Frommer's Irreverent Guide to Chicago

John Wiley & Sons

Chapter One

Basic Stuff

Chicago has a way of derailing even the most sensible itineraries. Sure, you may think you're going to walk from your hotel to the Art Institute of Chicago, but then you find yourself passing through Lincoln Park and instead decide to sit in the shadow of the bronze statue of William Shakespeare and read a detective novel. Or you plan to lounge on Oak Street Beach and work on your tan but wind up renting rollerblades at the concession stand and hotdogging it up and down the boardwalk until the sun sinks beneath the horizon. Day after day your plans don't quite get fulfilled, and yet you've done so much.

It's not merely that Chicago is a big city-after all, Detroit is a big place, too-but it's a big city with an unusually wide array of things to do. It's not a sunny resort area where you either sit on the beach or windsurf, 'nuff said, or a cement canyon where you walk around museums and sample tony restaurants. It's both of those things: windsurfing at Montrose Beach in the morning and high tea at The Ritz-Carlton in the afternoon one day; the next, brunch at Ann Sather's and a stroll through the DuSable Museum of African-American History, with the afternoon spent learning to sail at Belmont Harbor and the evening at a first-rate play at the Steppenwolf Theatre. Theonly real challenge is apportioning your time so you don't feel cheated in the end.

Getting Your Bearings

Chicago, bless its heart, is one of the easiest big cities to navigate. The city is laid out like a grid, with the intersection of north-south State Street and east-west Madison Street in The Loop as the center. Addresses get incrementally bigger in all directions as you move away from this point, with about 100 numbers per block, 800 per mile. So, at the same place on each perpendicular street you'll more or less find the same address; 3000 N. Sheridan Rd., for instance, is as far north from Madison Street as that same address on every other north-south street. There are a few diagonal thoroughfares, such as Lincoln and Ridge avenues, but their number systems by and large are in keeping with the grid streets-2000 Clark St., for example, is at Armitage, the same way 2000 Lincoln Park West is. The lake is east-always. The most significant street to know is Lake Shore Drive, which hugs the coast north-south. The other main north-south drags include Broadway, Clark Street, Halsted Street, Dearborn Parkway, LaSalle Street, and Michigan Avenue. Six of the Loop's east-west thoroughfares are named after presidents-Washington, Madison, Monroe, Adams, Jackson, and Van Buren. Farther north, North Avenue, Fullerton, Diversey, and Belmont are zeniths of neighborhood activity. Laid on top of this gridlike scenario are the el and bus routes, which traverse the city in such a way that a car, while helpful, is unnecessary. Getting from the Loop to Wrigley Field for a Cubs game is a one-train deal. You can take a bus from the Lincoln Park Zoo to Marshall Field's and, as you glide down Stockton Drive and then Michigan Avenue, you get a magnificent sightseeing tour thrown in for free. The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is one of the few remaining subway systems in the United States that operates most days around the clock (though some stations are closed after traditional work hours and on part or all of the weekends, so it's imperative to check). Generally, the entire system is referred to as the "el" because parts of it are elevated, like a roller coaster. At places it curves from side to side like a roller coaster, too. There are six separate subway routes, denoted in different colors on the maps, copies of which are available at every subway token booth. And then there are buses, which follow various routes illustrated on blue-and-white signs posted at the bus stops (generally every two blocks along the route). The fare on trains and buses is currently $1.75 (plus a 30¢ transfer for use between bus lines, which must be used within 2 hours of its issuance). For a map or free advice on how to get from one place to another, call the CTA (Tel 312/836-7000). Just remember, Chicago is flat, streets run for the most part straight north-south, east-west, and the lake is always, always, always east. Now go have fun.

The Lowdown

Must-sees ... You should not leave the city limits without going to the Art Institute of Chicago, even if it's just to stand slack-jawed with the crowd that is usually massed before what may be the museum's most famous holding, Georges Seurat's Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. The crowds are not here because of hype: It is actually an incredible painting, the only one I know of to have a Broadway musical based on it (Stephen Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George). And no visit to Chicago would be complete without going to see Sue, the fossilized bones of the single largest, most complete, and best preserved T. rex fossil yet discovered at the Field Museum of Natural History. There are touchable casts of selected bones that allow you to diagnose some of the wounds that have been found in her skeleton, animated CT images of her skull that take you on a virtual journey inside her head, and a time-lapse video showing the mounting of Sue's colossal skeleton. Odds are, once you get home, some neighborhood wisenheimer will ask if you walked through the giant heart at the Museum of Science and Industry-and in this case, the wisenheimer knows whereof he speaks. It may sound kitschy, but it's an oddly impressive experience, as is this whole huge hands-on museum where adults are just as enthralled as kids. Graceful, ornate Buckingham Fountain, along Lake Shore Drive in Grant Park, is another don't-miss-it, if for no other reason than because over the years it's become a city icon.

