Fodor's Chicago 2001

by FODOR'S

• ISBN13: 9780679005919
• ISBN10: 0679005919
• Additional ISBN(s): 9780676901238, 9780679003564
• Edition: Map
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2001-01-09
• Publisher: Fodor's
• More Book Details
• Purchase Benefits

Summary

"Fodor's guides cover culture authoritatively and rarely miss a sight or museum."- National Geographic Traveler "The king of guidebooks."- Newsweek No matter what your budget or whether it's your first trip or fifteenth, Fodor's Gold Guides get you where you want to go. Insider info that's totally up to date.Every year our local experts give you the inside track, showing you all the things to see and do -- from must-see sights to off-the-beaten-path adventures, from shopping to outdoor fun. Hundreds of hotel and restaurant choices in all price ranges-- from budget-friendly B&Bs to luxury hotels, from casual eateries to the hottest new restaurants, complete with thorough reviews showing what makes each place special. Smart Travel Tips A to Zsection helps you take care of the nitty gritty with essential local contacts and great advice -- from how to take your mountain bike with you to what to do in an emergency. Full-size, foldout mapkeeps you on course.

Table of Contents

On the Road with Fodor's	v
Don't Forget to Write	v
Smart Travel Tips A to Z	x
Destination: Chicago	1	(11)
Windy City, Warm Heart	2	(1)
New and Noteworthy	3	(1)
What's Where	4	(1)
Pleasures and Pastimes	5	(1)
Great Itineraries	6	(1)
Fodor's Choice	7	(2)
Festivals and Seasonal Events	9	(3)
Exploring Chicago	12	(75)
The Loop	13	(18)
Downtown South	31	(9)
Hyde Park and Kenwood	40	(11)
South Lake Shore Drive	51	(4)
Near North	55	(14)
Lincoln Park	69	(13)
North Clark Street	82	(5)
Dining	87	(34)
Greater Downtown	90	(7)
South	97	(3)
Near North	100	(11)
Lincoln Park and North	111	(8)
Worth a Special Trip	119	(2)
Lodging	121	(19)
Downtown	124	(4)
Near North	128	(10)
O'Hare Airport	138	(2)
Nightlife and the Arts	140	(20)
Nightlife	141	(10)
The Arts	151	(9)
Outdoor Activities and Sports	160	(7)
Shopping	167	(27)
Side Trips	194	(17)
The Western Suburbs	195	(10)
Sheridan Road and the North Shore	205	(6)
Portraits of Chicago	211	(9)
``The Builders of Chicago,''	212	(6)
Barbara Shortt
Book and Videos	218	(2)
Index	220

Excerpts

Destination: Chicago

Don't try to hang a clever moniker on Chicago -- the city moves too fast to be pinned down. What was once considered a gangster's paradise has evolved into an eclectic amalgam of transcendent architecture, world-class theater, and rabid sportsmanship.

Chicago's image has changed. No longer the "second city," America's midwestern metropolis has acquired a first-class reputation around the world, particularly when it comes to the arts. Carl Sandburg's City of the Big Shoulders is now also City of the Big Limos on opening nights.

Exhibitions at the Art Institute of Chicago have drawn worldwide acclaim. You could spend days there drinking in the Impressionist paintings alone, then be happily transported into the 21st century by eye-popping works at the bold Museum of Contemporary Art, which overlooks Lake Michigan.

If you happen to be in the city on a steamy summer day, grab a ticket at ivy-webbed Wrigley Field -- the National League's oldest ballpark. Sit with the "bleacher bums," ever loyal to their Cubs. You may catch a fly, you may catch a little sloshed beer, and you'll certainly catch a good glimpse of Chicago.

As actor William Petersen, co-founder of the city's innovative Remains Theater, has said, "Chicago is a place to take risks, a place to fail, a place to grow. It's a place where you're not judged as being unworthy."

In other words, a Cubs kind of town.

Architecture

The destruction wrought by the Chicago Fire of 1871 cleared a path for architectural experimentation. Architects flocked to rebuild the city, using new technology to develop the foundations of modern architecture. Louis Sullivan, William Holabird, John Wellborn Root, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Daniel Burnham are among the builders whose creations influenced Chicago as well as cities around the world. They developed the skyscraper, and this type of structure fills the downtown skyline in hundreds of incarnations, from the crenellated Wrigley Building (Graham Anderson Probst and White) to the box-like Federal Center and Plaza (Mies van der Rohe). Chicago and its environs also inspired Wright's low-lying Prairie School, exemplified in many Oak Park houses. The city still buzzes with new construction, though today's architects often favor the postmodern, as in Helmut Jahn's James R. Thompson Center and the Harold Washington Public Library.

Blues

In the years following World War II, Chicago-style blues grew into its own musical form, flourishing during the 1950s, then fading during the 1960s with the advent of rock and roll. Today Chicago blues is coming back, although more strongly on the trendy North Side than on the South Side, where it all began. Isaac Tigrett's palatial House of Blues in the Marina City complex downtown hosts both local and nationally known musicians, though smaller clubs such as B.L.U.E.S. and Buddy Guy's Legends are still the best places to hear real Chicago-style blues.

Dining

In Chicago immigrants and their traditions give the dining scene impressive variety and spice, and their influence is felt not just in ethnic storefront eateries but in bastions of cutting-edge contemporary cuisine. You can sample cuisine from all over the food universe -- Polish sausage, Swedish pancakes, Thai curry, Greek (appetizers), and more. There are also plenty of temples to the all-American steak and to the city's trademark deep-dish pizza.

The Lake

Lake Michigan acts as Chicago's compass. You can always orient yourself in the city by finding the lake -- if you're facing the lake, you're facing east. It's also a great place for outdoor activities, with harbors, beaches, and more than 20 miles of trails for walkers, skaters, and cyclists. It's easy to appreciate the lake from nearby, but it's also a beautiful backdrop to the view from city skyscrapers.

Outdoor Sculpture

You don't have to go indoors to see some of Chicago's finest art. Strolling in the Loop, you'll encounter arresting pieces, such as Picasso's beady-eyed sculpture in the Daley Plaza, Alexander Calder's arching red Flamingo in the Federal Center Plaza, and Marc Chagall's monolithic mosaic in the Bank One Plaza. Wander on to Michigan Avenue to see Jerry Peart's wild and whimsical at the Boulevard Towers Plaza or -- for something entirely different -- Edward Kemeys's magnificent bronze lions in front of the Art Institute. Children have fun sliding down the base of the Picasso and petting the lions, who wear wreaths at holiday time.

Theater

In Chicago you can find lavishly staged musicals presented in such magnificent settings as Adler and Sullivan's Auditorium Theatre as well as taut dramas in intimate settings with bare-bones scenery. Tickets can be outrageously expensive at downtown theaters, but prices are lower beyond the Loop. Not every small theater (and there are at least 75 around the city) may achieve the success of Steppenwolf -- where John Malkovich, Gary Sinise, and Joan Allen got their start -- but take a chance on a small production that sounds enticing. There's a wealth of talent here in the heartland.

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Excerpted from Chicago by Fodor's Travel Publications, Inc. Staff
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.