I went to Connecticut for work a couple years ago. I went on Yelp and found the "best" pizza place around. I ordered a sausage and green pepper pizza. What I got was a floppy mess with little to no sauce, sliced summer sausage, and big chunks of green pepper. I was barely able to eat a slice. Awful. Who the hell uses summer sausage for a pizza.
Update: We're currently looking at flying in the morning of the 21st, and flying out the evening of the 24th. So, a 4 day / 3 night stay. Tickets and bags should cost us just under $400 round trip for two, as of now. Trying to decide between staying in more central downtown, on Adams St, or on the riverfront, at intersection of Michigan and Wacker Dr. The views of the latter will probably be nicer, but I also want transit to be easier for us, given the weather. Either way, hotel stay would be about / less than $100 a night. I am NOT a traveler, so any thoughts on the above would be much appreciated. Can't wait. Also, anyone who can point us to cheap winter clothing would nice - we won't need it after a few days' light wear. Florida isn't exactly parka weather.
What airport are you flying in? In February stores most likely will most likely have their spring summer lineup in already but some might still have some clearance left, however if your talking about thrift stores the Salavation Army has a location Grand av and about 500 north on Des Plaines. Do Michigan and Wacker as there are more restaurants north of the river and certainly more bars. Transit won't be a problem from that location either as you can catch the El on Lake and Wabash and that loops the city center before heading to it's destination hence the name "the Loop". https://www.transitchicago.com/maps/
You're my hero, Tuna. And don't think I didn't see the offer to grab us from the airport - that is incredibly, insanely kind of you, my friend. By the looks of it, all the cheapest tickets in and out are Fort Lauderdale to/from O'Hare, so chances are good that's where we'll be heading. But damnit if I won't still buy you a drink, nonetheless. Would love to see you, up there. Putting together a list of stuff to do, now, so I can estimate costs. A Blackhawks game is on the list, but so are tickets to see Hamilton, in town. Trying to decide if my wallet wants to do both... Hard to argue against doing it all, while in town...
Hey I got three more days and I'm officially retired, so I need something to do to stay busy lol. I am however heading south to Georgia in January. Going to take it easy for a while but follow up on some offers on other jobs in February I just didn't want to rush in another job right away. After 40+ years with the same friggin company out of High School I need a break. Let me know if I can assist you in any way.
Jeez, Tuna - congratulations, buddy!!! Enjoy it, man!! Here's to a smooth last few days, and a relaxing retirement!! Good for you, man.
Well, unless you can make it for this weekend, you're going to have to hope for a home playoff game, and figure out how to get tickets to that. Not a small task. I would probably aim for next year. If I thought I could snag tickets to a Bears home playoff game without breaking the bank, I'd probably just take the weekend to do that, and scrap the longer vacation later... But that's a tough get.
If the Bears get a home game and you get me a ticket I can take you anywhere you want to go and keep you safe. This city is safe, geez the entire gets the rap because of a couple bad neighborhoods. I've even worked in those very neighborhoods at some ungodly times and never had an issue.
^ Cannot stress this enough. What the talking politics heads don't cover is that crime overall is down to record lows due to better community policing. They just focus on the death count number, which if you dive into further; is a result of gentrification and movement of neighborhoods with gangs to others, also with gangs. Hell even if you try to go to said bad neighborhoods, CPD stops you if you don't look like you belong in Auburn-Gresham, Austin, or South Shore, the majority of where all the bad stuff happens. And sadly, unless you have family there, there isn't much to bring you to one of said neighborhoods. But if you only watch and believe shitty, fear inducing 'media' like fox news, you'd think its the wild west here because they just talk about the number of shooting victims and tie it to being a liberal city. It gives the neighborhoods and residents that look out for each other, take care of each other, and work together to stay consistent amid good/bad times a terrible name, and it deters some poor little small town person from stepping outside their comfort zone to stay in what they only know/think they feel safe.
I live on the southwest side just west of the airport and yes we do our own policing here and while it's comprised in large part of city workers, police and fire department personnel you'll see very little tagging going on and when you do it's removed quickly. We do our best to not let their presence be known, and make it uncomfortable for gangbangers to gain a foothold. I grew up in this neighborhood and it's nearly as solid today as it was then. I love this city. The taxes on the other hand not so much.
@dlinebass5 Here's an example what what the MSI has to offer. Although the field museum is cool and all that but after a while I lose interest in looking at bones, I mean seriously I love bones don't get me wrong when they are attached to some back ribs, but after I suck all the meat off them I can't get them to the garbage can fast enough.
Dline, I came across this today. Might save you some money if you plan on doing the touristy stuff. Chicago Groupon Deal
Very kind of you, my friend! We actually just purchased everything we needed as of yesterday! I grabbed the CityPass, which is just like the one you linked, but with specific exhibits already built in. I sincerely appreciate the thought! If you're in the city, you tell me, and drinks are on me! We'll be in Chicago Feb 20th - 24th (Wed - Sun). Flying in early AM, out in the evening. Staying in the Loop, supposedly a 5 minute walk from both the Willis Tower and the CIBC theater, both of which we'll be visiting. We've got phenomenal tickets to Hamilton for the first night we're there, I'm going to be buying tickets to the Blackhawks game on the 22nd (if I remember right), and we'll be checking out every museum and nook and cranny we can, in between. I've got a list of the recommend places to eat, that everyone chimed in with, and we'll be stopping at those on the way. Can't wait! Many, many thanks to all of you for the thoughts and recommendations. I'd love to see you and buy you a drink, if you're around! Cheers, all!
Got the VIP passes so we can do every exhibit, and check out everything they've got. Can't wait. I suspect we'll spend most of the day in there. Edit: We also bought some clearance winter clothes down here, in advance. We're keeping the tags on, and eyes out for better deals, but we like what we've got so far. We got jackets for each of us, wool socks, and we already had beanies / scarves. Looked real out of place, shopping in fucking South Florida. What we're really going to keep an eye out for, while we're there, is clearance or cheaper Bears gear. Getting it out of town means ordering it, and that's no fun. Watch out, sales racks - we're coming for you.
