If winter has you dreaming of warm places or wondering where to go for spring or summer vacation, get planning help or at least some ideas at the Chicago Travel and Adventure Show. It’s Jan. 21-22 in Rosemont’s Donald E. Stephens Convention Center.
The Chicago Travel and Adventure Show has places to go and things to do on your next vacation. Photo by Jodie Jacobs
Exhibitors range from Africa, Asia, Australia and the Americas to the Caribbean, South Pacific and cruises.
Those folks who like interesting cuisine on their travels may become inspired by the foods prepared by some well-known chefs who will be doing demonstrations in the show’s Taste of Travel Theater.
Chefs will come from all over but some of the local ones are from Arun, Thai town, Community Tavern and Hofbrauhaus.
It’s a fun show that includes unusual activities such as scuba-diving dips and camel rides.
Public admission is 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Get single-day and two-day tickets online now for $11 / $18. Use promo code: CHPR. At the door tickets are $15 / $22 cash only. Entry is free for children 16 and under.
For tickets and event information, visit Travel Show.
The Donald E. Stephens Convention Center is at 555 N. River Road, Rosemont, IL 60018
Hey Cubs fans, tickets are on sale now for home games at Sloan Park in Mesa AZ. Here are some tips if you snag a ticket for the Cubs’ Wrigleyville West location (yes, that really is the park’s nickname) or to see the Cubs at another of the Cactus League parks.
Sloan Park before the crowd enters Jodie Jacobs Photo
1. No matter how you feel about the cost of ball-park programs do get the Cubs official Sloan Park Spring Training 2017 program. You might even want to get an extra one for a Cub fan back home who didn’t make the trip.
It will have photos and good info on the Cubs players similar to baseball cards.
In addition, it will have the rosters of other Cactus League teams so you will be able to tell who is or is not on the field when they play opponents.
It will contain highlights from the 2016 Championship season and tell about player’s awards.
The program will also suggest where to stand for autographs and buy Cubs items. It also mentions places to dine and things to do.
2. The first full-squad workout is Feb. 18. The first Cubs spring training game is Feb. 25 when a split squad will play the Oakland A’s in Sloan Park and the San Francisco Giants at Scottsdale Stadium.
If going to the Scottsdale game check out the Western Spirit, downtown Scottsdale’s terrific Museum of the West. It features western paintings, sculptures and a collection of western gear from saddles and spurs to badges and rifles.
3. When going to Sloan Park, prove to your friends that it is Wrigleyville West by snapping shots of its abutting street signs: Waveland Avenue on the north, Sheffield Avenue on the east side and Clark Street on the west.
A fan photo op Jodie Jacobs photo
The park also looks like a somewhat smaller version of Wrigley Field. However, the famed marquee is inside here.
You can have a message light up on it or take a selfie in front of it.
Sloan Park is at 2330 W. Rio Salado Pkwy, Mesa, 85201. 480-668-0500.
Most schools will be closed Jan. 16. Government offices and banks will also be closed because the third Monday in January is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal holiday honoring the great civil rights leader born Jan. 15, 1929 and assassinated April 4, 1968.
A Baptist minister, an organizer of the 1963 March on Washington where he gave his famed “I Have a Dream” speech and the 1964 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, King also worked with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to change segregated housing in Chicago in 1966.
Martin Luther King Jr monument in Washington D.C. Photo by Jodie Jacobs
Chicagoans may wonder what he would say now, half a century later, if he saw the violence that plagues some of the city’s neighborhoods.
The question might be discussed at some of the events this weekend, or Monday and during the week when several organizations celebrate his birth.
Here are some of the places to go for those celebrations.
Chicago History Museum
Lyric Unlimited, an outreach arm of the Chicago Lyric Opera, and the Chicago History Museum, is doing Chicago Voices TALK beginning at 5 p.m. Jan. 15 at the History Museum. The program includes panel discussions and gospel music.
While at the museum see civil rights artifacts. Check details at Chicago Voices TALK.
