Travel Smart With Jodie

Archive for the ‘Chicago’ Category

If looking for a fun and interesting winter break, head to Chicago.

The city is about all shopping the Magnificent Mile of North Michigan Avenue and seeing public sculptures around almost every downtown corner.

It is music in the clubs, musicals in its Broadway in Chicago theaters and music at Chicago Symphony Center.

It is about exploring centuries of fine art at the Art Institute of Chicago and centuries of natural history at the Field Museum.

It is about enjoying the seascape of Lake Michigan and creatures of the sea at the Shedd Aquarium.

However, Chicago is best enjoyed when you know how to get around the town.

Here are five tips to doing Chicago like a travel pro:

• If flying in to O’Hare International Airport, you can take the subway system downtown. The Chicago Transit Authority, popularly called the CTA, has a station downstairs of O’Hare’s baggage claim area. Its Blue Line will take you from O’Hare to Randolph Street near theaters and hotels. Visit CTA and go to Trip Planner. The Trip Planner extimates travel time at about 45 minutes but driving the Kennedy Highway from the airport can take an hour when backed up and then driving into the downtown area from the highway can take a good 15 minutes more.
  

  Chicago is also known for its architecture. The Marina Towers on the left and Trump Tower, far right, are on the north side of the Chicago River just west of Michigan Avenue

• If taking an Amtrak train to Chicago’s Union Station, you have a choice of buses to take from Union Station’s cross streets to the city’s main shopping areas and attractions. Go to CTA Trip Planner for options.

• Chicago is as much a destination for suburbanites and residents of nearby towns as it is for visitors. But public transportation is still a good choice to avoid traffic congestion and highly taxed parking garages. Visit Metra for stations and times and visit the CTA Trip Planner for bus options from the Ogilvie Transportation Center or Union Station.
  

  The Picasso sculpture at Daley Plaza is a Chicago landmark but the city also has sculptures by well-known artists throughout the downtown including Joan Miro's Chicago across from the plaza and Claes Oldenburg's Batcolumn just west of the Metra station

• Chicago is a CityPASS town. The pass saves big bucks and time when trying to fit in more than one attraction.  It allows entry to the Shedd Aquarium, Field Museum, Adler Planetarium or Art Institute, the SkyDeck at Willis Tower (formerly Sears) and the Museum of Science and Industry or the John Hancock Observatory. The pass typically means not having to stand in line to for tickets.

• World class museums are certainly a draw but there also are events, neighborhoods, public sculpture, parks and many more sights and activities so check out the city’s official visitor site: Explore Chicago to see what is happening when you plan to come to town.  The site also lists hotel packages. Now wishing you world class fun.

All photos by and copyrighted to Jodie Jacobs

Imagine boarding a square rig warship like the one Commander Oliver Hazard Perry sailed when winning the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812.

Or, picture seeing exciting jockeying for position among boats from five countries in Match Races.

Add in a chance to watch amazing Cirque acrobatics on a 1.5 mile pier that once housed World War I regiments and World War II troops from several countries.

The events happen the second weekend in August at Chicago’s Navy Pier, a historic site that is also home to popular restaurants, a large Ferris wheel and other entertainment venues.

Tall Ships

Six tall ships from as far as Baltimore, Erie and Newport Beach and as close as South Haven and Chicago are sailing to Navy Pier for Taste of Tall Ships Aug. 11-14, 2011.

Two of them – Perry’s Flagship Niagara and the topsail schooner Pride of Baltimore II, will be available for boarding.

Friends Good Will, a square topsail sloop with a South Haven, Mich. port and Lynx, a square topsail schooner from Newport Beach, Calif., plus Chicago-based gaff schooners Windy and Red Witch will take passengers out onto Lake Michigan.

Boarding prices are $9 adults, $6 children. A combo ticket of boarding and three Navy Pier rides are $16 adults and $13 children. Boarding hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Aug. 11-13 and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Aug. 14.

