This is a great weekend to spend time downtown in Chicago. The Michigan Avenue Lights Festival is happening, which leads us right into Thanksgiving on Thursday and then the Black Friday Sale Madness on Friday. Millennium Park’s Ice Skating Rink also opens and the Museum of Science and Industry has their annual Christmas Tree Exhibit open too. There are plenty of events to attend fun family events and celebrate the holidays in Chicago before it gets too cold. 

The Magnificent Mile Lights Festival – Time: 11 AM Saturday November 21. The Michigan Avenue  Lights Festival is happening on Saturday. You can see the parade and fireworks along the stretch of Avenue from the Chicago River, north to Illinois Street.  At least that is the area I can see that has been decorated and has road blocks up. I know that Michigan Avenue is amazing with all the lights and many families come downtown to see this and then visit the Lego or Sanrio stores in the Nordstroms Mall and some people also go to the American Girl store also. I also see that the The Plain White T’s will be playing a free concert at 401 N Michigan Avenue(former Equitable Building next to the River). For more details call their Seasonal Event Hot-line at (312) 409-5560. The parade will also be broadcast on ABC channel 7 in Chicago live at 6pm.

Museum of Science and Industry Christmas Around the World Christmas Tree Exhibit – It has been a tradition to decorate Christmas Trees all over the Museum of Science and Industry’s main lobby/atrium with ornaments and decorations from countries all over the world, since I was a kid.

We used to go see this beautiful decorative display and be amazed that there were people somewhere in Poland and the Ukraine (our heritage) who celebrated Christmas just like us. Now that we know that not every country celebrates Christmas, (some don’t celebrate the religious side or the consumer side) we think this may be a little to ethnocentric and idea to promote.  Yes, the European countries mainly do celebrate, but in a world and country that is becoming more religiously diverse and mixed together, can we really still enjoy this?

Ice Skating is open until around 8 pm except Saturdays open to 10pm.

Millennium Park Ice Skating Rink

- This is a great fun time for kids and adults alike and it is free if you bring your own ice skates. There are ice skate rentals on site if you need to rent them, but many people prefer skating their own skates. Afterwards the Park Grill has many tasty dining options, although it is an upscale restaurant that the kids may not be into. Millennium Park is right next to the Art Institute on Michigan Avenue, so you can make a trip downtown to see both! 

The 2009 Chicago Bears have started the preseason games already and it isn’t long until the regular Football season is in full swing. Whether you are a casual fan or a dedicated fantasy football die hard who also attends home games at Soldier Field, you will want to know where to find the scheduled games on TV in Chicago. Most of the Chicago Bears Games in 2009 will be broadcast locally on WFLD Fox Channel 32 in Chicago or NBC Channel 5. A few are on the NFL network and also ESPN. Those are on channels cable and will be different depending on your cable provider. One thing is for sure, this year the 2009 Chicago Bears have a lot of hope for a great football season because they have Jay Cutler as the new quarterback this year.  All times below are listed in Chicago time CST.

The Chicago Bears 2009 Game Schedule with TV channel info

Preseason games -

August
DAY  DATE  OPPONENT  TIME (CT)   RADIO TV/RECAP L
Sat. 15 Chicago Bears vs @ Bills 6:00 PM WBBM 780 AM Radio WFLD Channel 32 TV Lost 27-20
Sat. 22 Chicago Bears vs NY GIANTS in Chicago 7:00 PM WBBM 780AM Radio WFLD Channel 32 TV Won 17-3
Sun. 30 Chicago Bears vs @ Denver Broncos 7:00 PM WBBM 780 AM Radio NBC Channel 5 TV Won 27-17

September
DAY  DATE  OPPONENT  TIME (CT)   RADIO TV/RECAP
Thu. 3 Chicago Bears vs BROWNS in Chicago 7:00 PM WBBM 780 AM WFLD Channel 32 TV Won 26-23

Regular season games - 

September
DAY  DATE  OPPONENT  TIME (CT)   RADIO TV/RECAP
Sun. 13 Chicago Bears vs @ Packers 7:20 PM WBBM 780 AM Radio, NBC Channel 5 TV Lost 15-21
Sun. 20 Chicago Bears vs STEELERS in Chicago 3:15 PM WBBM 780 AM Radio, CBS Channel 2 TV Won 17-14
Sun. 27 Chicago Bears vs @ Seahawks 3:05 PM WBBM 780 AM Radio, FOX Channel 32 TV Won 25-19

October
DAY DATE OPPONENT TIME (CT) RADIO TV/RECAP
Sun. 4 Chicago Bears vs LIONS in Chicago 12:00 PM WBBM 780 AM Radio, FOX Channel 32 TV Won 48-24
Sun. 18 Chicago Bears vs @ Falcons 7:20 PM WBBM 780 AM Radio, NBC Channel 5 TV Lost 14-21
Sun. 25 Chicago Bears vs @ Bengals 3:15 PM WBBM 780 AM Radio, FOX Channel 32 TV Lost 10-45

November
DAY  DATE  OPPONENT  TIME (CT)   RADIO TV/RECAP
Sun. 1 Chicago Bears vs BROWNS in Chicago 12:00 PM WBBM 780 AM Radio, CBS Channel 32 TV
Sun. 8 Chicago Bears vs CARDINALS in Chicago 12:00 PM WBBM 780 AM Radio, FOX Channel 32 TV
Thu. 12 Chicago Bears vs @ 49ers 7:20 PM WBBM 780 AM Radio, NFLN Cable Only
Sun. 22 Chicago Bears vs EAGLES in Chicago 7:20 PM WBBM 780 AM NBC
Sun. 29 Chicago Bears vs @ Vikings 12:00 PM WBBM 780 AM FOX

December
DAY  DATE  OPPONENT   TIME (CT)   RADIO TV/RECAP
Sun. 6 Chicago Bears vs RAMS in Chicago 12:00 PM WBBM 780 AM Radio, FOX Channel 32 TV
Sun. 13 Chicago Bears vs  PACKERS in Chicago 12:00 PM WBBM 780 AM Radio, FOX Channel 32 TV
Sun. 20Chicago Bears vs  @ Ravens 12:00 PM WBBM 780 AM Radio, FOX Channel 32 TV
Mon day Night Football Dec 28 Chicago Bears vs VIKINGS in Chicago 7:30 PM WBBM 780 AM Radio, ESPN Cable Channel

January
DAY DATE OPPONENT TIME (CT) RADIO TV/RECAP
Sun. 3 Chicago Bears vs @ Lions 12:00 PM WBBM 780 AM Radio, FOX Channel 32 TV

Chicago Architecture Foundation River Cruises and Toursare one of the top attractions I recommend for tourists and locals alike when visiting downtown Chicago in the summer.  It offers a chance to see Chicago from a different perspective and is relatively cheap for entertainment. It is a great stay-cation activity this summer, and it is a local activity that is fun, relatively cheap and kid/family friendly. I hope everyone is enjoying the mild weather and the time off from work. I will post more frequently in the coming weeks after the big day has passed this Saturday.

chicago architecture river tours

Here are my recommendations for summer fun in Chicago:

1. The Chicago Architecture Foundation River Cruise – This is a very popular Chicago River boat tour because Chicago is known for the great mid century and art deco architecture downtown. This Chicago River Cruise lasts about one and a half hours and costs $28 per person. The views of Chicago from the Chicago River are different than anywhere else in the city downtown. Looking up at the buildings that line the river is almost like walking back in history. The hosts of the Chicago Architecture Foundation River Tours always have the background, dates and interesting stories about these buildings you see.