The History Museum is at 1601 N. Clark St., Chicago. Public admission $10, CHM members $5.
Brookfield Zoo
Zoo general admission is free Jan. 16. But also go to the Discovery Center for a noon musical celebration by the Chicago Metamorphosis Orchestra Project and the Shift’s Englewood Youth Orchestra. For information visit Brookfield Zoo.
The North Gate entrance is at 1st Avenue and 31st Street, Brookfield. The South Gate is at 3300 Golf Road, Brookfield.
Lincoln Park Zoo
The zoo holds day camps during school holidays. For Martin Luther King Jr. Day, preK through fourth grade camps are Jan. 16 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The theme is “All About Birds,” but camp groups will explore the zoo and have activities regarding animal diversity, conservation and how the zoo cares for animals. The youngsters will also learn interesting animal tidbits such as why hummingbirds build nests using spider webs.
Camp headquarters is the Judy Keller Education Center. Cost is $68 a camper ($58 zoo members). Visit zoo camp for more information.
Black Ensemble Theater
The theater hosts programs by the African American Arts Alliance of Chicago, 7 p.m., Jan. 19. There is also a pre-show reception 6 p.m. in the Black Ensemble Theater Cultural center
Go to see Sketch N’ Tyme, The Robbert Reddrick Trio, Alexis Rogers, Yahdina Udeen, Dawn Bless, Red Clay Dance and RIZE Youth Dance Company. The program is sponsored in part by the Driehaus Foundation and the Illinois Arts Council. Tickets are $12.
The Black Ensemble Theater is at 4450 N. Clark St., Chicago. Visit AAAAChicago for more information.
Chicago Cubs convention, White House visit and Spring Training notes. Photo by Jodie Jacobs
You know Cubs Convention 2017 at the Sheraton Grand Chicago is sold out. But you can catch some highlights and commentary on WGN-TV Saturday, Jan. 14 at 8 p.m. CT.
The program, hosted by WGN sports commentator Dan Roan, will show some of Friday’s opening ceremonies, player and coach interviews, Cubs legends interviews, some of the seminars and a bit from “Friday Night with Ryan Dempster.”
If you miss the Jan. 14 Convention special watch the show Sunday, Jan. 15, on CLTV at noon.
Or watch both times. After all, you’re probably still replaying the final out in the Cubs World Series Championship game.
Secondly, the White House
You know the Cubs were invited to visit President Barack Obama at the White House. It’s been delayed due to schedule conflicts but it is finally taking place Jan. 16, a few days before the White House changes hands. So catch the coverage of the historic meet and greet event Monday on Chicago stations’ news reports.
Third, Cubs Spring Training
The Cubs open their Spring Season in Arizona on Feb. 25 with a split squad. The games are against Oakland A’s in the Cubs’ Sloan Park in Mesa and against SF Giants in Scottsdale. Both games start at 1:05 p.m. For the complete Spring Training schedule click here. For tickets visit Cubs Tickets.
From top museums to university programs and volunteer projects there are lots of places to spend time off work or school on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Jan. 16, 2017.
MLK Day celebrates the birthday of the famed civil rights leader (Jan. 15, 1929-April 4, 1968) on the third Monday of January. It is a federal holiday so most schools and banks are closed and there won’t be any U. S. Postal deliveries.
The Field and most other Chicago museums have free general admission for Illinois residents On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Photo by Jodie Jacobs
Museums
However, Chicago’s museums are open and several are offering free general admission to Illinois residents. In addition, some of them have extended free general admission to other days the third week of January.
On the Museum Campus, that arm sticking out from Lake Shore Drive in Lake Michigan at 12th Street, look for the Adler Planetarium at the far eastern end at 1300 S. Lake Shore Dr.
The Shedd Aquarium sits in the middle of the arm at 1200 S. Lake Shore Drive and The Field Museum is by the entrance to the campus at 1400 S. Lake Shore Drive.
