Jaunted

Chicago Travel / Airports / Airport News / Outdoors Travel / Architecture Travel / Meigs Field / → All Tags

Yet Another New Life for Chicago's Old Waterfront Airport

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

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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Celeb Travel / Literary Travel / MDW / Chicago Travel / Vintage Travel / Retro Travel / Travel Photography / United / → All Tags

The Man Who caught Katharine Hepburn Sleeping in an Airport

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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Gay Travel / San Diego Travel / Chicago Travel / Provincetown Travel / New Orleans Travel / Events / Festival Travel / → All Tags

Four More Big Gay Summer Festivals Following Pride Month

Most cities across the country set aside summer time to play host to a myriad of events celebrating Pride Month. But just because the major parades are over and the glitter has been swept up doesn't mean that the fun is at an end. Here is are a few recommendations to keep the Pride going all season:

· San Diego Pride: There is no competing with other cities for this Pride. July 20-22 is the time to head to the Californian city to celebrate all things gay. This is not your typical event, since the entire celebration is highlighted by a massive dance party in the zoo. Party with the boys and wild animals at the Zoo Party or hangout on picturesque beaches. Perfect weather is almost guaranteed, so it's up to you to bring the fun.

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Three Upcoming Air and Water Shows on the Shores of Lake Michigan

It might not be the best way to beat the heat this summer, but when it comes to being entertained during the warmer weather nothing beats one of the country’s Air and Water Shows. It’s not just asphalt runways and tarmacs at these events, as all the flying fun takes place near, by, and on the water. Here’s three this summer to get your motor running:

South Shore Air Show – Gary, Indiana

The air and water show season begins at the beginning of July, as the planes and people gather on the shores of Lake Michigan in Gary, Indiana. All the events are hosted in and around Marquette Park on July 6 through July 8. Admission is free—which is awesome—but just prepared to pay for parking, as the premium options can cost you as much as $20.

This year’s events are headlined by the USAF Thunderbirds, but those aren’t the only pilots and plains that will be doing the flyovers and the loop-the-loops. Other performers scheduled include the LED studded Starjammer, the US Army Parachute Team, and of course plenty of vintage vehicles and trick pilots. The highlight of the show—at least to us—are the sunset events on Friday evening with fireworks scheduled to close out the night.

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TV Travel / Conan O'Brien / Chicago Travel / → All Tags

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

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

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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Chipotle Goes Beyond Burritos to Host Festivals in Chicago and Denver

After the success of last year's Cultivate Festival, Chipotle Mexican Grill is curating two more festivals this year.

The first Cultivate Food, Ideas & Music Festival will be held September 15 in Lincoln Park in Chicago followed by a second event on October 6 in Denver's City Park.

Both festivals will be completely free and include cooking demonstrations from celebrity chefs like Richard Blais, Amanda Freitag and Zak Pelacci, live music from acts including G. Love & Special Sauce and Allen Stone, an Artisans’ Tent with goods from local artists, a Tasting Tent with local beer and wine, and much more.

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Airline Delays / Political Travel / Chicago Travel / NATO / → All Tags

Don't Be Late for NATO! Aussie Prime Minister's Plane Breaks Down

We have all been there. Traveling on our way to a very important meeting or even a well deserved holiday, and we can't even get off the ground due to a mechanical issue. It is so frustrating, yet just something we have to deal with. And, hey! It even happen to dignitaries! Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard found herself in the very same situation this last weekend.

The PM was planning to leave from Townsville, in the northern part of the continent, on her way to the NATO summit in Chicago, but her plane had engine trouble and their departure time was pushed back as a replacement Boeing 737 business jet was sent from the capital, Canberra. In the end it only delayed her four hours, but made international headlines.

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

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'

Airport News / Chicago Travel / Airports / MDW / ORD / → All Tags

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

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 O'Brien / Chicago Travel / Comedy Travel / → All Tags

How To Get Tickets To 'Conan' in Chicago

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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