They give you the background and history on why the buildings are as they are today and what companies and purposes they had back in the day that is entertaining even if you are a local tourist. A lot has changed in Chicago over the decades, but the architecture is one of the few things that stays the same. This tour tells you the history of why things are they way they are and who built this great city. Look to the Chicago Architecture Foundation’s web sitefor tickets, tour dates and times and what events are happening in conjunction with the tours coming up this month. architecture.org The starting point for the tour is on the corner of Wacker Drive and Michigan Avenue downtown near the loop. Check out the tour this summer, they run until November when the boats stop running for the winter.

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The Chicago Outdoor Film Festival is back again this summer (for the 10th year!) with a great lineup of movies planned. If you live in the city or work downtown these classic movies are a great way to picnic for dinner and wind down from a crazy day at work. I highly recommend the Chicago Outdoor Film Festival because it is fun and Free!

Every Tuesday at sunset (about 8:30 pm) from July 14th thru August 25th, a classic film will be shown in Grant Park’s Butler Field. Movie fans can enjoy a very good outdoor sound system and pre-show activities at each weekly screening. These films are sometimes great American classics and other times they are movies you have heard about but never seen because you weren’t around when they were popular. You can discover a new favorite classic film this way or relax because you know the dialogue in the scenes so well.

Many people bring picnic blankets and dinner to enjoy while watching the movie. It is a Ravinia style event though, so even with food and drinks allowed, you have to be quiet so that other people can hear the movie.

Grant Park’s address is:
337 East Randolph Street Chicago, IL 60601
 

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To commemorate the 10th anniversary of the film festival, Chicagoans are invited to join Movie CriticRichard Roeper on July 14th in an opening night discussion with a screening of Sunset Boulevard to follow.

The rest of the Chicago Outdoor Film Festival in Grant Park is as follows:

Complete List of Chicago Outdoor Film Festival 2009 Classic Films

- Sunset Boulevard July 14

- Duck Soup July 21

- Cat on a Hot Tin Roof July 28

- Born Yesterday August 4

- Psycho August 11

- Young Mr. Lincoln August 18

- Tootsie August 25

Enjoy the Show!

These are the updates I just got about Memorial Day Parade and Street Closures in Chicago. If you are planning on attending the Chicago Memorial Day Parade, The JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge Race, The Memorial March, or the Bike the Drive event, check this list first to find out where the streets are closed and where/when the events happen. I hope eveyone had a great Memorial Day Weekend and have a burger from the grill for me!

J. P. MORGAN CHASE CORPORATE CHALLENGE (3.5 miles) on Thursday, 21 May 09, 6pm – 10pm:

This event site will be in Grant Park, Lower Hutchinson Field.

The run will take place on Columbus Drive from Roosevelt Rd to Wacker Drive.

Start time for the run is at 7:10 pm.

Columbus will close at 6:30 pm – 10:30 pm from Roosevelt Rd to Balbo.

Columbus from Balbo to Wacker Drive, as well as the east west streets in this area will remain open for as long as possible to allow for the end of rush hour traffic.

The on site CPD Commander will give the order to close the streets shortly before the race begins.

At the end of the race, as soon as it is safe to do so, Columbus from Balbo to Wacker Drive and the east west streets in the area will be opened.

MEMORIAL DAY PARADE on Saturday, 23 May 09:

The parade route is from Wacker Drive to Van Buren on State Street, step off 12 noon.

State Street and the east west streets along the route will close at 11:30 am.

Wacker Drive will be closed for staging from Wabash to Lake Street at 8:00 am.

Van Buren will be closed for vehicles and disbanding from Michigan to Franklin at 8:00 am.

The parade will last approximately 2 hours and streets will be opened to traffic as soon as it is safe.

BIKE THE DRIVE on Sunday, 24 May 09:

The event site will be in Grant Park, Butler Field the bike route is on Lake Shore Drive.

Lake Shore Drive will be closed to vehicle traffic from 5:00 am to 10:30 am from Hollywood to 63rd Street.

AMERICANS FOR LIFE, LIFE MEMORIAL MARCH on Friday, 22 May 09:

This group will meet at the Thompson Center Plaza; the march will step off at 11:30 am.

A group of 2000 to 3000 people will march south on Clark St to Adams, east on Adams into Federal Plaza.

The group will hold a rally at Federal plaza until approximately 2:30 pm.

During the march traffic will be affected from Wacker Drive to Jackson and State to LaSalle.

As soon as it is safe, streets will be opened to traffic.

Rock out with your _ out.

Lollapalooza Tickets are on Sale now! The Lollapalooza 2009 tickets went on sale today and are available at variable prices with the first come first served lowest price model. Here is how it works. Right now the early bird 3-day pass is $175. That is a great deal for 3 whole days and nights of concerts and bands. Then when those sell out, the advance tickets will be available at $190 each. Then when those advance Lollapalooza 2009 tickets sell out the price may go over $250. Then when all the tickets are sold out (in July) the re-sellers start charging around $350 for 3 day passes. If you are a rich exec or company looking to get VIP access those VIP Tickets are $850! (YIKES!)

Nine inch nails play for the crowd in Grant Park in 2008.

It is in your own best interest to go over to the Lollapalooza.com site and buy the tickets now and get them for around 1/2 price as an early bird. They get sent in the mail closer to the concert festival date so you don’t have to worry if you forget about them, and you don’t have to save up a ton of money later in the summer when there are lots of events going on that fill up the budget.

In this economy I think that the regular Lollapalooza tickets will probably still sell out since it’s such a festival about all kinds of people, music and ideas. People will still want to come together and be a part of the music because it is a unique experience (some call it a big hippie-fest) they can’t find anywhere else. It’s worth it to cut out other high priced items and keep Lollapalooza on your summer todo list or keep it on the agenda to travel to Chicago to see.

The concerts are usually from very popular bands and singers also so most everyone finds a few bands they love and a few new groups they have not heard of yet that they discover. (although somewhat less discovery these days) The lineup for 2009 has not been announced yet, but it is usually expected to have some of the biggest names in music on it. Check back for more details when they become available.

If you work downtown like I do, you may have noticed that theMichigan Avenue Bridge over the Chicago river has the sidewalk on the west side of the street closed and barricaded off today. I knew they were continuing improvements on the Michigan Avenue Bridge and saw the signs and TV trucks recording it but in my non-coffee blur this morning I was surprised anyway.

The Michigan Avenue Bridge has been going though a face lift/renovations since late summer that began with the dismantling of the entire masonry staircase at the corner of the Wrigley Building almost brick by brick. The redevelopment includes the towers that are at each corner of the bridge also. The Michigan Avenue Bridge work seems to be timed in conjunction with the Chicago River walkway expansion project that started this fall. (although this project hasn’t been on fire yet)

It is being reported by the Chicago Tribune that this work will cost $3.5 million dollars and hopefully be complete by June 2009. The west side of the bridge will be closed for pedestrians until March and then the East side will be under construction until June.