Special moments ... You must, must, must take a long, lazy drive up (or down) Lake Shore Drive. The experience is what they call a two-fer: You see the lake on one side, and the Loop skyline, Grant Park, the Gold Coast, and Lincoln Park on the other. Day or night, it's a stunning vista. Walk around the Loop-better yet, take a guided tour given by the Chicago Architecture Foundation-to get a feel for the business that makes this powerful city really tick. As crowds of stockbrokers and lawyers scurry around you, stand still on a corner and crane your neck to study America's most perfect assemblage of classic skyscraper architecture. Speaking of walking, take a jaunt up (or down) North Michigan Avenue (see the Shopping chapter), the city's prime shopping thoroughfare, with huge stores and malls housing the city's most glamorous places to buy stuff. And if you're in town during baseball season, make time to attend a Cubs game at Wrigley Field (see the Entertainment chapter). The ballpark is in the middle of a tight residential neighborhood (parking stinks, so take public transportation if you can).

Only in Chicago ... No matter how happy you are to be in Chicago, there's always room for the blues. Whether you visit Buddy Guy's Legends in the Loop or Kingston Mines on the North Side (see the Nightlife chapter), you won't regret it. After all, Chicago is the home of the blues. You shouldn't miss Robie House, either, perhaps Frank Lloyd Wright's most famous residential building within the city limits (it's in Hyde Park); it may inspire you to trek on out to suburban Oak Park to see more of Wright's iconoclastic Prairie Style architecture, born and bred here in Chicago. Then go stuff your face with a world-famous deep-dish pizza from either Pizzeria Uno or Due, the city's premier pizza makers (see the Dining chapter). Other cities, from New York to London, may claim that they make authentic Chicago pizzas, but none-and I mean none-make them as good as pizza makers in Chicago. There is no room for argument here.

Prowling the Gold Coast ...

According to a 1994 study by Roosevelt University, Chicago's Gold Coast is second only to Manhattan when it comes to the highest concentration of moola in the country. From the lake to roughly about LaSalle Street, Chicago to North avenues, this is Chicago's fancy-shmanciest area, incorporating exclusive shopping and tree-shaded residential streets lined with gorgeous town houses, pre-war apartment buildings, and some very ugly modern towers. Roaming around is a pleasure. The former Playboy Mansion (1340 N. State St., at Lake Shore Dr.) is now condos, but you can still try to imagine what Hef was up to in there for all those years. The Archbishop's Residence (1555 N. State Pkwy.) is a Queen Anne-style red-brick mansion, typical at least in size of the many ornate palaces built after the Chicago Fire that used to line Lake Shore Drive. Other architectural highlights include McKim, Mead & White's 1892 Patterson-McCormick Mansion (20 E. Burton Place), originally built for Joseph Medill, who was mayor of Chicago and part owner of the Chicago Tribune; the 1914 Three Arts Club (1300 N. Dearborn St.), designed by the architectural firm of Holabird & Roche; the Louis Sullivan Townhouses (1826-1834 N. Lincoln Park West), designed by Sullivan himself; and Charnley House (1365 N. Astor St.), designed by Adler & Sullivan. In fact, all of Astor Street, from Division Street to North Avenue, is a designated National Historical Landmark. Check out the Chicago Historical Society, at Clark Street and North Avenue. It's a really wonderful museum-not boring or staid like a lot of historical society digs. When walking around finally starts to get to you, head over to Oak Street Beach, where sunbathers, rollerbladers, walkers, runners, and saunterers provide a good dose of live theater. At the south end of North Avenue Beach (or, depending on where you are, the north end of Oak Street Beach), you can rest and play chess at the Chess Pavilion, where chess challengers from around the city gather to square off. Beneath a concrete sculpture that looks almost airborne, schmoozers and players alike sit around at all hours, some playing the game, some watching, some just contemplating the passing crowd. Bring your own chess pieces and you too can play on the built-in boards. It's almost always a wonderful Chicago scene. Along Oak Street itself is a prime shopping area, one block crammed with chi-chi boutiques set in exquisite brownstones (see the Shopping chapter for details).

Museumscapes ... If you've only got the stamina to see one museum in the city, head for the Art Institute of Chicago. There's a velvet rope in front of Seurat's pointillist masterpiece, Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, perhaps the museum's most beloved picture. Everyone wants to get close to it, to be near it, to see it, to remember it. Though the Art Institute's collection does not have the depth of some other, larger museums, its many famous holdings make it seem like Art History's Greatest Hits. The Impressionist collection is the museum's main claim to fame (and the section that draws the largest crowds), but you'll find plenty of famous names in the Modern & Contemporary Art wing (Edward Hopper's Nighthawks and Grand Wood's American Gothic often provoke double-takes from visitors). But tucked away throughout the Art Institute are less obvious treasures as well. Don't miss what's left of the Trading Room of the original Chicago Stock Exchange, the rest of which was demolished for stupid reasons in 1972 (to make way for a modern skyscraper); luckily, portions of the beautifully stenciled walls, molded pilaster capitals, and art glass were preserved and incorporated into the re-creation you'll see here. (The Exchange's two-story entry arch was also saved and re-erected in a nearby garden at the museum.) Also, check out the Rubloff paperweight collection. It sounds dumb-paperweights-but their magnificent sparkling colorings and designs make them as gorgeous as fine jewelry. Also, whether you're an interior-design junkie or not, the Miniature Thorne Rooms-68 tiny but scarily intricate recreations of spectacular period interiors-is worth a visit to the museum alone. In its grand space just off Michigan Avenue, the Museum of Contemporary Art sits like an imposing fortress, with all the charm of Cold War-era East Berlin. But step inside and you'll find an airy, light-filled building, with plenty of space devoted to the museum's permanent collection (works by artists such as Bruce Nauman, Richard Serra, Jeff Koons, and Chicago master Ed Pashke). Though the building looks massive, you can easily catch all the highlights within an hour or two. (If you've got a taste for the avant-garde, the museum runs a busy schedule of edgy video- and computer-related works and performance art.) In Hyde Park, the Smart Museum of Art displays the University of Chicago's eclectic art collection-including paintings by Degas and Matisse, sculptures by Rodin and Henry Moore, and an outstanding Greek vase collection. The best thing here is the original dining room set designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for his now-famous Robie House, a few blocks away in Hyde Park.

