Chicago Travel Guide

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Groupon's Good for Something, Like Virgin America Flights with Free WiFi

January 31, 2012 at 10:56 AM | by | Comments (0)

We have our doubts about group buying sites like Groupon, especially when we're getting emails for discounts on laser hair removal 80% of the time, but occasionally great deals do pop up, and one such sale starts today.

The deal: Pay $39, get $100 towards round-trip flights between Chicago-ORD and San Francisco-SFO or Los Angeles-LAX. Included in that $39 is also a code to redeem for a free session of Gogo in-flight WiFi, itself worth $12.95. The $100 you get can be used to purchase any class of travel...so you're that much closer to one of the big seats in First Class.

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How To Get Tickets To 'A Christmas Story, The Musical' in Chicago

December 14, 2011 at 1:22 PM | by | Comments (0)

If you can't get enough of leg lamps, triple dog dares, and BB guns this time of year, you won't want to miss A Christmas Story, The Musical live in Chicago.

Starting tonight, the musical, based on the classic 1983 about a little boy named Ralphie who only wants a BB gun for Christmas, will be performed each night through December 30 at the Chicago Theatre.

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One Chicago Museum Celebrates Dr. Seuss and Christmas Around the World

December 14, 2011 at 9:53 AM | by | Comments (0)

The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago has been celebrating the season since the 1940s, and this year is no different. The museum has pushed some of its smarty-pants stuff out of the way—don’t worry there’s still plenty of learning to be had—and they’ve installed plenty of Christmas spirit.

The main attraction is the 45-foot Grand Tree which towers toward the ceiling of the building’s rotunda. There’s about 30,000 lights and 1,000 ornaments covering the tree, and it’s surrounded by like 50 more smaller trees all decorated to represent different cultures and countries. That’s just the beginning of the Christmas Around the World and Holidays of Light exhibit, as there are plenty of events and other displays that keep visitors shuffling through the museum after a long day of holiday shopping.

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Neighborhoods to Know and Go: Chicago's Andersonville (in Instagram)

Where: Clark Street [map], Chicago, IL, United States
December 13, 2011 at 12:38 PM | by | Comments (3)

We're going to give it to you straight. There once was a time—not too long ago at all—that the north side Chicago neighborhood of Andersonville was known as an area where girls who like girls settled down and raised their kids and altogether made the area a desirable and safe place to stay forever. We're happy to report that the spirit of inclusiveness prevails, but a bloom of craft beer bars and brunch-happy restaurants have brought in a more mixed crowd and—dare we say it—tourists way tired of the Michigan Avenue crap.

Andersonville is where to come if you want to leisurely stroll while window shopping, sipping some excellent coffee and reminiscing about college with a friend you haven't seen in years. There will be occasional breaks to coo at babies in their strollers, pet Dachshunds in quilted tartan coats and impulse buy entire pieces of vintage furniture. God it's just so great when you really need to be in or are already in a warm and fuzzy mood, no matter the season.

Without further ado, our personally picked top spots to hit in Andersonville:

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How and Where to Catch a Ride on Chicago's Annual Holiday Train

December 1, 2011 at 11:45 AM | by | Comment (1)

When you think of the holiday season and big cities you probably think of New York City and its window displays and oversized Christmas tree. Well it’s time to consider Chicago as well, because they certainly get into the holiday spirit in their own Midwesterny ways. Especially since every season they totally remodel the inside and outside of an El train with lights, decorations, and more.

The Chicago Transit Authority has done this for a few years now, and the trains even come complete with Santa and his elves, on hand to pass out candy canes and other treats. In additional to the holiday treats, the train is decked out with lights from top to bottom along with projections and other displays. It doesn’t stop there either, as the inside of the train also gets a holly jolly makeover that can put a smile on the face of even the biggest Grinch.

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Getting the Food to Come to You at Chicago-O'Hare Airport

November 30, 2011 at 9:27 AM | by | Comments (0)

Have you taken advantage of gate side food delivery at the airport? Okay, we admit that we haven’t either, but that’s only because we just haven’t had the opportunity yet! Now there’s one more option to do so, as HMSHost—purveyor of fine concourse concessions—is bringing the B4YouBoard app to Chicago-O’Hare.

In case you forgot how it works, it’s pretty easy. Just fire up the app on your iPhone or Android device, place an order at a participating restaurant, and then wait for a friendly face to deliver your food and beverage right to the gate.

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Richard Branson Would Like You to Stay the Night...at Virgin Hotels

November 9, 2011 at 9:40 AM | by | Comment (1)

Let's play a game! How many Virgin companies can you name off the top of your head?

Without looking it up, here's what we can come up with: Virgin America, Virgin Atlantic (who remembers Virgin Express?), V Australia, Virgin Australia, Virgin Galactic, Virgin Oceanic, Virgin Trains, Virgin Balloons, Virgin Megastores, Virgin Limobike, Virgin Money, Virgin Radio, Virgin Active, Virgin Mobile, Virgin Wines (!!) and wow—so many more. Just mentioning the fact that we recently took a Virgin Train from London to Liverpool produced the following reaction from a friend: "THEY DO TRAINS TOO?!"

