pleased that the girls were having such a good time and would definitely take them back.

Bonus for the girls was finding the MacDonalds tucked away on the fifth (or sixth?) floor. They love MacDonalds and while I am absolutely not willing to spend twenty minutes in the average fast food spot I didn't mind spending time with them at this particular one. The dining room was clean, the patrons seemed happy, the bathrooms were spotless and the food was - well I didn't eat, but the girls LOVED it, and as that was the only MacDonalds they got on the vacation the event rated quite highly with them in their travel journals.

So, my recommendation for the least offensive spot to indulge your offspring in a MacBurger -- the MacDonalds at Water Tower Place.

We couldn't visit Chicago and not get pizza.

We spent a lovely afternoon (well, there had been a tantrum or two but overall, lovely) visiting some suburbs to the west of the city and recieved a recommendation from a clerk at a bookstore that we should get pizza across the street at Giordano's - I should have gone back to thank him.

Giordano's is a chain - so apparently you don't have to be in Downer's Grove to have some of this great Chicago-style deep dish pizza. If you can imagine, the spinach and cheese was enjoyed by all of us, even the 6 year old. Though I couldn't get either of them to touch the oversized Greek salad, I enjoyed it quite a bit.

I went to their website to get the address of the restaurant in Downers Grove and discovered that they will FedEx pizzas. Something to think about... http://www.giordanos.com/

You''ve spent a day at the mall with two crazily energetic children and suddenly there, at the edge of the mall is a real restaurant with chairs and cloth napkins and big fat martinis.

Wildfire is a chain, and I usually avoid chain restaurants on vacation because, well why not try something new if you can -- but -- the food here was great and I needed a comfortable chair and a drink quite badly. The decor is 1920''s or maybe it was 1940s? Sort of night club-esque but gratefully falling far short of seeming like a ''theme'' room a''la Disney.

Wildfire is also a chop house - with not exactly a child friendly menu (though surprisingly vegetarian friendly) but the waitress was more than accomodating. I ordered a pizza appetizer for the girls that had originally been covered with mushrooms and was easily able to substitute tomatoes & chopped chicken.

My salad was huge and wonderful. Enough to stick in the tiny hotel fridge and have as a midnight meal another night.

Then the three of us split an order of salmon with a side of creamed spinach. Truly a lovely meal.

The martini wasn''t bad either.

A family style Italian restaurant that really works for the family.

The wait to get in this place is not nice and I wished I'd made reservations, but I enjoyed every minute of the meal, so I'm not saying this to complain, but instead to inform you not to make the same mistake that I made. Definitely call ahead.

The food was wonderful -- and there's only too much of it if you think of each entree as food for one. If you instead think of each plate as food for two hungry/four normal eaters - then you get an idea of the portions and how you should order.

I should clarify, this was not the best Italian food I've ever had, but it was lovely and the atmosphere was perfect for a family meal. There are so many restaurants where it's not comfortable to bring 'lively' children and it was a relief whenever I found places that welcomed a bit of noise (in the way of unceasing little girl chatter). The dining room was crowded but not too much, the wait staff and management were quite friendly and accommodating, the patrons were all happy and extremely well fed.

Fortunately there were six of us for dinner so we could order more than one dish!

We had the calamari - quite nice, good sauce. Chopped salad (hold the bleu cheese) - with their 'famous' salad dressing. I don't remember the dressing as being remarkable but I do remember everyone telling me it was remarkable - if that makes any sense. Following we had spinach with lemon and garlic, chicken vesuvio and gnocchi (we split everything). The chicken was great and the gnocchi were the right texture.

So, do I recommend Maggiano's for a romantic meal, absolutely not. For a gourmet meal? No. For a bunch of friends or family that want to talk and eat and drink very good food - yes. In fact, I imagine at this place, the more people at your table, the better since you can order more food and make even more noise than we did.