The Art Institute of Chicago has free programs in its Ryan Learning Center from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.. They range from performances and stories to art projects. Check out the day’s schedule here. Visitors for these programs enter the Modern Wing entrance at 159 E. Monroe St. to go to the Learning Center. The museum is also free all day for Illinois Residents. Main entrance is at 111 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago.
The Museum of Science and Industry also has free general admission. MSI is in the Hyde Park neighborhood at 5700 S. Lake Shore Dr, Chicago, IL 60637
Community projects
Several suburbs have volunteer projects taking place on MLK Day. Check your suburb.
On the North Shore, Highland Park has invited Illinois Secretary of State Jess White who was a student of Dr. King, and the Jesse White Tumblers to appear. In addition, the town has several service projects. The Recreation Center of Highland Park is the headquarters for the events. They run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. See HP for details.
The Village of Deerfield is collecting supplies for the homeless and has organized service projects. The Deerfield Village Hall is headquarters for a Day of Service from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. For details click Deerfield.
Northwestern University
The university has programs at its Evanston and Chicago Campuses
In Evanston
A play by Allie Woodson about what it means to be young, gifted and black is performed Jan. 13 at 7:30pm and Jan. 14 at 2and 7:30 p.m. at Shanley Pavilion, 2031 Sheridan Rd.
“Social Movements for Racial Justice: From the Chicago Freedom Movement to Black Lives Matter” is Jan. 21, 10 a.m. in Fisk Hall 217, 1845 Sheridan Rd. The program is an intergenerational presentation and discussion about racial justice movements in Chicago over the last 50 years. Authors of the book The Chicago Freedom Movement: Martin Luther King and Civil Rights Activism in the North will share personal experiences marching with Dr. King..
NASA astronaut Mae Jamison, a member of the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine, gives a keynote address Jan. 23, at 6 p.m.p.m. in the Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, 50 Arts Circle Drive.
Chicago Campus
NASA astronaut Mae Jamison will speak Jan. at noon at the Hughes Auditorium, 303 E. Superior St.
Snap pictures of gorgeous snow sculptures. Relive Groundhog Day. Imagine yourself behind the wheel of a sharp new vehicle. All three possibilities will brighten February days. So, post the one you love on the calendar.
‘Door Master’ by Milwaukee team of Dave Andrews, Gina Dilbirti and Zach Ruezter won the National Snow Sculpting Competition in Lake Geneva, 2016. Visit Lake Geneva photo
The National Snow Sculpting competition takes over Lake Geneva’s lake front Feb. 1 through Feb. 5, 2017.
But the town’s Winterfest’s fun events such as a Cocoa Crawl, visiting Baker House’s Ice Bar, Maxwell Mansion’s tours and activities at the Grand Geneva Resort continue through Feb. 12.
The snow sculptures are amazing. Each of the fifteen, three-member teams from across the U.S. transform tall snow cylinders into beautiful works of art.
The cylinders are typically delivered on Wednesday. By Friday night, the sculptures are gleaming in the moonlight ready to be judged on Saturday morning.
Wintervest visitors vote for a “People’s Champion.” The gold, silver and bronze categories are voted on by the sculptors based on creativity, technique and message.
Walk the sites where Harold Ramis’ popular “Groundhog Day” film was shot in Woodstock, IL. The town is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the filming there from Feb. 1 through Feb. 5. But it will likely be celebrating again next year to mark the movie’s 25th anniversary of when it was released in 1993.
Co-written by Ramis and Danny Rubin, the film has Pittsburg TV weatherman Phil Connors (Bill Murray) trying to cover Groundhog Day when he gets stuck in a time warp.
Also starring Andie MacDowell as news producer Rita Hanson and Chris Elliott as cameraman Larry, the movie supposedly takes place in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. However, with the exception of a couple of opening and highway shots to set a sense of place, it really was filmed in the cute, countryside town of Woodstock. Ramis had been searching for a site within a day’s drive of his Winnetka home.
