Chicago, what to do?

[SPXTrader]

Since all the suggestions are great, and the trip is over, here's my spot: The Billy Goat Tavern. Great place for a burger and a beer. "Butt in Anytime"

 

[Piso Mojado]

The Grove National Historic Landmark
1421 Milwaukee Avenue
Glenview, IL 60025
847–299–6096
Mon–Fri: 8 AM–4:30 PM
Sat–Sun: 9 AM–5 PM
Admission and parking: free

The Grove is a 30-minute drive from northside Chicago. It was the 123 acre estate and home of Robert Kennicott (1835–1866), naturalist, explorer, and founder of the Chicago Academy of Science.

Kennicott was a fellow of the Smithsonian Institution, where he greatly annoyed Secretary Joseph Henry by organizing sack races in the great hall and serenading his daughters. Today he is most remembered for his exploration of Russian America which led to the purchase of Alaska two years after his death.

The Grove is a great place to visit and explore any time of the year. In summer there are college students dressed in period costumes who will lead you around and tell you what's what. Here is a video with some of the sights:

[youtube]<object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/5SfYZvhwgA8&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/5SfYZvhwgA8&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>[/youtube]

Pita Inn
9854 N. Milwaukee Avenue
Glenview, IL 60016
847–759–9990
Sun–Thurs: 11 AM–11 PM
Fri-Sat: 11 AM–12 AM
Menu here
http://pita-inn.com/menu.php

The Glenview Pita Inn is a five-minute drive from The Grove on Milwaukee Avenue. It is a good, cheap Middle Eastern falafel joint so don't go there from 12 to 1:30, it is mobbed for lunch. This is my favorite Pita Inn, but there are two more in Skokie and Wheeling, and you can get their addresses from the web site with their menu.

Their chicken is not so hot, everything else is good to excellent. The "fatoush salad" is not real Persian fatoush — these guys are Palestinians, not Iranians — but everything else is quite authentic. The best deal is the business lunch, just be sure you order it without chicken. Please try a kibbeh and a gourmet falafel sandwich (Jerusalem style). The hot and cold teas are both mint-flavored and good and they pack a jolt.

 

[Piso Mojado]

Garfield Park Conservatory
300 N. Central Park Avenue
312-746-5100
Open daily (except Thanksgiving, Christmas & New Year)
Daily hours: 9 AM &#8211; 5 PM
Thursday hours: 9 AM &#8211; 8 PM
Admission: free
Parking: free
http://www.garfield-conservatory.org/

This is the biggest and best greenhouse I have seen. If you live in a redwood forest, you don't need this. If you are stuck in Chicago, you do.

Don't be paranoid about the neighborhood: it's a low rent district and you wouldn't want to live there, but no one is asking you to move in. Just follow the directions here http://www.garfieldconservatory.org/directions.htm and park in the conservatory parking lot.

You can also take the el. I used to take the el to my job a mile from there at 500 N. Pulaski, and believe me I would have much rather gotten off at Central Park and gone to the conservatory.

[youtube]<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Svr9ZZtSQoQ&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Svr9ZZtSQoQ&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>[/youtube]

Joe Boston's Italian Beef
2932 W. Chicago Avenue (at Grand)
773-486-9536
Mon.&#8211;Sat. 9 AM&#8211;10 PM

After sniffing the flowers, what could be better than a nice Italian beef? This is a mile and a half away, a five minute drive if you're driving.

I couldn't find a menu online but they are pretty cheap, and you could also get a combo. Egg & pepper sandwich on Fridays only.

Here's a photo of the menu:

Everything non-discretionary is going up here, but I think those are current prices. In case you can't read it: beef $6.75, sausage $6.25, combo $7.25, prices include soft drink and fries. The sausage is American-style sweet Italian sausage grilled until the casing is crispy but not burnt. (I know that Old World Italians would never eat Luganega sausage with fennel and the other things we put in it here, and when I'm in Rome I will do as the Romans do &#8212; except for the Roman salute.)

 

[Piso Mojado]

Old Town School of Folk Music
4544 N. Lincoln Avenue
773-728-6000
Web site:
http://www.oldtownschool.org/
Weekend concert schedule, July–December 2010:
https://www.oldtownschool.org/media/doc/Fall_2010_Concert_SM.pdf

They are still at the converted grocery store at 909 W. Armitage where I saw Sleepy John Estes, but nowadays Lincoln Avenue is the big deal.

This was the depression-era Hild Regional Library: nothing fancy on the outside, but 44,000 square feet inside and built like the Maginot Line (I used to work in the basement).

Chicago Public Libraries dumped the Hild in 1985, and in 1998, after some very creative public and private financing, the Old Town School reopened it with a Joni Mitchell concert.

Now they have the best small auditorium with the best sound and light setup in town:

[youtube]w7H3G_b6WhM[/youtube]

Oh yeah, they still have classes and private lessons, and they will teach you how to clog and buck dance and play guitar. Here's a commercial so you can see if their teachers know how to pick.

[youtube]PYajGFqZxH4[/youtube]

 

[LMT66]

Great posts Piso Mojado!

500 North Pulaski! Yikes! I used to drive a truck (long trailer) to that area (been years) and have a few stories.
Lake Street was fun with a long trailer.
Saw my first real convertible "pimp car" complete with wrap-around velour's rear seat at Fillmore and S. Kolmar.
West Fifth and Kilpatric was never fun.
Another stop at Harrison and Kilpatric where we had to call ahead so the armed guards could secure the street otherwise they would mug you.

 

[Piso Mojado]

Lake Street was fun with a long trailer.

Yes, it must have been. I used to watch The French Connection just for the car chase under the el tracks that would have lasted five seconds tops in real life.

[youtube]Hu3GmRQ-U9k[/youtube]

In the 1984-85, Lake Street was my Public Aid "district": I used to visit people on the side streets north and south of Lake from Pulaski to Kedzie. It was not the worst part of town but it was bad enough, and I much preferred working at Cabrini Homes.

 

[Ken C.]

The trip is long over. Closing this thread.