Sail away prices and times vary according to ship and length of sail. Sail-away tickets are also available on “Windy” in combination with boarding “Flagship Niagara” or “Pride of Baltimore II.” More ticket information

Chicago Match Race

At the east end of Navy Pier bleachers will be set up for free viewing of the Chicago Grade 2 Match Race. The competition is America’s Cup style racing to give 10 internationally ranked sailing teams match race practice. Qualifying rounds are Aug. 12 followed by semi-finals Aug. 13 and finals on Aug. 14.

Cirque Shanghai Extreme

Cirque Shanghai Extreme is at the Pier’s Pepsi® Skyline Stage® now until Sept. 5 . Go to the show to see  trapeze artists, aerial acts, motorcycle daredevils and Kung Fu sword fight displays.

About Navy Pier

Navy Pier was part of famed city planner Daniel Burnham’s 1909 “Master Plan of Chicago.” The 1.5 mile pier was built from 1914 to 1916. Originally called the Municipal Pier, it was renamed Navy Pier in 1927 in tribute to World War I Navy personnel. World War II military pilots trained at the pier as did sailors and technicians. After the war, the University of Illinois had a branch at the pier until 1965. However, the Pier was also designed to include entertainment venues.

Today, visitors can go to a Shakespearean theater, dine at famed Harry Caray’s or Billy Goat Tavern and browse a free stained glass window museum.

Getting there

Navy Pier is at Lake Michigan at the east end of both Illinois Street and Grand Avenue. Parking is available however CTA buses do go there from the Ogilvie Transportation Center (Metra) and Union Station.

Photos are courtesy of Navy Pier

Stand on the sidewalk at Wacker Drive at the Chicago River west of Michigan Avenue. It looks fine, now. But mid-summer 2010 the area was a battle zone.

Wacker Drive, backed by the Wrigley Building, Marina City and the Tribune Tower, was a prime filming location for Paramount Pictures’ Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

Released mid-summer 2011, the film stars Shia LaBeouf, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Josh Duhamel.   Guests of Hotel 71 which borders the other side of the river had front window seats of the action.

Below where you are standing is lower Wacker Drive – scene of Batman’s race to rescue a high level Gotham official. Chicago was Gotham in the Dark Knight released in 2008. Bruce Wayne’s bedroom was shot in Hotel 71.

Indeed, downtown Chicago is rife with Dark Knight movie locations. The city was also used in the 2005 release of Batman Begins.

Transformers 3, Dark Knight and Batman Begins are only a few of the many movies and TV segments filmed in Chicago.

Avid movie buffs might track down all the sites of their favorite Chicago locations such as The Blues Brothers or Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

However, there is a not widely known way to get the info and go by many of the sites. Arguably in the category of best kept secrets is Chicago Film Tour owned by movie buff John Brinkman.

From Wrigley Field on the north side to Chinatown on the south with several places in between, Chicago Film Tour does a two-hour loop that passes locations used in more than 80 movies filmed in the city.

A buyout left Brinkman ready for a career move a few years ago. “I remembered a Sound of Music tour I took with my father in Austria. I loved it,” he said.

But instead of concentrating on one movie made in Chicago, Brinkman thought visitors and residents would enjoy seeing and hearing about all the movies with Chicago sights except a full tour could easily take a day.

“I had to narrow it down. I drove around the city and mapped out a route,” he said.

Brinkman does do private tours and some all day tours that include lunch. For his regular two-hour public tours, he has knowledgeable guides. All tours include film clips and interesting tidbits that might not be known except by movie aficionados and critics.

On a recent trip, the bus turned down Argyle, a narrow residential street in the Uptown neighborhood where it paused in front of St. Augustine College.

“Essanay” was emblazoned over a doorway. It is an amalgamation of Spoor and Anderson for George K. Spoor and Gilbert M. Anderson.

The building and back lot stretching from 1333 to 1345 had housed Essanay Film Manufacturing Company  whose most famous star was Charlie Chaplin. The silent movie legend had filmed “His New Job” in Chicago with Ben Turpin for Essanay.

