Chicago Vacation: Where to Go?

Navy Pier, the Aquarium, Sears Tower (regardless of what it's called now), and walking up and down Michigan Ave can be fun. At least as far as sight seeing goes. I had a great time there without a tour guide, just go get lost in downtown, you'll find something to do.

 

^Just don't travel down any dark alley ways. And Cabrinee Green is only a couple of miles west of downtown me tinks. Seriously tho, my friend was mugged downtown at gunpoint cutting through an alley. Don do it. Stick to the well lit streets. I lived there for about a year...then moved.

If you stay in the "touristy" areas, i'm sure that you'll have a good time. Also, the chrome kidney bean in the park DT is pretty cool to see/snap pics of. Can't remember what the park was called tho. Sry.

 

You don't have to be in dark alleys to get mugged/beaten/chased.

CSB: One time while milling around Chicago, I was walking down Michigan Ave by Chicago ave out in front of the Walgreens. There were two homeless guys standing out there begging for hand outs. Being the poor, enlisted Navy 18 year old that I was, I didn't have any cash or change to give the guy.
Homeless guy: Spare some change?
Me: Sorry man, I don't have any cash
Homeless guy: Change? Quarters? Whatever?
Me: Seriously bud, I don't have any money on me, I don't carry any cash on me.
Homeless guy: How about bummin' me one of them smokes?
Me: Sure, man, I can give you one
(hands 2 cigarettes to him, one for him and one for his friend)
Homeless guy: (stands up) OH, So you can't help me live, but you gonna help me die!? IS that how this is?
Me: (laughs) ha, good one man. Take 'er easy.
Homeless guy: nah, **** that, you gonna try an kill me with cigarettes
Me: uh? Holy ****!
(homeless guy drops his backpack and starts running towards me)

They chase me about a city block. Luckily, I was in good shape at the time, and had been conditioned for running, because that guy was hauling serious ass after us.

I haven't been back to downtown Chicago for "tourist" stuff since then.

 

Check out the Museum of Science and Industry, you could spend a day in there easily and not see everything and they've got some great exhibits including a German U-Boat that you can take a tour in.

 

^Lullz...that's what i'm talking about Mix, crazies and gangbangers.

My buddy was just there because it's where the greyhound bus stopped. He needed smokes and walked a block down to a gas station while he was waiting on the next bus to depart. Got jumped by 4 guys that made him get on his knees via pistola.

I went down to the westside to a friends house back when i was living in the ****-cago burbs and thought that the neighborhood looked "alright" when i arrived. About an hour later i came out to my car to find 3 bullet holes in my windshield on the driverside of my car. Never went into the city again and moved a few months later. It was strange when i moved here and would go to bed without the gunshots going off in the background. Had to start sleeping with a fan on because it was just too quiet. Hahaha. And i lived in Waukegan, which is right by Six Flags Great America on the northside....where i thought that it was "safe".

I hear it's a nice place to visit...but i always ask where? I'd rather vacation in Antarctica buck nekkid myself. Not trying to scare the OP, but just be aware of the people and your surroundings when you are there.

 

HA! Yeah, Six Flags area is a **** hole. Most of the older suburbs are. And you'd think around the Navy base in Great Lakes would be safe....wrong. At least they finally tore down the Ron Ric up in North Chicago. I got a tattoo at the shop nearby. There was what was likely an urban legend floating around about some dude that hooked up with a prostitute there. She allegedly tied him to the bed, then left the room. Moments later, a guy dressed as Batman came in and raped him. Not sure if that is true. But if you've ever been around that area, you would agree that the idea isn't far fetched as it sounds.

 

HAHAHA, nope...Naval base or not, sketchy area! That isn't Fort Sheridan is it? I think that there's a couple of bases along the lake there but could be wrong. I used to drive through North Chicago all of the time omw to Lake Forest and never stopped to piss. Lol

 

^^THIS!!

Ah hah! Millenium Park...

 

Nah, it was Naval Station Great Lakes/Naval Service Training Command Great Lakes. But like Fort Sheridan, you definitely didn't want to stop your car for any reason unless you were entering the base itself. I can count on one hand the number of times I stopped for cigarettes or coffee at the local convenience mart off base. Otherwise, if I left base without smokes, I wouldn't stop for them till I got to Gurnee.

 

^Lullz. And Nater, i know the weather has been "decent", but i don't think that Great America is open yet bud.

 

We've commented on the quality of the area around 6 flags, but I don't think anyone has mentioned the park itself. It's an amazing wonder of physics and science that's for sure. As you drive in, if your windows are down, you'll notice with your eyes that there are no air tight walls around the place, no covered dome to keep air in or prevent it from escaping. As you are approaching the gate guard to pay for your parking, take one last deep breath of fresh air...and remember how it tastes in your mouth and how it smells in your nose. Because once you pass that area and park your car, you will be inundated with the smell and taste of a few decades worth of urine, feces and unwashed ass and arm pits. That place has its own atmosphere, and the barometric pressure is science fiction turned reality. The thick odor and filthy air practically crushes you with its scent. Every food you buy there tastes ever-so-faintly like someone peed on it or wiped their ass with it. But don't worry, they didn't, I don't think. It's just that that smell permiates every pore and sensory cell in your body, affecting every sense with the tastes and smells of a portapotty. I can say that upon leaving that place, it was likely the first and last time I've ever clawed at my tongue with my finger nails in an attempt to remove the film that the air left on it. If you've ever met me in person, you've at one point or another heard me pining on about Tijuana donkey shows, and how Tijuana smells like someone shoved a moist, disease ridden turd up your nose holes and taped them shut. 6 Flags in Illinois was worse. But I don't discuss it because it causes my brain to induce whatever chemicals it does to make a person remember a taste. And it fills my mouth with the horror of that place.

 

If you duct tape your nose and mouth shut the coasters are top notch tho!! Tyvek suit is optional.

 

Oh, I'm not saying the coasters weren't great. It is just that the smell is so bad there that you never get used to it. It feels like you're following around a herd of circus elephants.

 

The best part is waiting 45-90 minutes in line for each one while getting nasal raped.

Thanks for the lullz Jason, it's been awhile since i've laughed this hard. It was needed.

 

Hmmmm... I'll keep that one in my back pocket.

 

In my experience, you won't have much of a choice but to rent American iron.

 

What kind of food/restaurants are you into?

 

Give Giordano's Pizza a try if you want some excellent deep dish.

www.giordanos.com

 

Buffo's pizza was always one of my Chicagoland favorites. http://buffos.com/

It's not downtown tho.

 

This...or Gino's East.

When I was there last, I went to Blackbird and did the 11 course tasting menu, and it was fantastic.

http://blackbirdrestaurant.com/

 

http://www.sprinkles.com/cupcake-bakery-locations/chicago/