I think it is agreed that even within the current economic recession and city budget shortfall, the Michigan Avenue Bridge was in need of repair. (especially being so visible) The sidewalk/walkways on both sides of the bridge are quite a scary experience for most suburbanites/tourists/business people who come downtown for the day. You walk only inches from full speed traffic flying by with only a small rusty metal rail a few inches high between the sidewalk and the street while vehicle/bus exhaust chokes off your air.

As if this wasn’t scary enough on its own, there is a river in view down on the other side and also sometimes below your feet if you look down in between the bridge sidewalk panels you are walking over. Then to top it all off, you are usually walking with 100 other people, while the bridge bounces with the weight of vehicles, and some people insist on trying to cut in front of people by shoving, others asking/begging for change and more people almost stopped, blocking the flow of commuters completley.

You also may notice that the Michigan Avenue Bridge sidewalk isn’t concrete like most sidewalks are. It is a plastic-rubberized material that is a cross between tar paper and rubber galoshes. The bridge surface is slippery in the winter (I almost fall once a week while wearing snow boots) and bubbles up to trip people in the sweltering hot sunny summers.

I am hoping that the new surface is less slippery/bubbly and maybe more weatherproof. (a non-slip fiberglass?) I also hope that they can do the work properly in this cold and wet weather. If nothing else it will hopefully be worth a few years of looking and performing better, but we never know how much longer things will last beyond that.

Everyone may be loathing the recession we are in right now, but that is no reason to not have a Happy New Year. There are plenty of New Years Parties happening in Chicago to ring in 2009. Or, if you really don’t want to spend a lot of money you can always to the frugal thing and host a party at your place. I still think it is important to celebrate. Plus I like non-denominational holidays like this where everyone can participate. It is good to balance things out after all that Christmas stuff.

If we are going to really have hope for 2009 to get better we are all going to have to pitch in and help. And that is a lot easier if we get to relax once in a while and have some fun, especially on New Years Eve. I know there are endless Chicago New Years Eve parties planned but these are the ones that I have heard about and think might be the better ones to recommend.

1. First off the major New Year’s Eve party in Chicago is always at Navy Pier. This year Kiss 103.5is hosting/sponsoring it so the music should be more up to date than it was when it was with 101.9. Some people think it is too crowded, but it really does give you a great view of the city, fireworks, bands and convenient parking inside the building. It isn’t as hip as some parties up north in the city at posh restaurants or clubs but for the most people this is a fun night and a great party. Tickets are still available at thenyegala.com from $154.80 per person to a $2,000.00 VIP Package. I am not sure what the point is of the VIP Package, but if you have the money to burn, have fun. The rest of us are ok with the regular admission. The Music is being provided by 7 local DJs. (what no live bands?) The tickets include a 5 hour Premium Top-Shelf Liquor Package, 3-Course Hors d’Oeuvres, 2 Ballrooms of Entertainment, Midnight Firework Celebration, Confetti Countdown, Champagne Toast, Giveaways, Party Favors, Raffles, and the Balloon Drop at midnight.

2. NYE at the Hard Rock Hotel is also an option if you like a modern rock style to your New Years Eve. This is also a great place to book a very stylish suite that has a beautiful view of the Chicago skyline and stay there without having to drive home. The party starts at 9 pm in the Fender Ballroom and tickets are $125.00. Attire is FORMAL. It is sponsored by the Lincoln Park Young professionals so be on the lookout for yuppies. The Hard Rock Hotel’s Address is 230 North Michigan Avenue Chicago, IL. ChicagoNYEInfo.com is the address to go to for tickets.

3. The Chicago Hilton is also having a large New Years Party in Chicago for 2009. It includes a 4 hour open br starting at 9 pm, a buffet, champagne toast at midnight and all kinds of music and video stuff going on. Tickets are $155.00 for the event, get them at newyears09.com. Or if you really want to live it up there is a $2,000 VIP package for 8 people that includes reserved seating and more goodies. But who really needs to spend 2K on NYE this year?

4. The Chicago House of Blues is also known for it’s New Year’s Eve Parties because of the performers they bring in and the venue itself. This year I can’t find anything listed there even though I have been to NYE parties there in the past. Why no party HOB?

So if none of those New Year’s Eve parties seem to sound like a place you would like to go for the evening, try Checking Going.com or there is always the house party for cheap. Nothing wrong with staying in on NYE, it is more recession proof for your wallet that way. 

I don’t know anyone who isn’t resolving to loose some extra weight for their New Year’s Resolutions in 2009, and if you want to see how long your resolution lasts, why not try out this offer from the Chicago Park District Gyms: Free membership to the city’s gym facilities from January 2-16. That is a 2 week free to the public membership to over 60 Chicago Park District Gym facilities. It is also a chance for you to get a free gym bag from Nike if you end up starting a membership during this free trial period.

The Chicago Park District Gyms have low rates to begin with and are usually always a better deal than health clubs so why not check out your local Chicago Park District Gym and look at the facility? You might find that they have been recently updated and all kinds of people in the community come to use them. It is a way to get fit for your New Year’s Resolutions in 2009 and get to know your neighbors at the same time. It only costs $40-$75 for 3 months depending on the gym and location. It is a cheaper way to stay in shape than all those pushy salesy big gyms that cost 2-3x as much.

The Chicago Park District Gyms have the same equipment and classes as many of the popular health clubs in the area (Bally’s, Equinox, Total Fitness)They all have computerized treadmills, upright and recumbent bicycles, cross trainers, free weights and benches, multi-station weight machines, cable cross-overs machines and core-focused weight equipment.  The gyms also offer a variety of fitness classes such as circuit training, kickboxing, conditioning, Pilates, spinning, yoga and aerobics.  Some of the facilities also have lap pools. 

