Springtime (oh, really?) in Chicago

Hilton Garden Inn Chicago Downtown/Magnificent Mile

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Hotel | "The Hilton Garden Inn"

Room at the Hilton Garden Inn Photo - Chicago, Illinois

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Located just off the Magnificent Mile, the Hilton Garden Inn could rely on location alone to attract business, but it doesn’t. Instead, this hotel consistently receives accolades for its service and amenities. The trick of this hotel, however, is in the booking. At peak times, a standard room might cost two or even three times what it does during low-demand times. For example, for the night of October 6th, 2006, I’m quoted $369 for a standard room. On October 11th, the rate soars to $439. But on November...Read More

Located just off the Magnificent Mile, the Hilton Garden Inn could rely on location alone to attract business, but it doesn’t. Instead, this hotel consistently receives accolades for its service and amenities.

The trick of this hotel, however, is in the booking. At peak times, a standard room might cost two or even three times what it does during low-demand times. For example, for the night of October 6th, 2006, I’m quoted $369 for a standard room. On October 11th, the rate soars to $439. But on November 10th, it’s only $98. Go figure. Obviously, you can get lucky with this hotel, or you can end up paying through nose. Happily, in mid April, it was the former.

I knew the hotel was close to the Grand Avenue Red Line stop, but I didn’t realize just how close until we exited the subway and nearly stumbled into the lobby of our hotel. It’s that close. Not only that, but walk right around the corner and you’re on the Magnificent Mile. Want to go to the Navy Pier? No problem – the free trolley is just around the corner. We ended up walking to Millennium Park and the Art Institute, but if we’d wanted, easily accessed public transportation could have taken us there. Ditto for just about any other place you’d want to go. No doubt about it – the hotel’s location is the biggest plus of staying here.

As it turned out, one day we wanted to pack in a lot of southside-to-northside activities, so we ended up renting a car. This was easily set up through the hotel’s concierge. There’s an Enterprise rental office right on site, so picking up the car and then returning it (in the wee hours) back to its designated space in the garage was an easy matter. A day’s rental was $42 – not a whole lot more than the daily parking fee at the hotel, really. This is the way to go if you think you might need a car but aren’t sure.

Other terrific conveniences include a Starbucks just off the lobby, a business center with computer access, and a small pool and fitness room. The on dit is that the corner rooms on the higher floors have the best views, though we were perfectly happy on a lower floor with a limited view. We shopped for a few essentials at the small grocery/convenience store across the street, making use of the refrigerator and microwave in the room.

Our room was standard issue Hilton Garden Inn – in other words, fairly spacious, well maintained, and comfortable. One minor quibble was that the doors tended to slam, echoing down the corridor, but this is basically a pet peeve and not a major issue. What I loved about staying here was the feeling of having Chicago right there on our doorstep, yet knowing we had everything we needed on hand, including the help of a well-trained and courteous staff. Read Less

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on September 20, 2006

Hilton Garden Inn Chicago Downtown/Magnificent Mile
10 E Grand Ave.
Chicago, Illinois 60611
(312) 595-0000

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My Thai Restaurant on Michigan

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Restaurant

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If enjoying a budget Thai meal right across from the Art Institute and Millennium Park sounds like an inviting dining option, then My Thai may be Your Thai. Pressed for time before taking an architectural tour leaving from Navy Pier, we mentioned to the hostess at My Thai that we didn’t have a lot of time. No problem. Accustomed to serving the rush of concert-goers at nearby Symphony Hall, the staff seems to rustle up decent-tasting food almost instantaneously. We followed the hostess to the back of the quiet dining room, away from what I thought would be ideal seats looking out across at Millennium Park. However, the proximity to the kitchen was probably a plus given that we were in a hur...Read More

If enjoying a budget Thai meal right across from the Art Institute and Millennium Park sounds like an inviting dining option, then My Thai may be Your Thai. Pressed for time before taking an architectural tour leaving from Navy Pier, we mentioned to the hostess at My Thai that we didn’t have a lot of time. No problem. Accustomed to serving the rush of concert-goers at nearby Symphony Hall, the staff seems to rustle up decent-tasting food almost instantaneously.

We followed the hostess to the back of the quiet dining room, away from what I thought would be ideal seats looking out across at Millennium Park. However, the proximity to the kitchen was probably a plus given that we were in a hurry. We requested hot green tea and set about the serious business of perusing the menu. Everyone quickly settled on favorite tried-and-true Thai dishes – my son opting for chicken satay and egg rolls, my husband ordering Tom Yum soup and grilled eggplant, while I chose cashew chicken.