After the tour HollywoodChicago.com movie critic Patrick McDonald, the guide for that day’s bus tour, said he enjoyed sharing movie knowledge with riders and introducing them to places they might not know.

“You can see where Essanay Studios was. It’s living history. Imagine rolling up to the place where the Great Chaplin walked through and did a film,” McDonald said. (Chaplin filmed “His New Job” in Chicago with Ben Turpin.)

Chicago Film Tour Details: Tickets $30 a person. Pick-up is Clark Street in front of the Rock ‘n’ Roll McDonalds between Ohio and Ontario Streets. Because the bus only seats 36 people and most trips are sold out, reservations are highly recommended.

(All photos by Jodie Jacobs except Terminator 3 location shot)

Second in series on Spring vacation destinations is Chicago and the Chicago Botanic Garden.

Warm weather welcomed visitors to Chicago even though the calendar said it was only the second weekend in April.

Couples were downing salads and sandwiches on the Park Grill patio at the edge of Millennium Park.

Youngsters were dashing up the park’s steps for a closer look at Cloud Gate, known as The Bean and the wild Frank Gehry sculptural roof of the Pritzker Pavilion

About 20 miles north, visitors kept pouring into the Chicago Botanic Garden by bike, SUV and on foot.

Spring had finally come to Chicago.

April and May are fine times to make Chicago a vacation destination. Paths along Lake

Michigan are not yet crammed with beach-goers. The Magnificent Mile of North Michigan Avenue isn’t jammed with shoppers and lookers. The theater and symphony seasons are still in full swing. Museums don’t have lines out the door.

And about a half hour drive north, colorful blossoms line the Chicago Botanic Garden entrance, paths and surprise visitors around every corner.

Where to stay:

As a convention city, Chicago is blessed with more than 100,000 hotel rooms so finding one that meets budget, style and location specifications is usually easy.

Hotels with special stay and play packages usually list their current deals at

Parking in Chicago is pricy so look for a package that includes parking.

A recent check of hotel deals listed W Chicago Lakeshore which is convenient to Navy Pier, the Amalfi Hotel which is convenient to North Michigan Avenue shopping and the Hyatt Regency which is near Millennium Park.

What to do:

Check the Chicago Symphony Orchestra schedule. Symphony Center is across Michigan Avenue from Millennium Park and the Art Institute of Chicago.

See “Kings, Queens and Courtiers: Art in Early Renaissance France” at the Art Institute of Chicago through May 30, 2011.

The exhibit ends with a work by Leonardo da Vinci and his studio.

While there, be sure to explore the galleries either side of the special exhibit’s Regenstein hallways to see fine Whistlers and works of other famed artists.

Also take the elevator from the modern wing upstairs to the rooftop patio. Visitors can snap a great view of Millennium Park and the skyhline even if they aren’t eating in the adjacent restaurant.

Go over to the Merchandise Mart on the Chicago River, a few blocks west of Michigan Avenue. The main floor has showrooms open to the public with great home decorating ideas. If at the Mart April 29 through May 2 see Art Chicago, an international fair that showcases contemporary and modern works.

Take a Chicago River Architectural Tour. Spring is the start of the boat tour season and Chicago is known as an architectural destination. Several organizations and companies offer good tours.

Drive north to Glencoe on I94 to Lake Cook Road and turn east for half a mile to the Chicago Botanic Garden.

Spring is a fun time to explore its paths. Just about every turn uncovers another bulb opening or another plot of color. Take paths through the Japanese Islands and other islands to watch birds returning north and see trees beginning to bloom.

Stop in the Circle Garden to see colorful foxglove set against artistic fountain sprays and see what’s blooming in the English Garden and in the vegetable gardens.

Even though the weather is fine for walking outdoors, save time to visit the greenhouses to see cute topiaries and find out what is blooming indoors.

Add the Garden to a Chicago vacation.