If you need a list of the Chicago Park District Gyms, here is one for you with their phone numbers included:
1. Altgeld Park District Gym, 515 South Washtenaw Ave., 312.746.5001
2. Amundsen Park District Gym, 6200 West Bloomingdale Ave., 312.746.5003
3. Archer Park District Gym, 4901 South Kilbourn Ave., 773.284.7029
4. Armour Square Park District Gym, 3309 South. Shields Ave., 312.747.6012
5. Austin Town Hall Park District Gym, 5610 West Lake St., 773.287.7658
6. Avalon Park District Gym, 1215 E. 83rd Street, 312.747.2545
7. Broadway Armory Park District Gym, 5917 North Broadway St., 312.742.7502
8. Calumet Park District Gym, 9801 South Avenue G, 312.747.6039
9. Carver Park District Gym, 939 East 132nd Street, 312.747.6047
10. Clarendon Park Community Center, 4501 North Clarendon Ave., 312.742.7512
11. Columbus Park District Gym, 500 South Central Ave., 773.287.7641
12. Daley Bicentennial Plaza, 337 East Randolph St., 312.742.7648
13. Davis Square Park District Gym, 4430 South Marshfield Ave., 312.747.6107
14. Don Nash Community Center, 1833 East. 71st St., 773.256.0904
15. Eckhart Park District Gym, 1330 W. Chicago Avenue, 312.746.5490
16. Fernwood Park District Gym, 10436 South Wallace Street, 312.747.6132
17. Fosco Park, 1312 S. Racine Avenue, 312.746.5086
18. Foster Park, 1440 West 84th Street, 312.747.6135
19. Fuller Park, 331 West 45th, 312.747.6144
20. Garfield Park, 100 N. Central Park Avenue, 312.746.5092
21. Gage Park, 2411 W. 55th Street, 312.747.6147
22. Gale School Park, 7631 North Ashland Avenue, 773.262.5051
23. Gill Park, 825 West Sheridan, 312.742.7802
24. Grand Crossing Park, 7655 S. Ingleside Avenue, 312.747.6158
25. Harris Recreational Center, 6200 South Drexel Boulevard, 312.747.2706
26. Harrison Park, 1824 West Wood, 312.746.5491
27. Hayes Park, 2936 West 85th Street, 312.747.6177
28. Hiawatha Park, 8029 West Forest Preserve Drive, 312.746.5559
29. Homan Square Park, 3559 West Arlington Street, 312.746.6650
30. Humboldt Park, 1440 North Sacramento Avenue, 312.742.7549
31. Independence Park, 3945 North Springfield Ave., 773.478.3538
32. Jackson Park, 6401 Street Stony Island Ave., 773.256.0903
33. Kelvyn Park, 4438 West Wrightwood Ave., 312.742.7547
34. Kennicott Park, 4434 South Lake Park Ave., 312.747.7138
35. LaFollette Park, 1333 North Laramie Ave., 773.287.0541
36. Lake Shore Park, 808 North Lake Shore Drive, 312.742.7891
37. Lindblom Park, 6054 South Damen Ave., 312.747.6443
38. Margate Park, 4921 North Marine Drive, 312.742.7522
39. McFetridge Sports Center, 3843 N. California Ave., 773.478.2609
40. McGuane Park, 2901 South Poplar Ave., 312.747.6497
41. Mozart Park, 2036 North Avers St., 312.742.7535
42. Norwood Park, 5801 North Natoma Ave., 773.631.4893
43. Ogden Park, 6500 South Racine Avenue, 312.747.6572
44. Palmer Park, 201 East 111th Street, 312.747.6576
45. Peterson Park, 5801 N. Pulaski Rd., 312.742.7584
46. Piotrowski Park, 4247 W. 31st St., 312.747.6608
47. Pottawattomie Park, 7340 N. Rogers Ave., 773.262.5835
48. Rainbow Beach & Park, 3111 E. 77th St., 773.745.1479
49. Ridge Park, 9625 S. Longwood Drive, 312.747.6639
50. Russell Square Park, 3045 E. 83rd St., 312.747.6651
51. Rutherford Sayre Park, 6871 W. Belden Ave., 312.746.5368
52. Scottsdale Park, 4637 W. 83rd St., 773.284.1826
53. Sherman Park, 1301 W. 52nd St., 312.747.6672
54. Sherwood Park, 5701 S. Sheilds Ave., 773.256.0926
55. Taylor Park in Bronzeville, 39 W. 47th St., 312.747.6728
56. Trumbull Park, 2400 E. 105th St., 312.747.6759
57. Union Park, 1501 W. Randolph St., 312.746.5494
58. Washington Park, 5531 S. Martin Luther King Drive, 773.256.1248
59. Welles Park, 2333 W. Sunnyside Ave., 312.742.7511
60. West Lawn Park, 4233 W. 65th St., 773.284.2803

Visit the park district’s official Web site chicagoparkdistrict.org or call 312.742.PLAY, 312.747.2001. Or see the website for more info: cpdit.com/resources/fitness_centers/ And have fun getting more exercise in 2009 while your work on your New Year’s Resolutions.

From December 5th 2008 through January 4th 2009 the Bank of America Winter Wonderfest will be open at Navy Pier in Chicago. This is one of the many Chicago Christmas events that are perfect for the family to attend while kids are on holiday break. A trip downtown on the metra is always an exciting day for kids. The Bank of America Winter Wonderfest is a spectacular holiday event that begins its 8th holiday season with more attractions and over 170,000 sq ft of indoor family activities.

The Chicago Winter Wonderfest includes lots of amazing decorations with over 750,000 Christmas lights, 25,000 ornaments and hundreds of Christmas trees. The activities at Winter Wonderfest include Winter Themed carnival rides, games, music and live bands and entertainment daily. Many families found that this was a great yearly tradition to go to with the kids and return every year. (in addition to going to the walnut room at Macy’s for dinner under the great tree.

One of the attractions at the Winter Wonderfest is the eWish Center. The ewish center is open in Festival Hall from December 5th through January 4th. Kids can email Santa Claus their holiday wishes on the internet. Elves are there to help the kids write or send the emails. The emails go direct to Santa Claus. This is far more hip than the old write your list on paper and send it through snail mail method.

strong>Santa Claus arrives at Winter Wonderland at Navy Pier on Saturday November 29th at 5 pm on the Grand Staircase. This was for the opening of the holiday season and the official lighting of the pier for the holidays. Santa Claus also made a stop on the Family Pavilion Stage. Then he and Mrs. Claus listened to the holiday wishes of children from 6:00 pm. until 9:00 pm. Since Santa can’t be there every day, the ewish center makes sure that Santa Claus gets all the wish information and everyone gets their wish.

The Winter Wonderfest at Navy Pier is free to enter and walk around but it is either $12 or $16 to ride the activities and rides. The $16 wristband includes ice skating, the $12 wristband ticket does not include ice skating. There are a few family packs that include parking and 4 wristbands that offer some discounts. There is a winter wonderfest family pack for $64 that includes 4 premium wrisbands (the ones that include skating) and free parking if you drive downtown. Navy Pier is located at 600 East Grand Avenue. Phone Number: (312) 559-1212.

The hours that the Chicago Winter Wonderfest at Navy Pier is open are:
Bank of America Winter WonderFest will be open:
 
December 5, 2008 to December 18, 2008
Sunday through Thursday: 10:00am to 5:00pm
Friday & Saturday: 10:00am to 10:00pm December 19, 2008 to January 4, 2009
Sunday through Thursday: 10:00am to 8:00pm
Friday & Saturday: 10:00am to 10:00pm
Special Holiday Hours:
Wednesday, December 24, 2008: 10:00am – 5:00pm
Thursday, December 25, 2008: CLOSED
Wednesday, December 31, 2008: 10:00am – 8:00pm
Notes:

In addition to the Winter Wonderfest, Navy Pier is also the location for the largest New Year’s Eve Party in Chicago. Get tickets online to experience the best fireworks presentation and festivities of the New Year in Chicago!

Chicago gets really cold in the winter so having an outdoor ice rink is no problem downtown. Millennium Park’s ice skating rink opened in 2004 after Skate on State was closed down to accommodate a new building being built across from what was then Marshall Fields.

McCormick Tribune Ice Rink at Millennium Park is located at N. Michigan Avenue in Chicago, IL 60602 Phone: 312-742-5222

Millennium Park’s Ice Skating Rink is smaller than a usual ice arena rink but it is plenty of fun for kids and the family to go skating all winter. The rink is right next to the bean (cloud’s gate) in Millennium Park and it is free to ice skate there. (Skate Rental is not free, $10) Both figure skates and hockey skates are allowed on the ice rink. The ice rink is open from 10 am to 10 pm from Thanksgiving through March 15. The main benefit of the rink is some exercise for most of us that sit behind desks all day long and it is also a pretty picture to see people skating at holiday time.