We had about ten minutes after ordering to sip our tea and contemplate the understated decor in muted tones of yellow and green. That combined with the subdued lighting and quiet efficiency of the staff make this something of an oasis just off bustling Michigan Avenue. This would be a good place for health-conscious patrons, too, as not only are there extensive tofu and vegetable-based options on the menu but the restaurant is smoke free as well.

Our food arrived long before I could begin to be anxious about finishing our lunch in time to catch our tour at Navy Pier. Portions were not huge, but certainly adequate for lunch, and were a relative bargain at $6-$7 per entrée. I wouldn’t say that this was the best Thai food I’ve had, or even close, but it was decent. Don’t expect a complex palette of flavors or meticulous presentation – you won’t get it. Sauces tend toward a limited range of standard seasonings, and (I suspect) some MSG to ramp up the flavor, but the ingredients are reasonably fresh. It reminded me a bit of the Thai food I make at home based on bottled sauces and condiments purchased from my local international grocer.

But, hey, that’s not really a complaint. I'm a pretty good cook. My sole complaint, really, was that I had more chunks of pineapple in my Cashew Chicken than I had any use for. But after sequestering the offending chunks off onto a cordon sanitaire at one end of my plate, the rest of the dish was quite tasty, with tender slices of chicken breast, crisp pea pods, and plenty of whole cashews (which was what I was after, basically).

Our plates disappeared in a flash the moment we’d finished and the bill was immediately presented. For a quick lunch on the run, this was definitely a good choice. Read Less

Member Rating 3 out of 5 on September 20, 2006

My Thai Restaurant on Michigan
30 S. Michigan Ave.
Chicago, Illinois 60603
(312) 345-1234

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Edwardo's

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Restaurant

Gargoyle at the University of Chicago Photo - Edwardo's, Chicago, Illinois

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The more things change, the more they stay the same – thankfully, in the case of Edwardo’s. Back in the 80’s when we lived nearby, the original southside pizzeria had a loyal (and hungry) following among the University of Chicago students. The unpretentious eatery on 57th Street served arguably Chicago’s best stuffed pizza, and was famed for its stuffed spinach pizza in particular.Now, some twenty years later, the original Edwardo’s has grown to a chain of nine pizzerias, mostly in the Chicago area but beginning to branch out into Wisconsin and Indiana as well. United Airlines serves their "personal pizzas" in its first-class Midwestern flights. And it’s no longer just "Edwardo’s." Now it’...Read More

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on September 20, 2006

Edwardo's
1321 East 57th Street
Chicago, Illinois
(773) 241-7960

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The Second City

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Attraction | "Second City"

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Trying to describe comedy has to be one of the more frustrating writing tasks, so when it comes to Second City, the phrase "You had to have been there" is an overworked cliché. But, really, you had to have been there. Much of the sharpest comedy is visual, and the unexpected sight gag is something of a specialty of Second City, which is widely regarded as one of the best comedy troupes in North America. Everyone (or almost everyone) knows its alumni include the likes of Dan Akroyd, Alan Arkin, John Candy, Gilda Radner, John Belushi, Mike Meyers, Bill Murray, Stephen Colbert…the list goes on and on. The comedy bar is set as high as the audience’s expectations at Second City. We took ...Read More

Trying to describe comedy has to be one of the more frustrating writing tasks, so when it comes to Second City, the phrase "You had to have been there" is an overworked cliché. But, really, you had to have been there. Much of the sharpest comedy is visual, and the unexpected sight gag is something of a specialty of Second City, which is widely regarded as one of the best comedy troupes in North America. Everyone (or almost everyone) knows its alumni include the likes of Dan Akroyd, Alan Arkin, John Candy, Gilda Radner, John Belushi, Mike Meyers, Bill Murray, Stephen Colbert…the list goes on and on. The comedy bar is set as high as the audience’s expectations at Second City.

We took in the 11pm Saturday show of "Red Scare," foregoing the earlier 8pm seating, as we wanted to stick around for the after-the-show improv that follows the last show of the evening. We were glad we did, as while many of the comedy sketches for "Red Scare" were laugh-till-you cry funny, there was an engaging risk-taking edginess to the improv that followed.

