Wednesday – Sept 14, 2011: We’ll explore Lincoln Park One of the city’s most historically significant neighborhoods is also one of its most popular among both tourists and residents. Attractions like the Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago History Museum, Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum and Lincoln Park Conservatory draw crowds year-round, while other hidden treasures, like the spectacular Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool, are around the corner. Magnificent mansions, swank boutiques and renowned restaurants complete the rich tapestry that is Lincoln Park

• 9:30am - meet in hotel lobby and walk to Lincoln Park (a leisurely walk may take 30-45 minutes) and trust me, the walk is a lovely trip on it’s own.
• 11:00am - the Bourgeois Pig for coffee/lunch. Hang out and explore this popular neighborhood. For more information on Lincoln Park neighborhood please see: http://explorechicago.org/city/en/neighborhoods/lincoln_park.html

• As this will be individually paid for, I plan on taking a walking tour provide by the famous theatre Second City. To join in, you will need to but your own tickets in advance, you can buy them here: http://secondcity.com/performances/detail/633/ Tickets are only $15/ea.

For those who want to join in, it is a 90 minute tour of Old Town and Lincoln Park area, for those who don’t, you can either grab a cab back to the hotel or I’ll make certain to have maps for you to be able to find your way back. Second City is about 1.35 miles from the hotel. a leisurely walk will have you back within 30 minutes.

Thursday – Sept 15, 2011:

• 9:30am- meet in lobby for a leisurely walk to Millennium Park – it’s 1.16 miles from hotel. Today is all about Art & Architecture in Millennium Park and the Chicago River. We will visit Millennium Park today and enjoy an unprecedented combination of stunning architecture, sculpture and landscape design located in the heart of downtown Chicago. On the way, we will make a short detour over to State St & Madison St to see the amazing Louis Sullivan Carson Pirie Building,dating back to 1899, it's amazing ornamentation has recently been renovated and is beautiful Then it will be back up to Michigan Ave and over a few blocks to the oldest building on Michigan Ave - The Fine Arts Building. A building designed for artists in 1885 and still used by artists.

While there we can explore:

• Cloud Gate The famous mirrored jelly bean people associate with Millennium Park. There, you can see yourself and a reflection of the city skyline in artist Anish Kapoor’s interactive sculpture that sits in the center of the Park.
• Crown Fountain Become a kid again when you stand in front of artist Jaume Plensa’s 50-foot glass block towers of flowing water that project the video images of 1,000 different Chicagoans.
• Lurie Garden Explore the breathtaking Lurie Garden in all four seasons of the year designed by the team of Gustafson Guthrie Nichol, Piet Oudolf and Robert Israel.

• Tour the outdoor Boeing Galleries on the north and south side of the Park and experience the monumental sculpture exhibition by Mexican artist Yvonne Domenge beginning April 6.
• Extend your visit by taking the Nichols Bridgeway across Monroe Street and enter the Modern Wing of The Art Institute of Chicago.
• At Noon we will meet and enjoy Lunchbreak Music Series (free)There is a free music festival happening at Millennium Park while we are there, each day at lunchtime there will be a new band playing different types of music. We can grab a sandwich outdoors and sit and enjoy the sounds of Chicago.

• 1:45pm: Leave Millennium Park to walk back towards the hotel, stopping at the Chicago River and taking a Chicago River Architecture tour at 2:30 ($26/ea): The 75-Minute Chicago River Architecture Tour Chicago's architectural heritage is considered to be among the finest in the world, and the Chicago River provides the ultimate setting to view these magnificent structures.

Afterwards, we’ll walk back to hotel, a half mile away, with maybe a quick stop at the tribune building along the way. It’s a block or two from the river and is worth anyone’s time to explore. We can go in the lobby and see beautiful art deco interior. Around the exterior there are bricks from various times in history, it’s an amazing building that will be a perfect top off to a day of architecture.

The River is about half way between the Park and the hotel, so, we should have approximately 20 minute walk back to the hotel. A leisurely walk with no stops we’d be back at the hotel by 4:15 at the latest. We will have stayed on Michigan Ave the whole day, if people want to split up and go shopping on the Magnificent Mile on the way back, it will not be difficult to find their way back.

Friday – Sept 14, 2011: - a free day so you can go explore things that you may want to revisit:

• You can step outside the hotel and shop on the Magnificent Mile!

• A short walk will get you to Navy Pier – somewhere if you haven’t been to it is worth going, I like it best at night, riding the Ferris Wheel and seeing the city lit up is just a wonderful thing to do. Go there with your partner, have dinner, ride the Ferris Wheel, have a drink and enjoy the lake. You won’t regret it.

• Chicago Cubs are at home Friday and playing at Wrigley Field, a 1:15 start. 3.5 hours at the game, 45 minutes to an hour back to the hotel (it’s not that far, just, can be a bit messy getting out of) take the red line to and from the park. That’s where I’m going to be –cubs don’t often win, but, there are few better places to go than Wrigley field in the famous, and charming, Wrigleyville. It just doesn’t get much better than Wrigley Field.

• The Art Institute of Chicago is some where you can easily spend the whole day, or, the Museum Campus by the Lake includes the famous Shedd’s Aquarium, or the even more famous Field Museum which is a Natural History Museum and the home of the most famous T-Rex in the world, Sue! The Science and Industry Museum is a short taxi ride away, not to mention all the others in town you can go to. Go here for more info: http://chicago.about.com/od/artsculture/tp/Top-Ten-Chicago-Museums.htm

• Starting Sept 15th will be The World Music Festival: http://explorechicago.org/city/en/things_see_do/event_landing/special_events/dca_tourism/world_music_festival.html And lots and lots more.

If you’re looking for things to do at night Chicago has it all. Around the corner from the hotel is Rush Street which is filled with bars and restaurants. Not that far you can find whatever music you may want – I’d suggest talking with the hotel Concierge to get the perfect tips for your personal tastes.

Check with the hotel concierge or email me at Melanie@dunslane.net and I’d be happy to try to help you find your way. There is a lot to do and I hope by the end, you’ll feel a little love for the great city of Chicago!