<p>Any ideas on places one should visit on a short weekend? Best restaurants in downtown area?</p>
<p>thanks!</p>
<p>The top three things on anyone’s tourist list should be the Art Institute of Chicago (a truly world-class museum, equaled in this country only by the Met and MOMA, and home to iconic paintings such as Hopper’s Nighthawks At The Diner and Seurat’s Dimanche Apres Midi Sur L’isle De La Grande Jatte) (but this will eat several hours), a stroll through the Millennium Park area (20 minutes), and the Chicago Architecture Foundation River Boat Tour (a couple of hours – the tour itself is about 90 minutes). If you like fancy shopping areas, you will love the Magnificent Mile on Michigan Ave. north of the Chicago River.</p>
<p>Restaurants have gotten lots of discussion in CC threads. Here’s one: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-chicago/1155759-nice-restaurant-hyde-park-area-adult-budget-dinner.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-chicago/1155759-nice-restaurant-hyde-park-area-adult-budget-dinner.html</a></p>
<p>Shedd Aquarium is always a lot of fun. Downtown shopping [along Michigan Ave and nearby]. Sears [“Willis”] Tower. <- You can even eat a dinner there while having a magnificent view and visit “The Ledge” there. Navy Pier.</p>
<p>Walk down Astor Street</p>
<p>Beautiful old townhouses</p>
<p>also, take a walk along Lake Michigan, starting at about 1000 N. Lake Shore Drive, and heading north</p>
<p>also, the Lincoln Park Zoo, about 3000 north.</p>
<p>Go by Pioneer Court just north of the river and see the new Marilyn Monroe statue, wearing her iconic Seven Year Itch dress and standing over the subway grate.</p>
<pre><code>Don’t miss the Art Institute. Across the street, northwest corner there is a Hot Tix booth for same day discounted theater tickets.
It is hot out this week, when are you coming?
</code></pre>
<p>Oh yeah, and go to Wrigley Field, if you are a baseball fan.</p>
<p>Rotofugi is an awesome store, and there is an indian place at 3227 north Clark street that is called randhuni I believe. It was really good. Make sure you go to China town and get bubble tea!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I think this depends on where you’re coming from. If you’re coming from another major city, you might find that this area simply has the “typical” upscale stores that plenty of major cities have – Cartier, Tiffany’s, Neiman-Marcus, Nordstrom, etc., plus plenty of stores that are similar to what upscale malls have. If, however, you’re coming from a smaller city or a more rural area, this might be of interest. Oak Street (at the north end) is a bit more chi-chi and unique than Michigan Avenue, and of the shopping centers on Michigan Avenue, I would say that 900 North Michigan (the Bloomingdale’s building) is far more unique / specialty than Water Tower Place – WTP has a lot of what I think are just ordinary typical mall stores. </p>
<p>While on Michigan Avenue, I think the Fourth Presbyterian Church is a pretty area to stop and walk around for a quick break.</p>
<p>If this trip includes a campus visit, I recommend a stop at the Oriental Institute Museum located right on campus at University Ave. and 58th street. It is an absolutely magical place.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>On that note, if you’re hitting up campus be sure to take a peek in the Seminary Co-op Bookstore. A bibliophile’s dream, it’s been an icon and a window into life at the University, and you definitely want to catch it in its current form before it moves across the street to a nicer but less kitschy location.</p>
<p>^^^^ #6 above</p>
<pre><code> If you are a baseball fan, go see the White Sox. You might also like to see historic Wrigley Field, home to that other team.
</code></pre>
<p>We are going in October - the weekend of the 22nd … for parent’s weekend. So game on Saturday, probably a tour of the campus that morning, either official or with our student. We have a younger sibling that should see at least some of the campus. So looking for afternoon Friday, evening … dinner … and then dinner saturday… I think. We are not from a major metropolitan area.</p>
<p>So no baseball!</p>
<p>Girl and the Goat already booked solid both nights. Will try some of the others mentioned. If you were going to do dinner at a tower - tall building - which do you recommend? thanks again for all of the ideas.</p>
<p>For dinner go to Topolo. You will need to make reservations now, however.</p>
<p>[Topolobampo:</a> Restaurants - Rick Bayless | Frontera](<a href=“http://www.rickbayless.com/restaurants/topolobampo.html]Topolobampo:”>Rick BaylessTopolobampo - Rick Bayless)</p>
<p>You won’t be dissapointed.</p>
<p>idad - can you tell me if this is any where near the Embassy Suites downtown?</p>
<p>4900 S Lakeshore Drive </p>
<p>thanks!</p>
<p>4900 S. Lakeshore is not near downtown. There are 8 blocks to a mile in Chicago and, with some exceptions, each block is 100. So 49 divided by 8 is about 6 miles from Madison street downtown, which is 0. </p>
<p>If you are asking about Topolo, it is near north and close to the E.S.</p>
<p>No! 4900 S Lakeshore Drive is the Ramada Inn (sort of ) near the University of Chicago, a mile-and-a-half from campus, and 5-6 miles from anything like downtown.</p>
<p>You can tell a lot about where something is in Chicago by the address. North/South and East/West are measured from the middle of the Loop downtown, a few blocks from Millennium Park. There are about 8 numbered blocks to a mile. So South 4900 anything is a little more than 6 miles south of the middle of the Loop. And of course maybe east or west of there, potentially a looooong way west. This address, though, like everything in Hyde Park and Kenwood, is somewhat east of the dividing line, since the lake shore extends SSE from the downtown area.</p>
<p>The White Sox will still be playing baseball in October.</p>
<p>Now that’s wishful thinking.</p>
<p>For those of you who asked about restaurants (instead of Nobel Prize Winners)…</p>
<p>Alinea in Chicago is ranked the best restaurant in North America and #6 in the world on the Top 50 Restaurant list, accrding to critics:</p>
<p>[A</a> deeper dive into the Top 50 restaurants in the world - chicagotribune.com](<a href=“http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/food/stew/chi-a-deeper-dive-into-the-top-50-restaurants-in-the-world-20110419,0,3794182.story]A”>http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/food/stew/chi-a-deeper-dive-into-the-top-50-restaurants-in-the-world-20110419,0,3794182.story)</p>