Ethnic museums ... Jewish art and artifacts, from ritual objects to paintings and sculpture, are on display at the Spertus Museum of Judaica, which is of limited interest except for the moving Zell Holocaust Memorial and the Children's Artifact Center, a clever hands-on exhibit that lets kids learn the history of the Middle East through archaeology. On the University of Chicago campus, the Oriental Institute Museum showcases the art and artifacts of the Near East-ancient Persia, Iraq, Egypt, Israel, Syria, and Turkey-from about 9000 B.C. to the tenth century A.D., with many pieces of art, archaeological finds, and other things pillaged from other cultures during a time when pillaging wasn't so un-PC. Highlights include Egyptian mummies and, from an Assyrian palace, a 40-ton sculpture of a winged bull. The DuSable Museum of African American History, also in Hyde Park, traces the black experience in America; displays honor Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, Sojourner Truth, and others. For good luck, rub the nose of the bronze bust of Haitian-born Jean Baptiste-Pointe DuSable, a trader born of mixed African and European blood; he was the first known non-Native American settler in Chicago. In Pilsen, the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum showcases contemporary Mexican and Mexican-American art with new exhibits every couple of months, while on the Northwest Side the Polish Museum of America highlights both traditional and modern Polish and Polish-American art, including the Stations of the Cross from the first Polish church in America. It's one of the largest museums in the country devoted to the art and history of one ethnic group, but given that there are more Poles in Chicago than in any other city in the world other than Warsaw, that shouldn't come as too big a surprise.

The wonders of science ... As it happens, Chicago has a whole raft of museums devoted to the sciences, strung out along the shore of Lake Michigan. The starting point has to be down in Hyde Park at the truly great Museum of Science and Industry. One of its most beloved exhibits is also one of the simplest: Stand in one spot in the oval-shaped Whispering Gallery and you can murmur to a person standing all the way on the other side-that person'll hear you loud and clear. It's an ever-amazing thing to do, and more so because while doing it you realize you've also learned how sound travels. It's like that all over the museum, where visitors learn almost by osmosis as they walk through, pull, touch, explore, and wonder at the more than 2,000 interactive exhibits, including an actual Boeing 727's fuselage, an authentic U-505 Nazi submarine, and a reproduction of a Southern Illinois coal mine. Go north up the lakeshore to Grant Park, and you'll find another of the big kahunas of Chicago's museum world, the Field Museum of Natural History, with its mighty dinosaurs (especially Sue, the largest T. rex fossil ever found), hairy beasts, and permanent and temporary exhibits devoted to all things natural, from anthropology to zoology. Enormous exhibits, such as "Africa," "Oceana," or "Inside Ancient Egypt"-which includes the masaba (tomb) of Pharaoh Unis and 23 actual mummies-feature interactive experiences that allow visitors not only to see how other cultures and environments exist, but to feel a visceral connection to them. Across the road from the Field is the Shedd Aquarium, a splendid facility that's practically as good as an indoor Sea World. Once you've checked out the water, look up to see the sky at the Adler Planetarium with its high-tech, special effects-laden 68-foot-high Sky Theater. If you can, go on the first Friday night of the month-after this show, the Adler uses its incredible 20-inch computerized telescope to instantly project 18-foot by 24-foot live images of outer space to the audience. A bit farther north, in Lincoln Park, the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum is home to an enchanting 28-foot-high butterfly greenhouse housing more than 500 fluttering wonders representing a dozen species; a wilderness walk; and even something non-nature types can relate to: an actual 3,000-square-foot, two-story house whose infrastructure has been peeled away to meet the creatures that inhabit every city home. You'll come to understand-for better or for worse-how every time you flip a switch or turn up the heat in your house, you're tapping into processes being conducted hundreds or even thousands of miles away. (And you thought nature museums only exhibited ant farms and baby chicks!) For those bored by the usual museum displays, head to the oddly fascinating International Museum of Surgical Science, housed in a couple of great 1917 former residences on Lake Shore Drive, for a tour of medical devices through the ages, as well as a re-creation of a turn-of-the-century drug store (it's not exactly Walgreens).

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Excerpted from Frommer's Irreverent Guide to Chicago by Elizabeth Canning Blackwell Excerpted by permission.
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