Chicago Travel Guide - Page 2

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Always a Welcome Sight: Airport Bike Parking

August 9, 2012 at 3:39 PM | by | Comments (0)

Long ago, we declared Portland International Airport to be the most bike-friendly airport in all the US. Well, since then, we've gotten around a bit more and would also lay some laurels on both Nantucket Regional and, now, Chicago-Midway International.

One of the really brilliant things about Chicago's two airports—both O'Hare and Midway—are their easy accessibility by public transportation. We're talking $2.25 on the El Blue Line (to O'Hare) or $2.25 on the El Orange Line (to Midway), total. Last week, while on said Orange Line to MDW, we disembarked at the airport and ran smackdab into the welcome sight of this large bicycle rack.

It's free to park and within the El gates, so it's far safer than your average rack. Bring your own lock, hook up your bike here and take off for a long weekend's vacation (most likely on Southwest Air). Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

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The Adventures of Travel Cat: Chicago-O'Hare Airport

August 8, 2012 at 11:11 AM | by | Comments (0)

Kitty cats. They rule the internet and, whether we realize it or not, pretty much the world too. Ever noticed how cats sometimes stake out the coolest spots in a city? This new feature—Travel Cat—focuses on exactly that. Submit a photo to be featured by tweeting or Instagramming it to us (details below).

Travel Cat spotted on: JetBlue flight 914 from ORD to JFK.

This week's Travel Cat is from...me, your intrepid editor here at Jaunted! Recently a friend helped rescue a litter of abandoned kittens in Michigan. I committed to adopting one and he's been traveling with me from Ann Arbor to Ohio to Chicago and, earlier this week, it was finally time to bring him home to a permanent cat bed in New York City.

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Yet Another New Life for Chicago's Old Waterfront Airport

August 3, 2012 at 1:10 PM | by | Comments (2)

If you're old enough or just Chicago enough, you'll have heard of the saga of Chicago's Meigs Field/Northerly Island. In 1933, this bit of land that jutted out from downtown Chicago was made the center of the World's Fair. In 1948, the land became the single runway airport Meigs Field, which was controversially closed for good in 2003 when Chicago's mayor Daley tore up the runways in the middle of the night, with the aim of making it a park according to the 1909 plan of Chicago's city planner, Daniel Burnham.

We last visited the finished park in spring 2010, enjoying a leisurely stroll on paths surrounded by prairie grass, where once was a runway. We even peeked into the closed '60s-era terminal that still stands. Well, it turns out that isn't the finished product at all, as Chicago has even more ambitious plans for the manmade island-turned airport-turned park.

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Cheer On the World's Best Competitive Eaters in Chicago, Before They Take on Nathan's Famous

June 29, 2012 at 11:49 AM | by | Comment (1)

The biggest sporting event of the year is coming up next week and some of its competitors are beginning their warm ups this weekend. We're talking, of course, about Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest, the banner event for Major League Eating, taking place at NY's Coney Island on July 4th.

But you don't have to wait until then to see some of the world's best stomachs in action. Two of the top-ranked eaters in the world, Patrick “Deep Dish” Bertoletti and Tim "Gravy" Brown will begin working their jaws this weekend in their hometown of Chicago—where they will take on four of the city's biggest eating challenges.

The duo, who have just launched their own food truck, the awesomely named Glutton Force Five, kick off their marathon of mass consumption tonight at the Fifty/50 Bar, where the challenge is to eat 50 items off the menu in 50 minutes.

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The Man Who caught Katharine Hepburn Sleeping in an Airport

June 26, 2012 at 3:44 PM | by | Comments (0)

If there's that gets us as excited about modern air travel, it's retro air travel. You know we're nerds for airplanes of any era really, so when we run across vintage in-flight magazines, as we did recently with United's Mainliner, we just have to share. It was in the June 1962 edition that we first heard about a photographer who specialized in getting those glamorous, movie-star-exiting-the-jet images at Chicago's Midway Airport and now, we're hearing about Mr. Mike Rotunno again.

Yesterday, the Chicago Tribune wrote an article on the man, because as it turns out, there's a full-fledged book—"When Hollywood Landed at Chicago's Midway Airport: The Photos and Stories of Mike Rotunno" by Chicago author Christopher Lynch—coming out on Rotunno's life as the original airport paparazzo and his mob ties.

Still, his run-in with Al Capone isn't as interesting as one little story about a certain celeb who had airport habits similar to our own: Katharine Hepburn:

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Conan's Giant Bobblehead (Almost) Finds a Home at Harold's Chicken Shack

June 18, 2012 at 2:33 PM | by | Comments (0)

Last week, while taping his nightly talk show at the Chicago Theatre, Conan O'Brien promised to leave the city of Chicago a "gift"—a giant bobblehead in his likeness—at a local landmark of their choosing.

