<p>I will visit my aunt living in Chicago this summer, and will stay there for a month. I plan on traveling around and Univ of Chicago is definately on the top of my list. (Well, I will be going to UCLA this fall, so the point of the trip is not to motivate myself with dream school but simply to wander around your beatiful campus:b)</p>
<p>So any suggestion (list of things to do) for a stranger? :) </p>
<p>*If someone can guide me on the day I travel (which is not set yet and I will post later) the person's lunch and drink are covered. jajaja</p>
<p>What are you interested in? The White Sox? The beaches and lakefront?<br>
The Lippizans? The Spam Museum? River cruise? Architecture? The zoos?
Green living? Finding fossils? Storefront theater? Bird watching? Lunch at
Moto or Alinea? Watching small planes take off and land? Poetry slam? Pony rides? The best pizza? The Obama volunteer headquarters? </p>
<p>Finding fossils: check out Mazon Creek/Braidwood Lake while you are in the area. There is an education center and you can hunt your own. Check out Dave's Rock Shop on Main Street in Evanston--museum in the basement. Chicago's Field Museum also has quite a bit of paleontology.</p>
<p>Chicago has great museums, including the Art Institute, The Museum of Science and Industry, and the Field Museum. The Aquarium is a good one. Check out Millenium Park: there are often performances of various kinds there. I haven't been there, but I hear that the new stuff on Navy Pier is fun. The Chicago Symphony plays outdoors at Ravinia, also. </p>
<p>If you are into Indian food, go up to Devon Avenue. There are many great blues clubs. There's the theater at the U of C and the Steppenwolf et al. Baseball: White Sox or Cubs.</p>
<p>The Shedd Aquarium: The whales/dolphins exhibit is closed this summer,
but there is still plenty to see there, inclulding a pool where you can pet
stingrays.</p>
<p>Wendella boat tours are fun. We took the hour long river trip with an architectural narration. I also second Millenium park. It is fabulous. There are fountains, sculptures and plantings as well as the concerts mentioned above.</p>
<p>If you have some money, I would definitely tour the Robie House (a block from the main quads) and go to the Museum of Science and Industry (walking distance).</p>
<p>And the OI. Always the OI.</p>
<p>Chicago city-wise, I think there's a lot to do. If you want to do the tourist thing, that would be doing some improv comedy: iO, Neo-Futurists, or Second City, and also some deep dish pizza-- do Giordano's or Pizzeria Uno/Due, none of this Gino's business.</p>
<p>Go to the Lincoln Park Zoo. Walk up and down Clark Street and revel in what I think is the most beautiful city on the planet.</p>
<p>Go clothing shopping off the Belmont Red Line or the Damen stop on the blue line. Verrry hipster.</p>
<p>The Robie House is interesting if you want to see an architectural landmark during renovation--the interior is undergoing extensive work. If, however, you want to see completely restored Wright homes, you can't go wrong with Oak Park and the Home and Studio. The neighborhood is crawling with Wright houses.</p>
<p>I was there on a tour during the winter and it seemed like most of the major renovations were done. </p>
<p>It seems like the Robie House has always been overlooked. Apparently a few years after it went up and Robie went bankrupt, the theological seminary wanted to build an expansion building on the house's plot. There was a big fight, somebody purchased the house, and the theological seminary ended up building their intended building one site north on Woodlawn Ave. Their building might qualify for the ugliest, least architecturally significant structure of all time. And to think that it was going to replace a Wright house!</p>
<p>Then, the U of C had their administrative offices there during the sixties. (How that space that was clearly intended for a family was divvied up, I'd love to know). That was a bad idea too-- during student protests, some students broke the original Wright door of the house. Ugh. Alumni.</p>
<p>The Irish Fest this weekend, Friday, Sat and Sun at the Irish American Heritage Center. On Wilson and N Knox. Take the blue line (O'Hare) to either Montrose stop or Jefferson Park stop. From Montrose station exit, turn east and take first street north to Wilson, go west on Wilson. From Jeff Park station, hop on bus east to Knox (walk south two blocks) or just walk east on
Lawrence, etc...not that far. Public trans recommended.</p>
<p>Continuous performances inside and out. Food (not just Irish), pony rides (!), vendors of Celtic everything, step dancing, beer, more step dancing, more beer, dance lessons, book sale, quilt and crafts show.</p>