Yes indeed Virgin does do trains, and now there's something else to add to that long list of what they do do: Virgin Hotels. That's right; Sir Richard Branson wants you to sleep with him...finally.

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Foreign Grocery Friday: Chicago-Style Deep Dish Pizza

November 4, 2011 at 10:28 AM | by | Comment (1)

When we travel, one of our favorite things to do is to pop into a local grocery store and check out the food products and candies we'd never find anywhere else. So we're trying out this new feature, Foreign Grocery Friday, where each week we'll feature some of our (and your) favorite overseas treats. Got a recommendation? Let us know!

We once read somewhere that pizza is the most effective means of putting a lot of cheese into your body. Never is this more true than when you're gobbling up a deep dish pizza, Chicago-style of course. With a crust of more than 2" in height and the contents nearly as high, a Chicago pizza resembles an actual pie—mozzarella cheese is the filling, tomato sauce the topper and all held together by the mighty Italian bread crust. One piece is almost an entire meal. A "personal" size can actually feed 3-4 people. In other words, it's serious stuff.

Devotees of Chicago pizza have their favorite places to order from, and for us it's the classic of Giordano's.

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Sipping Coffee with a Side of Lonely Planet; Welcome to Chicago's Kopi Cafe

November 1, 2011 at 3:16 PM | by | Comments (0)

It's perhaps about time we shared a secret with you—the secret of our favorite coffeeshop in Chicago. True northside Chicagoans should know it already, but visitors to the Windy City would likely skip over the cafe—and indeed its entire, awesome neighborhood of Andersonville—completely. You shouldn't do that—you should go to Kopi: A Traveler's Cafe.

Sure, we were originally attracted many years ago by the name "Traveler's Cafe," but Kopi delivers on many levels above and beyond the bookshelf stacked with an okay selection of travel guides. For one, it has a huge menu of coffee drinks (spicy Oregon chai? check. Viennese coffee? check. Thai iced coffee? you know it). It's casual and affordable, and the lack of WiFi means it's not a laptop farm (yet).

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Plenty of Chocolate Returns to Chicago's Field Museum for a Fall Run

October 10, 2011 at 8:50 PM | by | Comments (0)

Chocolate is returning to where it all began, and we’re not talking about Hershey, Pennsylvania. The museum exhibit “Chocolate: Around the World” is returning to Chicago—that’s where it started—just in time for the holidays. It’s been at like 22 other spots around the country and its even heading overseas next year, so now you’re chance to discover what’s really behind that chocolate chip or truffle.

The tasty fun is back at the Field Museum, and it’ll be there until January 8. Different passes get you different access to the museum, but if you pony up one the Discovery or All-Access passes you should be able to check things out between like $20 and $30 per adult. This will also get you into most everything else the museum offers just in case you can't handle any more sugar.

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Chicago-O'Hare Shows Off Its Green Thumb With An Airport Garden

September 28, 2011 at 9:01 AM | by | Comments (0)

Chicago-O’Hare has been busy in 2011, and it’s not just updating a bunch of United Airlines signs. The airport has been busy adding plenty of new restaurants—tasty ones too—and now they’re taking the next step to improve their foodie street cred. HMSHost is partnering up with the airport to create an airport aeroponic garden.

Apparently it’s the very first—and only—aeroponic airport garden in the world, and it’ll be doing its thing before too long right in Terminal 3. It’s not just for show either, as they’re actually planning to utilize some of its crops for restaurants right in the airport. Tuscany, Blackhawks Restaurant, and Wicker Park Seafood and Sushi are just a few of the restaurants that plan to use some of the garden’s lettuce, peppers, and herbs. Hopefully Rick Bayless will steal a couple sprigs of cilantro too.

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It's Never Too Soon to Plan for Lollapalooza 2012

August 12, 2011 at 2:45 PM | by | Comments (0)

Do you smell that? That, dear readers, is the smell of piles of "festival wear" still sitting on the floor in the corner of thousands of bedrooms, the sweat stains slowly drying a week after Lollapalooza in Chicago. Before those cut-off jorts and Topshop tank tops hit the wash, however, the planning begins for Lollapalooza 2012, the 21st anniversary of the music festival.

Mark the calendar: August 3-5, 2012. And it wouldn't be too awful to begin searching for hotel rooms right now, before places the Hard Rock and The Sax even think about raising their rates. Do keep in mind though, that by this time next year hotelier Ian Schrager's new digs The Public will be well up and running and worth checking out, even if the Gold Coast is a big of a long walk/sweaty bus ride away from Grant Park.

Sidenote: Keen for Coachella 2012 as well? We've been noticing early birds tweeting about getting the worm (prime hotel resys) in Palm Springs already, so maybe spend the weekend getting your 2012 music festival calendar all sorted?

[Photo: Lollapalooza]

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