During a skit on Thursday's show it seemed like Conan was going to keep his promise as the 30-foot bobblehead was carefully installed outside the Art Institute of Chicago. There was just one problem, no one told the museum's staff and the giant Conan head was quickly booted.

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Chicago's Newest Landmark is a Giant Conan O'Brien Bobblehead

June 13, 2012 at 4:31 PM | by | Comments (0)

Conan O'Brien has taken over the Chicago Theatre this week where he is taping four episodes of Conan to coincide with the TBS Just For Laughs Festival.

On Monday, Conan unveiled a 17-foot bobblehead of himself which he plans to donate to Chicago. "As a thank you, I had a sculpture created that reflects Chicago's size, power, and beauty," Conan explained as he revealed the massive monument.

Conan is asking Chicago residents to chose where they want the giant bobblehead to stand by tweeting suggestions to @teamcoco with the hashtag #COCOBOBBLE or posting them at teamcoco.com/cocobobble.

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Caution: This Time-Lapse Video Will Make You Fall (More) in Love with Chicago

May 2, 2012 at 1:17 PM | by | Comments (0)

Wednesdays can be pretty hectic seeing as it's "Hump Day" and all, and that's why we are giving you this little moment of zen. It's a beautifully shot time-lapse video of Chicago set to beautiful orchestral music. Sit back and enjoy the next 4 minutes.

The video is called Places in Time and it's by a photographer/videographer named Chris Pritchard. It is the first in a series of videos released by the artist on Vimeo. After watching the video, we can only hope that the list of cities he films grows to the length of a good grocery list.

Shot from multiple different neighborhoods across the city, the time lapse captures the energy of Chicago from sunset all the way to sunrise. We won't spoil it anymore, so turn the speakers up and prepare to loose yourself in the wonder that is known as Chicago. It's no wonder why Frank crooned, it's 'My Kind of Town'

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United Airlines in 1962: Opening Pancake Shops at O'Hare

April 30, 2012 at 2:03 PM | by | Comments (0)

Look what we found! Why, it's a June 1962 edition of United's old in-flight magazine, Mainliner. This week, we'll be flipping through the pages and learning a thing or two about the United of the dawn of the jet age.

What better place to start than with United's headquarters in Chicago? In this issue of Mainliner, United profiles their hometown airports: O'Hare and Midway, though O'Hare's modern architecture is obviously the focus of the pride. They've just opened some Mies van der Rohe-designed terminals, after all, and Chicago is only beginning to make its mark as the "Crossroads of the Nation" in terms of jet travel.

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Without a Plan in Place, Chicago Breaks Ground on Airport Number Three

April 25, 2012 at 9:05 AM | by | Comment (1)

Chicago’s getting a brand new airport! It’s number three to be exact, and they broke ground on it over the weekend. Just hold up a second first, because though the ground's been dug with a celebratory shovel, the plans are still all on paper with plenty of arguments and debates left before planes will be able to do their thing to someplace other than ORD and MDW.

Mostly the concern is that Chicago doesn’t really need a brand new airport, and opponents especially feel that all the city needs is updates at Chicago-O’Hare. Even the CEO over at the new United feels that another airport isn’t really necessary, but of course that could be simply because he has a pretty decent stake in the operations at O’Hare.

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How To Get Tickets To 'Conan' in Chicago

April 24, 2012 at 2:32 PM | by | Comments (0)

Conan O'Brien is taking his show on the road again! This time he'll be taping four episodes during the TBS Just For Laughs Comedy Festival at The Chicago Theatre in Chicago, IL.

Free tickets to Conan in Chicago, which will be taped between June 11th and 14th, will be issued via an online lottery.

To enter, all you have to do is visit teamcoco.com/tickets/chicago and choose the date you would like to attend (you can only choose one date, so choose wisely) and fill out the ticket request form.

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Two Minutes of Time-Lapse Video and Into the Air on American

April 19, 2012 at 10:32 AM | by | Comments (0)

We've said it once (okay, like a gazillion times) and we'll say it again: airports are excellent places for time-lapse video and we're complete suckers for both.

For the most part however, travelers who take the time to film nearly every second of a flight are on a special departure, like an international flight for vacation or an annual business class treat. But then, most people aren't Steve Tures, who just flew one of the most blah routes—between Chicago and New York—and recorded it all.

The result, a simple time-lapse recorded on an Android Xoom Tablet and uploaded to YouTube, is a brilliant study in what a modern, uneventful flight looks like. Surprise—it's even American Airlines. We only wish he hadn't abided by the "turn off electronics for take-off" rule!

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