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Re: chicago must-sees

Hmm..  Chicago's a groovy town.  I have tickets to TransAm at Metro there 
tomorrow night even, but may need to skip it due to work.

Don's list is pretty groovy for the most part, but I'd skip Sears Tower at 
all costs and head to Hancock instead.  Invariably at Sears, you're herded 
like cattle (depending on number of people there) and the view everywhere is 
city - rail tracks and poverty to the South, city mayhem elsewhere.  Hancock 
Tower is a little closer to the clean action and Lake Michigan, and it gives 
you better perspective on things.

And I'd never steer anyone away from Michigan Ave/Miracle Mile.  It's 
touristy, but holy cow - he IS a tourist!!  It's a beautiful street with 
amazing architecture and character.  From Wrigley Building's terra cotta 
exterior, to Fazlur Kahn's innovative structural engineering for the Hancock 
Tower and GoldBerg's nearby Marina City (the cover of Wilco's new Yankee 
Hotel Foxtrot), it's awesome just to walk through, day or night.  The crazy 
gothic Tribune Tower has a weird touristy but interesting thing at the base, 
it has a bunch of labeled stone and construction materials embedded at the 
base of the building, like the Great Wall, Westminster Abbey, Coliseum, etc. 
  It's funner than it sounds.  http://www.themagnificentmile.com for more 
info.  Another amazing aspect of Chicago found on Michigan Ave are the 
people.  They're SO friendly.  You can eat weekday brunch atop Hancock for 
cheap.

I agree wholeheartedly with Don on most of the rest: Art Museum is a 
must-see, Chicago Historical Society is great, Center of Science and 
Industry is huge and great, Shedd Aquarium and Oceanarium is great, Adler 
Planetarium is OK, Natural History Museum is OK too.

Other Chicago things I've done that I'd do again include:

* Chicago Stock Exchange - rockin'.
* Cubs (Major League Baseball for you foreigners!) are out of town
  until 12 July, but you used to be able to tour Wrigley Field, even
  on off days

if you have car access, these things are cool:
* Fermilab - a MIT doctoral pal of mine works at this particle
  accelerator, and it's really quite nice to visit and learn
* Oak Park - tons of tourable Frank Lloyd Wright architecture
* Baha'i Temple - pretty spiffy, as seen from this washed out
  overhead.  http://www.photography-plus.com/project/Bahai.htm
  They also have a religious center.

Hmm.

There's tons to do there.  How much time do you have??

Bruce


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