The store is amazing -- many guides recommend it as well and their entries are full of details so... what can I add?

My claim to fame is I went through the place twice with two spoiled little girls and only spent $20. How?

First I went only on Saturdays (two in a row). The girls were delighted just to be on the same block as the store (believe it or not) and the velvet rope/doorman out front was worth ten minutes of picture taking both times we went.

Inside, the place was packed wall to wall with moms and dads carrying boxes bigger than their children, we could hardly hear each other speak let alone get close to the merchandise. The girls enjoyed the crowds and the glamour of the place (yes, doorman + the aforementioned velvet rope + 8 years old = glamour) and I tried to make them think of the place as a museum of dolls rather than a store where we could actually buy things.

Secondly, each time we were there I tried to spend as much time as possible on the first (below ground level) floor. There are cases containing each doll and every bit of the dolls accompanying stuff - desks, beds, outfits, etc, plus little cards that describe the item along with its price. We collected each of the little cards and played American Girl 'Go Fish' with them at the hotel later. We took catalogs back to the hotel too for making wish lists.

Finally, there was a book signing the second time we were there, happens often I understand. The girls were completely thrilled to get an American Girl book signed by the author (extra thrill for the girls - she was in period costume), and the author was kind enough to chat them up for close to half an hour since no one else was buying books.

Next time I take them I've promised one thing -- they can bring their dolls to the hair salon. Yes, there is a full service hair salon complete with tiny chairs, curlers, wee pink robes and real human stylists. There are about a dozen different hairstyle options and of course there is a charge for the new hairdo. A ridiculous waste of money and yet I found it oddly irresistible.

Oak Street Beach in winter is a great free place to take the kids and let them run around and scream their heads off without disturbing another living soul. The lake is gorgeous and the buildings up and down the gold coast are lovely to look at -- you also get a good view of Navy Pier.

Actually the girls wanted to go to Navy Pier but the place was just too expensive for the three of us. I've been before and by the time three people do three things and have a coke each, well, it's not as bad as Disneyland but too rich for my blood -- this was a two week vacation just before Christmas and I definitely needed to keep within the budget so Navy Pier was out -- Oak Street Beach was in.

Wearing our coats and mittens we walked up and down the bike/jog paths, sang Christmas songs quite badly, stared at the water, kicked sand and took lots and lots of pictures.

You can access the beach from one of the many pathways along Michigan Avenue, for a landmark, it's north of the Drake Hotel. If you're lost, ask the doorman.

Also... across the street from where the doorman stands is a bandstand, it is also across the street from the beach. In the winter there is nothing going on and it is a great spot to let your children run off some energy while you sit and think of other things. The girls put on some sort of bad play involving lots of hollering, but other than the doorman and a few cab drivers staring at us -- we disturbed no one.

Window shopping along Michigan Avenue was quite fun, especially as we were so close to Christmas. On the weekend after Thanksgiving the store windows were decorated beautifully, the people too, were decorated beautifully. Totally got us into the spirit of the season. But, instead of shopping we took pictures.

We parked near Michigan and Kinzie, just past the river and walked down Michigan until we hit the Lake.

The picture taking was a diversion for the girls -- to take their minds away from spending money and it worked quite well.

It is quite a long walk, there and back, so wear comfortable *but very stylish* shoes -- it IS Michigan Avenue after all, and you may actually want to go in one of the stores. We stopped a lot along the way so the children never got too tired to finish the walk & it was winter so no overheating was involved.

When I was very little my absolute favorite museum was the Art Institute. I was in love with the Miniature Rooms and used to beg my father to take me there every time I visited him and so I decided to share my love with the nieces.

The miniatures are complete and fully detailed European and American rooms from various periods in history - after the 1700s I think. There are over fifty individual rooms and each is a little bit of perfection. They were all given to the museum by one donor - though I don't know if she had them made for herself or specifically for the museum.