"Red Scare," like many Second City reviews, had an underlying theme: the fault lines in American society. Given that this is a time when the nation seems more polarized than ever, the ensemble had plenty of material to work with. The review opened with three couples flinging random (and opposite) clichés at each other, a sort of dueling "values" piece. The ensemble consistently tapped into that undercurrent of anger with "others" that has metastasized throughout American public life. Some of the best sketches deftly exposed how artificial and pointless these opposing cultural stances are.

Much of Second City’s comedy is politically inspired, and while both left and right wingers receive sharp jabs, the right consistently provides the richest material and thus received the lion’s share. One memorable sketch poked fun at the military’s "Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell" policy regarding enlisting homosexuals during these times of low recruitment ("Don’t Leave! Don’t Leave!"). Another riffed on the rather absurd concept of black Republicans. But it was most refreshing when the audience ended up laughing at its own (largely liberal) biases.

A sketch based on the premise, "What if Shakespeare’s Ophelia and Juliet had had a gay friend?" reduced me to a helpless puddle of laughter. While it admittedly played into some simplistic stereotypes, the gay character’s "reality check" deflated these characters’ histrionic suicides so neatly that the humor wasn’t so much at the gay character’s expense as it was at Shakespeare’s.

And as for those sight gags? Well, you had to have been there.

Note: There are three Second City stages: Chicago Mainstage, Chicago e.t.c., and Donny’s Skybox. The largest venue, and by default the one that most people are referring to when they say "Second City," is the Mainstage. This is not to disparage the two smaller stages, but just to clarify a potentially confusing booking situation. Read Less

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on September 20, 2006

The Second City
1616 North Wells Street
Chicago, Illinois 60614
(312) 337-3992

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House of Blues

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Attraction

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"Well, this is a neat bit of packaging," I observed as we stepped into the House of Blues. Make no mistake: this concert venue/ restaurant/bar/hotel/ entertainment complex is definitely packaged, although I mean that in the nicest possible way. If you’re expecting the bare-bones aesthetic of a genuine blues joint, this isn’t it. Actually, if you’re after authentic Chicago-style blues, go elsewhere.If, however, you’re looking for a dinner-and-music spot with a lighthearted (if admittedly "engineered") vibe, then this may just be the place for you. A lot w...Read More

"Well, this is a neat bit of packaging," I observed as we stepped into the House of Blues. Make no mistake: this concert venue/ restaurant/bar/hotel/ entertainment complex is definitely packaged, although I mean that in the nicest possible way. If you’re expecting the bare-bones aesthetic of a genuine blues joint, this isn’t it. Actually, if you’re after authentic Chicago-style blues, go elsewhere.

If, however, you’re looking for a dinner-and-music spot with a lighthearted (if admittedly "engineered") vibe, then this may just be the place for you. A lot will depend on which act you catch and what the audience is like that night. Rumor has it that House of Blues can be outrageously crowded at times, not to mention that drink prices are some of the highest in town. That’s probably to be expected in a place that brings in so many out-of-towners. But what House of Blues does best is showcase bands that can’t fill a major concert hall (yet) or performers who - how shall we say this? – once filled major halls but now play the House of Blues. Know what I mean?

You’ll either love or hate the faux folk art decor, all distressed wood, funky colors, and voodoo motifs on literally every surface. At least you won’t be bored by it. If it smacks a bit of the pre-packaged aesthetic of chains such as Hard Rock Café, well, House of Blues is a chain. No getting around that. And, yeah, you can buy T-shirts and other paraphernalia to prove you were there, if that makes you happy. At least this is the original HOB opened by Dan Akroyd and Jim Belushi in 1996. The showbiz connection is apt, as there is a certain show-busy-ness to HOB.

My advice? Go with the flow. Let yourself be entertained. Resistance is futile.

We began our HOB experience on a Friday night by having dinner in the downstairs restaurant, which is dubbed "The Back Porch" for some obscure reason. Unfortunately, the main hall was booked with some act we had no interest in. However, a house band (or lesser band) plays on the small stage in the Back Porch starting around 9pm. If you’ve already had or are having dinner when the band starts, you won’t have to pay a cover charge. The Back Porch’s menu runs to southern fried/New Orleans specialties, such as jambalaya and catfish. My turkey sausage gumbo was decent but not spectacular, as was my husband’s "Elwood," a blackened chicken breast sandwich. We shared (actually, we fought over) a side order of amazing rosemary cornbread served with maple butter.