The Millennium Park Outdoor Ice Skating Rink is a fun thing to do for free downtown if you own your own skates. (or if you want to rent skates) The public is welcome to try out their ice skating skills anytime of the week and have some fun. No lessons are currently available but many local ice skating rinks offer lessons if you want to learn to skate from a professional. Millennium park is a great place for a cheap romantic date though and after you skate you can go to dinner at the Park Grill restaurant there.

If you go skating in Millennium Park remember a few tips:

1. Always ice skate in the same direction as traffic. (far less people get hurt this way)

2. If you are not confident of your ice skating skills stay close to the boards.

3. Bend your knees and keep your butt under you for balance while skating with your feet shoulder width apart. Push outward with the insides of the blades rather than pushing with the toe pick of the skates. Or swizzle your feet in and out while doing a 2 foot glide.

4. If you feel yourself start to fall, letting yourself sit down naturally without struggling usually hurts less than trying to save it. You may want to bring extra gloves or extra pants for kids if they get wet falling a lot. You can change the kids for the ride home in the washrooms after they are done mopping up the ice.

5. They don’t resurface the ice often so expect it to be bumpy, full of snow and basically slow ice because of all the blades cutting it up in traffic. If you do know how to skate this is not really the place to practice or show off. Plus it is kid of rude to cut people off doing all your USFSA stuff when you are on a public skate.

And that is my best Millennium Park Ice Skating advice since I haven’t taught ISIA (ISI) lessons in about 15 years or skated USFSA in even longer. Have a great time skating and getting some good cardio exercise. 

The International Exposition of Sculpture Objects and Fine Art (SOFA) is planned for Festival Hall in Navy Pier in Chicago on November 6-9. This is an amazing contemporary art show and well worth the admission to attend. The work on display at SOFA ranges from glass to ceramics to textiles and sculpture. Even if you are not an art expert this show is eye opening and entertaining at the same time.

Art innovates constantly and SOFA Chicago is one of the few places to see what is new and evolving before it hits mainstream. If you are smart you can integrate these style details into your life before everyone else (haha) and become more of a style innovator yourself. That said the purchase prices of these art objects and sculptures are steep. These artwork pieces on display are not quite intended for the general public to buy and are usually purchased for private collections or in museums for the rest of us to enjoy. SOFA Chicago isn’t somewhere to go if you need to furnish your living room unless you are a millionaire. There is also a SOFA VIP Program and a free Lecture series for anyone who would like to attend. There is more info with the dates and times on their website listed below.

Over 35,000 people attended SOFA Chicago in 2007 and there are more than 100 galleries and dealers all in the same location together at Navy Pier. If you buy serious art this is the event to see everything all at once. Tickets to SOFA Chicago are available online for $15 for one day or $25 for a 3 day weekend pass. There is also an opening night Gala event that is $50.00 and you get to see all the art and sculpture objects before anyone else. Personally I was thinking of going since I have never been to SOFA and I hear people raving about it every year. It isn’t that expensive to attend although you will pay another $25.00 on top of your ticket prices for parking at Navy Pier. I think $35.00 is a small price for all that great inspiration.  Check out sofaexpo.com to buy tickets online or you can buy them at the door also.

The alphabetical list of Galleries exhibiting at SOFA Chicago 2008 is:

Aaron Faber Gallery
Adamar Fine Arts
Andora Gallery
Ann Nathan Gallery
Barry Friedman
Beaver Galleries
Berengo Studio
Blue Rain Gallery
browngrotta arts
Bullseye Gallery
Cervini Haas Gallery
Chappell Gallery
Charon Kransen Arts
Collection – Ateliers d’Art de France
COVET – collectable objects & fine art
CREA Gallery
D&M Fine Arts
Dai Ichi Arts
The Dancing Hands Gallery
David Collection
del Mano Gallery
Donna Schneier Fine Arts
Duane Reed Gallery
Eden Gallery
Elliott Brown Gallery
Ferrin Gallery
FLATFILE Galleries
Function + Art
Galerie Besson
Galerie Elca London
Galerie Elena Lee
Galerie Pokorná
Galleri Grønlund
Galleri Udengaard
Galleria Norsu
Gallery Sklo
Garson Baker Fine Art
Glass Artists Gallery
Habatat Galleries, Chicago
Habatat Galleries, Florida-Virgina
HABATAT Galleries, Michigan
Hawk Galleries
Heller Gallery
Holsten Galleries
Jane Sauer Gallery
Jean Albano Gallery
John Natsoulas Gallery
Judy Youens Gallery
Katie Gingrass Gallery
KEIKO Gallery
Kirra Galleries
Lacoste Gallery
Lafrenière & Pai Gallery
Lee Weitzman Furniture
Leo Kaplan Modern
Litvak Gallery
Maria Elena Kravetz Gallery
Marx-Saunders Gallery
Mattson’s Fine Art
Maurine Littleton Gallery
Micaëla Gallery
Modus Gallery
Mostly Glass Gallery
Mowen Solinsky Gallery
National Craft Gallery of Ireland
Next Step Studio and Gallery
Niemi Sculpture Gallery & Garden
Oliver & Espig
Option Art
Orley & Shabahang
Ornamentum
Palette Contemporary Art & Craft
Patina Gallery
Perimeter Gallery
Pistachios
Portals
PRISM Contemporary Glass
rakovaBRECKERgallery
Ruth Lawrence Fine Art
SABBIA
Santa Fe Clay
Sherrie Gallerie
Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art
Signature Gallery
Silica Galleries
Sim JaeCheon Gallery
Snyderman-Works Galleries
ten472 Contemporary Art
Thomas R. Riley Galleries
Turkish Cultural Foundation
Twiga
UrbanGlass
Wexler Gallery
William Zimmer
Yaw Gallery
Zygman Voss Gallery

Wow Bao is a recent addition to the restaurants in the loop right next to the Chicago EL Train State and Lake train station. I pass the restaurant every day on my way home from work and thought it might be good to try. I like Asian food and Chinese dumplings especially the ones with a bread-like dough and BBQ Pork filling. I first tried these at my friend’s house in high school. She is Chinese and these type of buns or dumplings were a common snack or addition to a meal. Wow Bao calls them “Bao” but they are almost the same as a lot of dumplings you can find in any Asian market or Chinese food store. They also have Mochi (which is really Japanese) and everyone should discover these little round dough covered ice cream balls. Mochi are delicious and they have built in portion control.

I was suprised then when the prices were really high at Wow Bao in the Chicago Loop.  I spent $17 dollars (6 per box) to buy a dozen bao frozen to take home. I just wanted to try them so I paid the outrageous Wow Bao price but I would not pay that price again. The restaurant really doesn’t take into consideration that people in Chicago can’t afford food at prices like that anymore in this economy.

The directions for cooking wow bao dumplings are easy, just cover with a damp paper towel and microwave them. But watch out! The wow bao may feel cool to the touch on the outside but the inside filling is really hot! I burned the roof of my mouth terribly on a few of the dumplings. Wow bao also carries rice bowls (which you can get anywhere) and pot stickers. They are pretty expensive too for what they are and what they really cost in a Chinese grocery store.

