Comments on: Preview: Some of the best things about Chicago in the Summer Time

By: Christopher Gavula

Christopher Gavula — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 15:52:28 +0000

Having grown up and spent most of my adult life in Detroit, I spent a fair amount of time over in Chicago (only about 5 hours by car). I liked it, in general, but the traffic was horrible, and Chris S. will be happy to tell you how I cussed out more than one toll booth for making me pay to drive on a roadway that was pretty crappy.

The tourist things in Chicago are pretty nice though and Chicago’s tourism department does a nice job pushing it, especially regionally, as a tourist destination.

Detroit has many of the same amenities, like a world-class Art Institute (which holds a Van Gogh and an amazing Diego Rivera mural), but it has a much poorer tourism department and continually has to fight the “crime” image which really is a shame becasue the crime rate is similar to other large cities that don’t have that image.

The bottom line is that you can find treasures almost anywhere you live and/or work and it amazes me how few people appreciate the ones that are local to them until they either have visitors asking about them or they leave an area.

I loved the food in Detroit and Chicago. Now that I live on the U.S. Gulf Coast I absolutely love the country cooking and the many, many, different inexpensive foods available in New Orleans. You gotta take advantage of what’s around you!

By: dgduris

dgduris — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 14:38:34 +0000

My earlier post didn’t. So here is the rest of my thoughts on the Second City.

I lived in Chicago (Bucktown) from 1993 through 1996, when I left for Rhode Island to marry my ex-wife.

I have lived in Cleveland, Columbus, Providence and San Diego as well and visited cities as far flung as Paris, London, Tokyo and Moscow.

Chicago, in my experience, is about the best place on the planet.

There is so much to see and to do and, most importantly, the people are really nice. I loved it!

San Diego is a close second for me. It’s very Midwestern in friendliness, but with Palm trees.

If you visit Chicago, you have to get up to the Bucktown neighborhood for a meal at Janes or Club Lucky.

By: dgduris

dgduris — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 14:28:28 +0000

Today – opening day – is a great day for me because my beloved Cubbies could be in first place by day’s end.

By: Joel Mclaughlin

Joel Mclaughlin — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 01:38:49 +0000

Expensive? I thought it was cheap. The best thing about Chi-town was it was so easy to get anywhere at least that was my thought. I’ve been to places where I had to get on a bus to get a decent cheap food option. I had a class in Dallas, TX and there was a hotel nearby, but the only good nearby was a Au Bon Pain and the hotel’s own restaurant. I had to hop a bus to get to a Whataburger or anything else.

By: Christopher Spera

Christopher Spera — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 21:41:51 +0000

Personally, having spent about 12 years in Chi-town (including one year working downtown); I can take a pass.

I can’t stand all the crowds; and while the food is VERY good, its freakin’ expensive!! If you go downtown, you really have to keep an eye on your wallet (costs as well as pick pockets!), and your kids.

If I didn’t think that Chicago’s IT market was more recession-proof than Nashville’s, we never would have left.

By: Joel Mclaughlin

Joel Mclaughlin — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 20:27:33 +0000

I agree. Chicago just rocks. I was there twice last year. Once in a snowy February and once in June. I had a MUCH better time in June, but I enjoyed both times. February was nice just to see snow. However, now I am tired of it (we had 20 inches 2 weeks ago…it’s all gone).

FOOD is the BEST thing in Chicago. First The MUST TRYS: Chicago Style Hot Dogs, Chicago Deep Dish (NOT Pizzaria Uno) and Chicago Italian Beef.

Then there’s all of the OTHER things to try….Garret’s Popcorn and other things that you can only find in Chicago.

Plus walking around Millennium Park is a fantastic walk. The Cloudgate Sculpture is a cool thing to take pics of during a nice sunny day.

I want to take the family there, but I am having a rough time convincing my wife it would be a fun vacation.

By: Judie Lipsett

Judie Lipsett — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 17:34:58 +0000

Molly, I have only been to Chicago twice – and both times were for business – but this makes me want to take a vacation there.

Thanks for the list of must-sees…although this line did make me laugh:

everyone can appreciate the view on a clear summer day on LSD.

Kids, don’t try this at home.