The film site tour and showings of the movie are free. If you go early enough (7 a.m.) on Groundhog Day, Feb. 2, you can see how Woodstock Willie reacts when he comes out of his tree trunk home. Pray for clouds so he doesn’t see his shadow. No shadow would mean an early spring if you believe this animal’s behavior predicts the weather.
Annual CAS draws a crowd at McCormick Place. CAD photo
CAS, the annual big introduction to what will officially be out for 2018, features about 1,000 vehicles and draws thousands of visitors.
In town Feb 11-17, it spreads across McCormick Place but with all those vehicles and visitors the best way to avoid the crowd crush is to go charity preview night.
The show starts off with a dressy charity party, Feb. 10. Its $275 ticket benefits 18 local charities but $222 can be tax deductable as a donation. Expect comp hors d’oeuvres, cocktails, entertainment and celebrities.
Regular tickets are $13 adults, $7 for seniors 62 and older and $7 children ages 7-12. Discounted ticket day is Feb. 15 when women pay $7.
Second in series on bucket-list towns where there is so much to see that that it is easy to miss some really good places. The series, begun with A Day in LA, highlights two attractions and includes a foodie stop plus an alternative attraction.
‘A Capitol View’ taken from the Newseum. Photo by Jodie Jacobs
If you haven’t been to Washington DC your best introduction to the US capital is with the Hop On Hop Off Old Town Trolley. It will help you become acclimated to where things are. Plus, you can stop to take your selfies at DC landmarks.
But if you have visited DC before or are looking for something special to do after touring the usual places, go over to the Newseum where you can be a broadcaster and the International Spy Museum where you can be a spy.
Neither museum is part of the Smithsonian group so there are admission charges. Best plan is to get tickets in advance for discounts and easy entry.
The Newseum
Want a great view of the Capitol? Take the Newseum’s glass elevator. You’ll have to go down to go up. There are other elevators but the best way to experience this museum is to take the glass elevator which is an express from the Concourse Level up to Level 6 then walk down.
At Level 6 step outside to the terrace, look left and pull out the smart phone. The view is the same one used by some TV broadcasts from a studio a level down. Turn right to go back inside to see the current exhibit.
“Louder Than Words: Rock, Power and Politics” will be there on Level 6 beginning Jan. 13, 2017. Coming to the Newesum from Cleveland’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, it has story boards and images but also John Lennon’s acoustic guitar from his 1969 “Bed-Ins for Peace” with Yoko Ono and the Fender Stratocaster used by Jimi Hendrix when he did “The Star-Spangled Banner” at Woodstock. In addition, there are handwritten lyrics to Bob Dylan’s “The Times They are a Changin’ and Bruce Springsteens, “Born in the USA.”
Opening Feb. 3, 2017 on Level 4 is ‘1967: Civil Rights at 50.” It reviews the militant mood changes during the struggle for racial justice.
But save time for permanent exhibits and highlights. On Level 2 you can be a TV Reporter and do an interactive video. While at the museum, look for the exhibit on 911, FBI crime cases and the evolution of electronic media.
Become a spy and learn who was a spy at the International Spy Museum. Photo by Jodie Jacobs
The Newseum is at 6th Street and Pennsylvania Ave. NW.
International Spy Museum
Now pull up the trench coat collar and don the sunglasses. The International Spy Museum is within walking distance a couple of blocks west and a few blocks north of Newseum.
Visitors age 12 and older can become a spy for an hour in the interactive ‘Operation Spy’ experience. It is a ticketed, timed experience limited to 15 people.
Go through the museum to find out who was a spy that you’d never guess would take on a mission. Find out about spy techniques and see some of the tools of the trade. If you’ve seen Bond movies you already know about some of them but there also is a separate Bond exhibit.
Break up the day with lunch at Oyamel Cocina Mexicana, a nice-sual restaurant with a sophisticated urban Mexican flair. Or stop at Hill Country Barbecue Market, a very casual, really good Texan BBQ place. Both restaurants are about half-way between the two museums.