The other problem I had with the Chicago Wow Bao loop restaurant location is that the wow bao staff doesn’t know what they are doing. They messed up 3 orders while we were waiting and we had to tell the guy what our order was again so he gave us the right food. This is a problem considering that there is a readout on a computer screen right there that tells you the order.

Anyway these same dumplings are usually sold for dimesrather than dollars at Asian grocery stores and I highly recommend buying them there rather than going to this over crowded restaurant and paying an insane price for what you get. Just to be fair, I tried the salad combo with 2 wow bao also and while the salad was good it was not worth the price. With the 2 bao it was $8.00. That was not really a full dinner either. You have to add another bao or some mochi to actually be full after a combo meal there.

Wow Bao is another concept from Lettuce Entertainment Enterprises where they take cheap food from other places around the world and make them upscale to people who have never been abroad and live in Chicago. They won’t know that dumplings made of pork scraps and dough aren’t supposed to cost $2.00 each. I admire Lettuce Entertainment’s ability to bring the foods of the world to Chicago, but they should do it at a reasonable price.

And I will also mention that their signs outside that read: “hot Asian buns” have been taken down. I thought that was bordering on suggesting p*rn or something and was completely inappropriate. I hope someone complained to the City of Chicago and that they were taken down for decency sake.

My offical review of Wow Bao is to skip it because it is not a good deal for the money. If you need a mochi hit in the lop downtown this is one of the few places you can find it. So, for Mochi I would go back, but not for any of the other food.

Boutique Hotels are gaining popularity in Chicago and across the country. You would think that all the Hotels in Downtown Chicago are huge skyscraper complexes that have thousands of rooms and no individuality. The truth is that in addition to the large chain hotels many small luxury boutique hotels have popped up in Chicago and provide a unique experience for less money than the large chains.

One of the best Boutique Hotels in Chicago is Hotel Monaco. They are owned by the Kimpton Hotels group and I have stayed at their hotels in other cities. Most recently in San Francisco. The staff of the Hotel Monaco in Chicago is very friendly and goes out of their way to serve the needs of guests traveling. I walk past the hotel every day on my way to work and see the doormen greeting new visitors and giving directions and tips to tourists about the city of Chicago.

Chicago Boutique Hotels are also known for their luxury. In SanFrancisco the Kimpton Hotel I was at left no need unmet. I had a large jacuzzi tub (almost too large to be useful) a full shower, wireless free high speed internet, a full entertainment center and a desk work area in addition to a very comfortable well appointed bed. The staff there was also very helpful in giving me directions around town and the room service was happy to prepare dinner for me really late when I got in from the events I was attending. Truly four star service.

Many Boutique Hotels are built around a theme and the Chicago Hotel Monaco tries to be tropical and creative in a city of cement, wind and snow. The doormen even keep with the Monaco theme and wear purple velour suits in the winter and lavender Hawaiian shirts in the summer with fedora hats. No detail has been left out.

I am also always excited to see that Chicago Boutique Hotels offer more originality in their designs and decor. There are only so many beige walls you can look at in your life. Many of the Chicago Boutique Hotels have colorful themes like the Hotel Monaco in Chicago which features a stylish and vivid pallet of greens, plum and burgundy throughout the hotel. The Hotel Monaco Chicago is also one where you get a great view of the Chicago River and are within a short walk to many top Chicago steakhouses, the House of Blues, The Art Institute, Michigan Avenue and the great Broadway shows in Chicago too. Sometimes the locations of the small boutique hotels is far better than the big chains also.

So, the next time you are visiting Chicago, check out the Hotel Monaco from Kimpton Hotels or another Chicago Boutique Hotel and see if that is someplace that might make your stay even better. Room Rates range from $200 to $600 per night depending on the season and how booked they are. Some discounts are available. Book rooms or make reservations at Hotel Monaco at their website monaco-chicago.com or by calling 1-866-610-0081. Hotel Monaco Chicago is located at 225 North Wabash in Chicago, IL  60601. There are also Boutique Hotels by Kimpton under the Hotel Monaco name in Washington DC, Seattle and Denver.

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I have been to the Chicago Inaternational Film Festival every year for the past 3 years and it has been an event not to miss in Chicago. The Chicago International Film Festival runs for two weeks from October 16th to 29th showing scheduled independent movies from all over the world at three theater locations in the city. The locations of the theaters selected for showing the scheduled ”movie buffet” at the festival this year are the AMC River East 21 theater (322 East Illinois Street Chicago, IL) and the AMC 600 North Michigan 9 (600 North Michigan Avenue) as well as the Harris Theater (205 East Randolph Drive) for the opening and closing night ”Gala” events. I always like that it is like an advance screening to several films that you get to see months before they come out to the general public.

Right now theChicago International Film Festival early bird advance passes are available at a 40% discount through the chicagofilmfestival.org website (which has mostly 2007 information on it) before September 30. They have the 10 movie ticket pass for $110, the 20 movie ticket pass for $210 and the 40 movies ticket pass for $385. (non member prices, membership is $60 for the year but knocks off $30, $55 or $100 off the price passes) I do not have a membership but I attend the Chicago International Film Festival yearly anyway.

This year looks like it won’t disappoint in the range of independent films and themes that will be presented at the Chicago International Film Festival. There are simultaneous showings on most nights so download the entire schedule here (when it becomes available) and mark off which films you want to see ahead of time. With a 10 movie pass ticket it makes it easy to plan your 2 weeks of movies and just show up wherever they are playing ready to go.

I usually always go to the Chicago International Film Festival’s opening night gala and closing night gala. These events will be held at the uber modern Harris theater in Millennium Park in Downtown Chicago. They aren’t saying which films will be scheduled or featured on which nights but these are the 3 gala feature films:

A Christmas Tale / Un conte de Noël  from France and Director Arnaud Desplechin. A Christmas Tale stars Catherine Deneuve, Jean-Paul Roussillon, and Mathieu Amalric who play members of a family who conceive a third child in the hopes of using its bone marrow to save the dying firstborn child. 

Happy-Go-Lucky  from the UK and  Director Mike Leigh. The perennial optimist Poppy is played by Sally Hawkins and charges through life with breathless enthusiasm and a sincere desire to help others, struggling as she encounters fellow Londoners who do not always share her sunny outlook.

Pride and Glory  from the USA and Director Gavin O’Connor. Edward Norton, Colin Farrell, and Jon Voight star in a gritty and emotional portrait of a multigenerational New York City police family forced to choose between loyalties to each other and loyalties to the department.

Check back to this post in a few weeks. I will post more information about the films and Chicago International Film Festival schedule as it becomes available.

The word Staycation has gotten popular latley since gas, food and utilities have gotten so expensive and no one is really interested in traveling far away and generating a lot of costs in the process. So, Chicago Weekend Fun suggests a mini Chicago Vacation or staycation this weekend to make up for the lost vacation. (you may or may not need a hotel downtown for this) There is a lot happening this weekend and in the coming weeks in Chicago. The events and activities range from free admission to the Museum of Science and Industry to planning for Wired NextFest to attending the Chicago Redbull Flutag Event you have probably seen advertised on TV and the Internet latley. (who could miss it?) But beware, the CTA will have 1/2 the loop closed off for renovations so the EL will only be running north and south along the west and south sides of the loop track square. The CTA Loop EL tracks get shut down at 10 pm on Friday night. 

