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Visiting Chicago - where to go?

18:31 / 21.07.02

I'm heading to Chicago the week after next - staying a week, mostly in the suburbs but spending Friday and Saturday night downtown (E Wacker/Lakeshore).

Might be moving there as bf has just got a job in the area. Prime purpose this trip, however is just to have a good time.

Any hot tips on what would be cool to do during a weekend in Chi-town? I know bf wants to go clubbing - where would be fun? I haven't been out in forever, I'm having a clothes crisis 2 weeks ahead of time!

Also, is it possible to happily survive the winters there? I keep being told horror stories. As an ex-Londoner, I must say I've been enjoying the Southern Californian sunshine here in San Diego, but I do kind of miss the buzz of a great city. I spent a week in the Chicago suburbs a few weeks ago and met so many friendly people. At the moment I'm very favourably inclined towards the whole moving-to-the-Chicago area thing, but maybe I'm fooling myself about my ability to withstand lousy weather.

cheers!

20:26 / 21.07.02

Was just there. Belford is probably where you want to be. Check out The Metro for some good shows. Also, Chase cafe is lots of fun. Forgot the location, but I'm sure someone around you will know.

05:41 / 22.07.02

What suburb are you staying in? Cuz there might be stuff to do within the suburb or at least a surrounding suburb. Downtown clubs are really expensive with just about everything. But, some of the areas on the north side are pretty hopping without the whole price thing. And yeah, the Metro does have cool shows, but they're a lot more expensive than some of the punk or rock'n'roll clubs like the Fireside Bowl, Prodigal Son, Club Foot etc...

06:43 / 22.07.02

Well ... we're staying waaaaay out in Vernon Hills, a commuter town really - it's about 35 miles NW of the city. I don't think there's all that much happening that far out of town - it's all housing estates, business parks and malls. Very pretty though (I mean the trees and stuff, not the malls ...). Maybe one or two friendly bars, but the bf and I are really after a taste of the urban experience. Although I love San Diego for the weather and the laid-backness, I miss the energy of the big city, and I hate the whole driving only culture. I guess I'd like recommendations for neighbourhoods we could hang out in and maybe even walk from place to place (walking in the city is one thing I miss!).

Totally open to the idea of venues outside of the Loop/Michigan Ave type area, tho.
Anyway where the people are cool ... in the broadest sense, of course. I looked up "Chase Cafe" as Rage recommended and that looks like somewhere we will check out.

11:12 / 22.07.02

What sort of clubbing would you like to do? I've never been huge on the Chicago club scene but I've been to a fair few in my time.

Berlin on the north side (Belmont el stop - directly across from the belmont el) is a pretty old club that's still a lot of fun. A really nice mix of gay and straight people (I believe they refer to themselves as a "pansexual club." Music ranges from 80s new-wave to new stuff, depending on the night you go.

Club Foot's pretty fun as well. It's more of an indie rock club and it's a good place to go if you're a big music lover. It's on Division in the Ukrainian Village, but you'll probably have to take a cab there as it's not too close to an El stop.

Monday nights at Red Dog are legendary - great music and it is always packed. Don't know if you have Monday as an option but if you do I recommend Red Dog. It's across the street from the Damen el stop on the blue line, and it's right behind the Borderline bar.

A good place to investigate clubs you might be interested in is metromix.com or chireader.com - go to their "clubs" listings.

The winters CAN BE pretty harsh. But remember, those who live here survive them! Usually it's just one or two weeks where it's really cold as shit, and the rest of the winter is bearable. And maybe they'll be a week or two with a lot of snow, but that usually coincides with the week or two it is cold as shit. It will probably be a shock to your system, though - Chicago's climate is much more extreme than San Diego's or London's.

But we do actually have beautiful weather occasionally and Chicago is in fact a great city. So come on down and check it out!

11:32 / 22.07.02

Ayuh. Like right now it's HOT. Africa hot.

I know nothing about clubs.

I can tell you that there is an excellent Gerard Richter retrospective at the Art Institute, which is a long walk or a bus ride away from where you are, and also you might like to look at the Irving Penn nudes in the photography gallery (downstairs). There is also a Gursky exhibition at the MCA, also reasonably near you in your downtown location --large-scale photographs, rather cool.

You can also probably walk to the Gene Siskel Film Center, which is on State Street. They often have interesting programming there.

And around the corner from there, I think Sock Puppet Showgirls will be running at The Noble Fool. (It's the movie Showgirls done with sock puppets.)

18:38 / 22.07.02

Check out the Baha'i temple. You won't regret it.

20:13 / 22.07.02

Niketown. Definately need to hit Niketown.

20:25 / 22.07.02

Niketown?

Are you serious?

If so, please explain why, because I'm infinitely curious...

20:36 / 22.07.02

You’d probably enjoy the Neo-Futurist’s “Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind: 30 Plays in 60 Minutes”, which shows on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are 5-10 dollars. They’re one of Chicago’s greatest artistic traditions, in my humble opinion. See hwww.neofuturists.org for details.

Of the touristy things to do, taking an riverboat architectural tour of downtown ranks highly. I also recommend renting a bicycle and touring the lakefront.

20:41 / 22.07.02

Oh, and clubs: for atmosphere, if you have money to burn, try Zentra or the Funky Buddha Lounge. For late night dancing, Berlin’s got a good rep, but I usually end up at Neo. For a friendly neighborhood bar, try the Get Me High Lounge.

06:27 / 23.07.02

wow! why did i never think to ask that? lots o fun things to do! YEE HAW!.. i'll have to add some of these to my "things to do i chicago list" right between "get smashed at Fuel" and "dance arround the fountain at the begining of Married w/ Children"... i'm such a tourist

18:17 / 23.07.02

The Niketown thing was a joke.

I went there with my family when I was a kid. It was fun for about 10 minutes, then it got boring, then it got fun again as my mommy bought me stuff. The end.

21:20 / 24.07.02

Thanks so much - this was exactly the kind of info I was hoping for!

I am just so excited now. Art! Theatre! Music! ... I've been dead broke for a looong while so I've been living in even more of a cultural wasteland than San Diego probably actually is. Then things pick up a bit AND I get the chance to visit Chicago ...and I happen to know (of) the very best people to ask - if I wasn't worried about the board shutting down life would be looking pretty good.

I am going to try follow as many of your suggestions as time (and my budget) allows.

cheers to all!