Alternative attraction and lunch spot
The National Gallery of Art is right across Pennsylvania Avenue from the Newseum. Contemporary and modern art is in the East Building which was just renovated. The West Building has art from all periods. Both buildings are worth visiting. Currently, modernist ‘Stuart Davis: In Full Swing’ is featured in the West Building until early March, 2017. Those in the know who want a quiet, contemplative spot make a reservation (four or more guests) to lunch in the Garden Cafe in the West Building near the 6th street entrance.
Sometimes you go to a city to visit relatives or friends. Other times you are passing through on the way to a vacation spot. Then there are those times the city is your vacation destination but there are so many things to do you’re not sure how much to fit into one day.
To help you start out the year on a you-can-do-it note, here is a Day In series for towns that ought to be on your bucket list or when visiting friends and family. Don’t be surprised if the people you visit say they’ve been meaning to go there. People who live in an area often don’t play tourist in their own city.
The recently redone Petersen Automotive Museum. A subway system is currently being extended just outside and below the museum.
The Day In series spotlights two main places and a restaurant, however, one or two alternatives are also included. Tip: no matter what the reason for the trip or what you do – plan some down time.
First in the series: A Day in LA
A red building wrapped with a chrome-like grill, rises from one corner. Across the road, another modern art structure seems to beckon you to go over there and see what’s inside. You’re at Fairfax Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles,
Park the car within the red building’s garage and you are ready to go exploring. You don’t have to try this building first. Both corner buildings are filled with treasures.
Inside the eye-catching striped structure is the newly remodeled Petersen Automotive Museum. You don’t have to be a car buff to fall in love with the beautifully designed Bugatti, silver “gullwing” Corvette, Steve McQueen’s 1956 Jaguar XKSS or the Batmobile, all currently on exhibit.
Start on the third floor and then head down. You might come across a car your parents or grandparents drove such as a red 1956 Bel Air Chevrolet convertible or a black 1922 Chevrolet 490 series coupe that the great grandparents might have driven.
The Petersen Automotive Museum is at 6060 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036
Chris Burden’s ‘Urban Light’
Across the road is what everyone in LA knows as LACMA, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, with its 21st century remodeled look and added buildings.
The very contemporary, multi-winged-topped structure on the campus’ western corner includes Renzo Piano’s Workshop-designed Broad (pronounced Brode) Contemporary Art Museum.
Often referred to as BCAM, it opened February 2008. It is adjacent to the Lynda and Stewart Resnick Exhibition Pavilion added in 2010.
But first, pull out the smart phone to take photos of your group wandering through artist Chris Burden’s “Urban Light” outside LACMA. It’s a fun collection of old-looking street lights. Then, stop at the LACMA Will Call window for tickets to “Picasso and Rivera: Conversations across time.”
Tip: Many LA area attractions including this exhibit need tickets so instead of waiting in long lines, purchase or reserve them on line to be picked up at the venue’s Will Call.
The ‘Picasso and Rivera’ show reveals how much the two famed artists were alike as they changed styles ranging from classical to abstract. Opened December 2016, the exhibit is in the BCAM section of LACMA through May 7, 2017.
Anyone who missed the “Moholy-Nagy Future Present” show at the Art Institute of Chicago fall of 2016, can catch it at LACMA Feb. 12 through June 18. It’s a fabulous exhibit of László Moholy-Nagy’s photographs, paintings, graphics and commercial designs.
Moholy, as he usually was called, was an influential Bauhaus teacher, founder of the Chicago Institute of Design and a pioneer of combining art with technology.
LACMA also has fine Asian, Latin American and Islamic collections. So you might want to divide up the time to do more than see a featured exhibit. The museum is at 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles CA 90036.
Now about food. It would be a shame to be in the area and not take advantage of lunch at Canter’s Bakery and Deli about a mile east of the two museums on Fairfax Avenue. Since opening in 1931, the famed deli has been the background for the ‘Mad Men’ series and has fed such celebrities as Barack Obama, Wayne Gretzky, Mick Jagger and Larry King. Canter’s is at 419 N. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90036.