So first off, be careful of the loop shut down of the el trackson the east and north sides of the loop square downtown. If you need to connect with west or southbound trains you can always take the bus direct from just about anywhere in the city to one of the first stops on that arm of the CTA El line. Most just charge a connection fee of $.25 rather than another full fare. The full CTA bus and train schedule is available at transitchicago.com.

Next, the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry has a lot of construction going on and as a result they have made admission free for visitors for the month of September. This is great because you can take the kids and go see all the parts of the museum that have been renovated already at no cost and you just pay for gas and parking. Unless you go to the old fashioned ice cream parlor, then you get the cost of ice cream too. I recommend the u-boat instead of the antiquated car display. And if your kids are under the age of 5 check out the farm exhibit. Mom and Dad may like the living green exhibit which is new and just opened. That is always a big hit with skyrocketing energy prices. Check out their site msichicago.com before you go for the hours and address.  

Also the RedBull Flutag Event happens on Saturday at 11 am at North Avenue Beach in Chicago. The flying machines start plunging at 1pm and the awards will be given out at 3pm. One can only hope that there is an award for best team name since there are some dooseys listed on the site. (Mustache ride anyone?) Admission is free but my guess is that parking will be near impossible and set you back about $30.00. Aside from that it should be fun to watch improvised flying machines crash ala 1910 in an experiment of physics, ridiculousness and caffeine.

The Wired Next Fest is a great free event to take the kids to also later in September. (just planning ahead because they emailed me about it) This show features all different kinds of new technology and innovation that companies are experimenting with and will be bringing to market soon. Last time I went in Chicago in 2005 there was some emphasis on green technology and other new developments in robotics and space sattelites featured. But you never know what they will come up with because there are so many companies in all different industries looking to innovate right now to get the edge in the market. This is always an inspiring show. The Wired Next Fest will run from September 27 through October 12, 2008 in the south promenade in Millennium Park, Chicago. My assumption is that they will have some kind of temporary building built for this since having it outdoors is not smart in Chicago. Mark it on your calendars now!

Remember; It’s your weekend, have fun with it!

This year the Chicago Windy City Wine Festival is being held on September 5th and 6th at Daley Plaza downtown in Chicago. The Wine Festival starts on Friday evening at 4pm and goes until 10 pm. It continues on Saturday afternoon at 3 pm and is open until 10 pm again. Tickets are available to purchase for the Windy City Wine Festival Online at windycitywinefestival.com/buy.html or call 847-382-1480 to purchase them by phone.

Tickets are $25.00 for the wine tasting in advance and $30.00 each at the door. Additional tasting coupons can be purchased for more tasting at the festival for $5.00. There is even a designated driver ticket available for $10.00 which gets you 2 non-alcoholic drinks and food as well as access to cooking demonstrations and a copy of the festival program.  

They have also included live bands performing at the event to add to the relaxed atmosphere and they have brought in several local wine experts and Sommeliers to present information about choosing, buying and pairing wines with food as well as information about the wine making process.

It is interesting that even though the economy has slowed down people have certainly not stopped drinking wine. People have decided that buying cheaper food and clothing as well as saving energy were all bearable changes but the Chicagoans are not giving up their wine drinking. Wine sales have increased an enormous amount in the last decade thanks to movies like Sideways that made it a cool, independent, social and cultural hobby to have.

Chicago may not have any vineyards or be written about much in Wine Spectator but we have a lot of wine drinkers and buyers in the Chicagoland area. They have been a fan of the Chicago Wine Festival and the Naperville Wine festival the last few years. Also a few stores like Armanetti’s, Sam’s Wines and Spirits and Binny’s have made buying from huge selections of wine from all over the world possible under one roof for very affordable prices. Also, hundreds of small wind boutiques have popped up like Wine Expressions and Wine Styles in all the small shopping centers in the suburbs.

Yuppies and baby boomers liked taking a bottle of wine to dinner at a friend’s house or serving a new wine guests had never tried before at parties. This novelty as well as great taste has kept wine popular while other luxury items have trailed off in popularity since the economy has slowed down. Click here for a map of the wine festival grounds and plan your trip today.

The entertainment and educational presentation schedule for the fest:

Friday, September 5 – 4-10pm

5:00-5:25pm – Tim Laird, Mixology, The Art of the Wine Cocktail.
5:30-6:00 pm – “Cutting Edge White Wines” Serafin Alvarado, Master Sommelier Director of Wine Education, Southern Wine and Spirits of Illinois
6:05-6:35 pm – Sheri Sauter Moran, Wines of France
6:40-7:10 pm – Colleen Stewart, The Bonterra Vineyards Organic Road Show
7:15-7:45 pm – THE HEARTY BOYS
8:00-9:45 pm – KIM MASSIE

Saturday, September 6 – 3-10pm

3:30-4:05 pm – Sheri Sauter Moran, Wines of France
4:10-4:40 pm – Steve Ciappette Viand
4:45- 5:15pm – Fetzer Eco Tour “Growing Green”
5:30-6:40 pm – DAYNA MALOW
6:50-7:20 pm – Tim Laird, Mixology, The Art of the Wine Cocktail.
7:25-7:55 pm – THE HEARTY BOYS
8:15-9:45 pm – MICHAEL HEATON BAND

Have you ever needed a zip code to find out an address or mail a letter to someone and needed their zip code? I run into this problem a lot so here are the zip codes I have been able to compile from a few different places on the web. There are Chicago neighborhood zip codes from the north, south and west side of the city and some near Chicago suburban zip codes too. The zip codes are all listed aphabetically for easy reference. Hopefully this list will be helpful and if you bookmark it you can come back again to look the zip codes up as soon as you need them. No more hunting for old letters or christmas card envelopes with return addresses on them!