If you've ever had a lust for dollhouses (my particular childhood obsession), furniture or interiors, you should enjoy this exhibit and fortunately yes, it went over quite well with the girls.

There are many exhibits designed specifically for children in the museum, on the bottom level is a special touching exhibit for kids, originally it was designed for the blind I think. Anyway, there are several pieces from the museum's collection that you can touch and feel - as opposed to viewing from across the room. Another huge hit with the kids.

Oak Brook is a tremendously huge indoor/outdoor mall, actually it's so large it could be two or three malls. Froms Saks to one-of-a-kind stores -- it's all here.

What makes this place great for children is the size of the place. Sticking with this vacation's theme of 'window shopping only', I was able to wear the kids out just walking from one side of the mall to the other. The Christmas decorations were as nothing compared to Michigan Avenue but still a bit of entertainment for the under ten year old set.

There are about twenty restaurants, (real sit-down with a napkin -- not in a food court) restaurants in the mall so you will not be doomed to eat pretzels and fried meat during your visit.

A hugely popular pre-Thanksgiving Disney planned event. Before this trip to Chicago I didn't even know Disney was aware the middle west existed.

The Festival of Lights is a full weekend of things to do - including a parade (Saturday), dancing Disney characters on the hour (actually every two hours), fireworks and a laser-light show. People apparently travel from very far away to spend this weekend in town with their kids. I luckily happened to stumble upon it.

Did the girls love this? Of course they did! They had a wonderful time & were talking about it days later. Were there huge crowds? Good Lord, yes! Michigan Avenue started getting crowded quite early in the day so we staked out a likely spot when people looked like they were settling in for the duration and made friends with the people around us so that when we left for hot beverage and bathroom breaks we wouldn't lose our spot. Was it cold? Oh! Colder then I even thought it would be!

On the bright side, this isn't a long parade, a'la the Rose Bowl (a parade long enough to try anyone's patience and bladder), some people in the crowd complained that it was too short, but given the temperature (soooo cold!) the parade was long enough for you to feel it was worth the wait, but not so long that you worried about losing a toe to frostbite.

Now, I suppose the question is, would I recommend going out of your way to see the parade? Yes, and no. No if you hate the cold, no if you don't like pushy crowds and no if you have to travel more than three hours, also no if you've already seen the parades at DisneyLand or DisneyWorld. It just wasn't that special. But, yes if you're already in the area, and absolutely yes if you have small children - the younger the better (an 11-12 year old would probably have been bored).

Downer's Grove is very cute - straight out of Donna Reed/Father Knows Best cute. It's about 20 miles from Chicago (west) -- you can drive there easily or take the commuter train directly to the suburbs Main Street. Some friends recommended I take the girls there for one of my 'spend no money' vacation days.

There is a downtown about three blocks long full of one-of-a-kind shops, the antithesis to Oak Brook mall, where we'd spent another afternoon of our vacation. There are also several really good parks/nature areas in Downers' Grove that are worth the drive.

Surprise attraction? The train runs right into downtown and my nieces had never seen a train before. They were absolutely fascinated by it and we wound up sitting on a bench opposite the tracks for a really really long time. I reminded myself it was a free activity and I could enjoy myself some other vacation.

Another surprise? A couple of really good independent book stores with vast children's sections. We spent hours in both bookstores (Anderson's Bookshop and Brain Snacks), so long in fact that I felt obliged to buy something at both of them - but I never mind buying the kids books.

Because it was winter I don't know if I can do this place justice. I was merely looking for a park where I could let the kids run around and not worry about them, but I found something better than just a park -- and I've been told I was there at the worst time of year since nothing was in bloom and the leaves were off the trees.

Belmont Prairie is a nature reserve, one of the last original prairies in Illinois. It's full of native plants, flower and animals and includes over 25 acres of quiet untouched nature.

I'd like to go back some spring/summer - nevertheless it was quite beautiful while we were there & worth the drive.