Canter’s Deli has been serving up some of the best Jewish food in the LA area since 1931
An alternative suggestion: The Broad Museum that opened to well deserved hype September, 2015 is worth a stop when in LA.
You will want to snap photos of the building, inside and out, see its exceptional collection of contemporary art and check out Yayoi Kusama’s “Infinity Mirrored Room.”
Museum admission is free but reservations are essential. If going there, get in line once inside for a timed ticket to the Infinity Room. The Broad is at 221 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90012.
As to getting to these places, just be patient. Almost anywhere else you would likely time your forays to miss the rush hour. However, it always seems to be rush hour when driving the LA freeways. Since you are likely visiting or traveling with a companion take the car-pool lane.
Tips: Attractions are less crowded when they first open in the morning. Whatever attractions you choose, base your day on location. The places suggested here are near downtown LA.
Maybe now that Chicago’s Ice-Age weekend has come and hopefully, gone, we can lace up the skates and twirl to joyful music. Tip: closing dates are important so put them on your calendar. The first skating spot listed is indoors because it is part of a winter fest that leaves after the first full weekend in January. The second is outdoors but its regular hours change to extended holiday times late December except for special days and events.
McCormick Tribune Ice Rink in Millennium Park. City of Chicago photo
Navy Pier
If you want to skate at the Chicago Blackhawks Indoor Ice Rink among the rides and slides of the Pier’s Winter WonderFest, go by Sunday, Jan, 8, 2017. It all starts to disappear that Monday. Navy Pier is the nearly mile-long entertainment arm sticking out into Lake Michigan from 600 E. Grand Ave., Chicago, IL 60611.
You have likely passed Rosemont’s mega entertainment complex along the I 294 at I90 near O’Hare International Airport. There is a lot to do there including eating, seeing movies and flying (really) indoors. However, when winter comes there is also Frozemont, an outdoor Chicago Wolves Ice Rink for hockey and free skating. Skate rental is available. Tickets are sold at the rink’s box office. For the address think Monopoly game. It’s 5501 Park Place, Rosemont, IL 60018. Regular hours go through Dec. 23 but open skating has extended hours Christmas Eve and Day, New Year’s Eve and Day, Martin Luther King’s Day and Presidents Day.
Visit MB Financial Park for hours and other information and call (847) 349-5008.
Skate with the Greats (at MB Financial Park)
As those TV ads say, “wait, there’s more” re ice skating at the MB Financial Park. If anyone in the family follows the Blackhawks, consider getting a ticket to the annual Skate with the Greats, 1 to 5 p.m., Jan. 14, 2017. Sponsored by the Chicago Blackhawk Alumni Association, event proceeds to benefit Chicago area Ronald McDonald House charities. Learn more at skate event.
Lincoln Park Zoo
Families will appreciate the casual, no-pressure-to-show-off skating rink near the red barn at the Farm-in-the-Zoo in Lincoln Park. Admission and skate rental are each $5. Go now to also see ZooLights which continues through Jan. 1, 2017. Come back to skate some more through Feb. 26. You might not want to leave before visiting the new snow monkeys in the MacaQue Forest, the penguins in their new compound or Siku, a new polar bear in the Walter Family Arctic Tundra. The zoo’s parking lot is at 2400 N. Cannon Drive, Chicago, IL 60614 and is on the CTA’s 151 and 156 bus routes.
A fun place to skate is below Cloud Gate (The Bean) at the McCormick Ice Rink in Millennium Park. Take photos (can you skate while doing a selfie?) of the city’s skyline and warm up with hot chocolate from the Park Grill. Don’t worry about not skating at Olympic level. Free skating lessons are offered Friday through Sunday by the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events during their Winter Workouts an hour before the rink has opend. Other lessons are available other times and dates Dec. 24, 2016 through Jan. 8, 2017. The rink is open weekdays at noon and weekends at 10 a.m. through March 5, 2017. It’s located in one of those “you can’t miss it’ places because it borders the west side of Millennium Park along Michigan Avenue between Washington and Madison Streets. Its formal address is 201 E. Randolph St. Chicago, IL 60601. Skating is free. Rentals are $12.