Everyone seemed to be having a good time – not in that slightly hysterical "thank god it’s Friday – I’m gonna to get lit" way, but in a more relaxed manner. Before the band came on, we moved to a table closer to the stage and struck up a conversation with the people next to us. And then, yes, we let ourselves be entertained. Read Less

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on September 20, 2006

House of Blues
329 North Dearborn St
Chicago, Illinois 60610
(312) 923 2000

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Chicago Architectural Cruise

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Attraction | "An Architectural Tour on the Chicago River"

The Wrigley building Photo - Chicago, Illinois

Quote:

On a sunny day in Chicago, the water of the Chicago river sparkles, details on beaux arts buildings are etched by shadows, and windows of skyscrapers reflect the clouds above them. On such a day, there are few better things to do than stroll or float along the river, appreciating some of the finest vistas the city has to offer. At the dock near Navy Pier, we boarded an open boat for an architectural sightseeing tour of downtown Chicago. While there are several companies specializing in architectural tours, we booked wit...Read More

On a sunny day in Chicago,
the water of the Chicago river sparkles, details on beaux arts buildings are etched by shadows, and windows of skyscrapers reflect the clouds above them. On such a day, there are few better things to do than stroll or float along the river, appreciating some of the finest vistas the city has to offer.

At the dock near Navy Pier, we boarded an open boat for an architectural sightseeing tour of downtown Chicago. While there are several companies specializing in architectural tours, we booked with Shoreline Sightseeing, a long-established company with tours held multiple times daily. I’ve been on a number of boat tours in various cities, but I’ve rarely been on one that I found as enjoyable.

Our guide was a fast-talking Chicago native who obviously knew the city’s history and architecture extremely well. One central theme emerged in his narration, though, the can-do spirit of the city, best exemplified by its response to the great Chicago fire of 1871.
Pushing the charred remains of the fire into the lake (a feat which later provided room for Chicago’s lakefront greenbelt), the city literally rose from the ashes. Today, the city is celebrated for its rich mix of architectural styles, with such stately treasures as the Wrigley building alongside such recent treasures as 333 Wacker Drive.

In fact, many of Chicago’s most notable buildings present their best faces to the river. While I’d seen 333 Wacker Drive many times before, seeing the blue-green curve of it unfold as we rounded a bend in the river literally took my breath away. It seemed to be an impossibly thin wedge – an optical illusion best appreciated from the river - not to mention that its curved surface presents what is surely the most stunning reflective surface in Chicago.

Truth to tell, I was so busy gawking upward and taking photos that at times I lost track of what the guide was saying. However, I learned some interesting new facts about some of the buildings that I’d long assumed I "knew" and found my appreciation for the diversity of Chicago’s architecture greatly increased. My camera – and craning neck – got a workout as I did my best to take shots of each new vista that unfolded.

At the end of the hour-long tour, our guide unexpectedly broke out a harmonica and launched into a blues song about the Chicago fire. It was hokey, yes, but it was also rather fun. There are a number of things I’d like to do the next time I’m in Chicago, but taking this tour again is near the top of the list – there’s just more to appreciate than can possibly be taken in a single time. Read Less

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on September 20, 2006

Chicago Architectural Cruise

Chicago, Illinois
(888) 881-3284

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Hyde Park, Revisted

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Story/Tip

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"I miss everything about Chicago, except January and February." ~ Gary ColeWhen we moved into a third-floor 51st St. Hyde Park apartment back in the winter of 1981, it was all of 26° Fahrenheit outside and a stiff wind was whipping off the lake at about twenty miles an hour. Welcome to Chicago! Over the next five years, we toughed out arctic winters and sweltering summers in a neighborhood that was an improbable blend of academic types and working class folks. Life in Hyde Park was the quintessential graduate student rite de passage, and intense as it was at times, when we left, we sorely missed it.Here we were twenty years later, teen...Read More

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Stormy Weather

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Story/Tip

The Art Institute of Chicago Photo - Chicago, Illinois

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"Everybody talks about the weather but nobody does anything about it." ~ Charles Dudley WarnerChecking the Chicago weather before leaving for a four days in the Windy City, I was heartened to see sunshine and mild temperatures forecast. No sooner had our plane landed, however, than I knew Chicago was up to its old tricks. The sunny skies had turned cloudy, the mercury in the thermometer had plummeted, and wave after wave of white-caps were lashing the lakefront as a steady wind roared across Lake Michigan from the north. Our first stop after dropping off our luggage at hotel was a Walgreen’s on Michigan Avenue, where we bought cheap umbrellas, glove...Read More