Maggie Daley Ribbon Ice Rink A Maggie Daley Park photo
Maggie Daley Skating Ribbon
Swirling and curving on the north-east side of Millinneium Park in Chicago Park District’s Maggie Daley Park, is the unusually shaped Maggie Daley Skating Ribbon. Open now through the first week of March, the Ribbon winds through a somewhat rolling, changing “parkscape” that is a fun place to go. Skating is free. Rentals are $12 weekdays and $14 Friday through Sunday and holidays. The park is at 337 E. Randolph St. Chicago, IL 60601.
The city has seven other outdoor ice rinks aside from the Maggie Daley Ribbon. They will stay open through Feb. 20, 2017. To find the location nearest you or one you would like to visit and to see hours and special programs visit CPD.
Peninsula Chicago Sky Rink
You can skate with a city view above Michigan Avenue if eating, using the Spa or staying at the Peninsula Chicago. The upscale hotel has added an ice rink to its Terrace in a romantic setting of pine trees and snowflake lighting. Snack or warm up with hot cider, hot chocolate and other treats. The rink is open through March 1, 2017. Donations of $15 adults and $10 children age 12 and under go to children’s charities.
For other information and rink availability visit Sky Rink and call (312) 337-2888.
If still looking for something to do in the Chicago area this weekend here are some suggestions, beginning Friday.
Visit Brookfield Zoo where some animals enjoy the snow. Photo by Jim Schultz
Brookfield Zoo
Walk among more than a million twinkling lights, listen to a tall talking tree, watch ice carvers, ooh doing the Polar Light Show and ah during the magic show and sing to reindeer in Wild Encounters or bears in the Great Bear Wilderness at what is formally called the Chicago Zoological Society or what most Chicago folks call Brookfield Zoo.
The zoo is celebrating Holiday Magic this weekend, Dec. 17-18 from 10 a.m. through 9 p.m. but the lights, shows and other fun stuff don’t really begin until 4 p.m. The zoo is at 3300 Golf Road, Brookfield, IL 60513. For ticket and other information visit BZoo.
CTA Holiday and Elves Workshop Trains and the Holiday Bus
You can tell when the holiday trains are pulling into an L station because of all their colored lights. Oh, yes, you’ll also see Santa in his sleigh on a flatcar with his reindeer and holiday trees. The Elves Workshop train should be following shortly for those who didn’t make the Holiday Train. Inside, the trains are decorated for the holidays and equipped with candy canes to hand out.
On Dec. 17 The CTA Holiday Train will operate on the Red Line between 12:15 and 9 p.m. (two trips either direction, and the Purple Line from about 4:15 and 6 :16 p.m. Visit Holiday Train schedule.
The Holiday Bus will be traveling the No. 62 Archer route Dec. 16 going south from Kinzie and State at 1:15 p.m. and Dec. 17 going north at 12:25 p.m. from the Midway Orange Line to Kinzie and State See CTA holiday bus. You know it’s the holiday bus because “Ralphie the Reindeer” leads the way with his glowing, ruby-red nose. Once inside, you see Santa and art from Wacker Elementary and Santa. Find more information at Holiday Bus.
Juicebox Series Human Tim+Robot Tim
Bring your toddler to the Chicago Cultural Center Dec. 16 or the Garfield Park Conservatory Dec. 17 to watch Human tim and his robot friend make music. Both places are 11 to 11:45 a.m. The Cultural center is at 78 E. Washington St. downtown and the Conservatory is on the west side of Chicago at 300 N. Central Avenue. Both places are reached by CTA trains.. Visit Juicebox .