Albany Park zip codes- 60625, 60630
Andersonville zip code - 60640
Belmont Cragin zip codes – 60639, 60634, 60641, 60707
Berwyn & Forest Park, IL zip codes - 60402, 60130, 60398
Beverly zip code - 60643
Bridgeport, IL zip codes – 60608, 60616, 60609
Bronzeville - 60653
Bucktown zip codes - 60622, 60647
Chatham zip codes - 60620, 60619
Chinatown zip code - 60608
Dearborn Park & Printer’s Row - 60605
DePaul zip code - 60614
Downers Grove, IL - 60515, 60516
Edgewater - 60640, 60660
Edison Park & Jefferson Park - 60630, 60631, 60646
Englewood - 60636
Evanston, IL - 60201, 60202, 60203
Gold Coast & Streeterville - 60610, 60611
Greektown - 60607
Highland Park, IL - 60035
Horner Park - 60618
Humboldt Park - 60647, 60651, 60624
Hyde Park & Kenwood - 60615, 60637, 60653
Irving Park - 60641, 60618
Lakeview - 60657, 60613
Lincoln Park - 60614
Lincoln Square - 60625, 60659
Logan Square - 60647, 60641, 60639
Loop - 60601, 60602, 60603, 60604, 60605, 60606
Marquette Park - 60629
Naperville, IL - 60540, 60563, 60564, 60565
Near North Chicago- 60610, 60611, 60654, 60606
Near South Chicago - 60605, 60607
Near West Chicago - 60606, 60607, 60610, 60612, 60622, 60661, 60608, 60616
North Center & St. Ben’s - 60613, 60618, 60657
North Park & Budlong Woods – 60625, 60659, 60646, 60630 Old Town: 60610, 60614
Oak Lawn, IL - 60453, 60454, 60456, 60457, 60458, 60459
Oak Park & River Forest, IL - 60301, 60302, 60303, 60304, 60305
Pilsen & Little Village - 60608, 60616
Portage Park - 60641
Ravenswood – 60625, 60640
River North - 60610, 60611
River West - 60606, 60622, 60610, 60661
Rogers Park – 60626 Roscoe Village: 60618, 60657
Schaumburg, IL - 60173, 60179, 60192, 60193, 60194, 60195, 60196
Skokie, IL - 60076, 60077
South Shore - 60649, 60617, 60619, 60637
St Charles, IL – 60174
Tri-Taylor & UIC University Village – 60607
Ukrainian Village - 60622, 60612, 60607
Uptown & Buena Park - 60640, 60660, 60613
Washington Park - 60615, 60637, 60609, 60621
West Ridge & Warren Park - 60659, 60645
West Town - 60612, 60622, 60647, 60610
Wicker Park - 60622, 60647, 60614
Wilmette, IL - 60091
Winnetka, IL - 60093
Wrigleyville Chicago - 60613, 60657

I watch the 2008 Chicago Red Bull Flutag event commercials and I can’t help see the resemblance between that 1980’s movie called “Magnificent men in their Flying Machines“. The theme song sings that title then says “they go updidy up up then they go downdidy down down”. The Chicago Red bull Flutag event couldn’t be more like the 1910’s in aviation if they tried. The Redbull Chicago Flutag event has been happening for at least the last 5 years because I see ads for it and unbelievable youtube videos. The ridiculousness of the flying machines is unbelievably laughable. None of the entrants are usually engineers, so it proves for lots of hilarity.

I am not going to be joining in on the Flutag event this year but I may go watch it safely from shore. From the pictures I have seen the viewing is good from just about anywhere on North Street Beach in downtown Chicago.  The event starts at 11 am (you may need red bull if you were out late the night before) and it is free and open to the public. the first flight (crash) is scheduled for 1pm and the awards are given out at 3:30pm.  

If you drive in you will want to take the highway and exit at North Avenue and take that east as far as you can until you hit lake Michigan. Then don’t drive into it. You will have a hard time finding parking near the lake, so try a parking garage if you can find one within a few blocks of the beach. Then enjoy the festivities and be sure to bring your camera to capture the hilarity. The red bull drinks will be flowing the entire time. You can not bring your dog to the event though. Sorry, no digs allowed. If you can bike to the event from Lincoln Park or Lakeview you will have a much easier time finding parking and getting home quickly.

If you want to see the videos of the past years competitions online you can at their web site at redbullflutagusa.com. There are 29 teams trying to fly something over or into the water at the Flutag event in Chicago this year. Some of the names are: BTFU, Pie in the Sky!, The Humans are Dead!, Cactus Smurfs, Stir Fly, The Lead Sled, Chicago Flight Hawks, Suck on this Darwin!, The Nintendudes, gReGo’s Red Hot Flyer II, Team Iowa: Go Shuck Yourself, The Perfect Getaway, Heavy Metal Santa & the Evil Elves, Team OZ, The Pirates of North Beach, HouseFly, The Crustacean Avengers, The USHE, I NEED GAS, The Flying Bartenders, Wheeled Wingers, Michigan J. Frogleap, The Flying Briefs, Who Wants a Mustache Ride?, New Style Flyers, The Flying Ditkas, X-Gnar, Operation Border Recon, and last but not least, The Flying EL.

Oprah Winfrey (and the Chicago Oprah Show Harpo Productions Team) are taping the 23rsd season premier episode Wednesday September 3rd in Millennium Park in the Pritzker Pavilion with all the gold medal winning Olympic athletes. (150 Olympians!!) This is a huge deal in Chicago because the admission to see the show is free because it is in Millennium Park.

So, anyone who wants to see all their favorite Olympians can get tickets there in advance on Monday or Tuesday at Millennium Park so that you can still get in line on Wednesday morning at 6am for first come first served seats in the Pritzker Pavillion. These tickets may be gone by this time but if you are downtown and can look and see at Millennium Park let me know. The show will air on TV one week later on Monday September 8th at 9 am CST. (channel 7 ABC Chicago) They also say this is the first Oprah Winfrey Show to be recorded and broadcast in HD.

Big Name Gold Medalists like Michael Phelps, Nastia Liukin, Dara Torres, Kobe Bryant, Lisa Leslie, Kerri Walsh, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade and Misty May-Treanor will all be in attendance at the event. Also, some Illinois athletes will be there too: Christine Magnuson from Swimming, Matt Grevers from Swimming, Candance Parker from Basketball, Tom Hoff from Men’s Volleyball, Sylvia Fowles from Basketball and Deron Williams from team USA Basketball.

That said if you don’t have to be at work on September 3rd or can get the day off it might be a fun time to see your favorite Olympic athletes in person. The Pritzker Pavilion is a huge stadium like amphitheater in Millennium Park that can seat thousands of people. So if you want to see the Olympic Athletes and Gold Medal Winners you will have to be up front in the seats and not in the back in the grass seating. The stage is also set really high off the ground so if you do get a seat you will still need a pretty good zoom camera lens to get any good pictures. Also if you come in from the suburbs, take the Metra since parking is way expensive under Millennium park.

As much as I enjoy watching the Olympics on TV I will not be in that early morning line for seats because I have to go to work that day and even though I am a Chicagoan I am not really the biggest fan of Oprah Winfrey. She is cool and all, I just dislike the constant selling of stuff all on her shows. It’s not really fair to the people who are home from work all day to get pitched to buy stuff so heavily when they don’t have the income from work in the first place.

I am also not wild about the idea that this rally will be to support the idea of the Olympics coming to Chicago in 2016. While that may have been my dream as a kid, as an adult I am much wiser about who really benefits from these Olympic Games and who pays for them. As a resident here in Chicago I am not behind the idea at all. Some people are also crying foul because Oprah has not invited the para-Olympians too.

That said I think the athletes are awesome and I hope they enjoy their time in Chicago and I hope that all the people who go out to see the Oprah Show live in Millennium Park enjoy the show. The pictures here are of the taping in Millennium Park yesterday and they are from Flickr courtesy of Dane Brian and T-Shirt Auza. Bookmark this page and check back to the Chicago Weekend Fun Blog for more pictures and video as it becomes available.

The Labor Day Weekend and Holiday Monday are so jam packed with events you won’t be able to stay home for long. Both in the City of Chicago and in the suburbs there are large events and parades happening in addition to all the shopping sales all over Chicagoland. The Chicago Jazz Festival is this weekend, the JayCees Naperville Last Fling and the Labor Day Parades are all day Monday. I know the weather will also be good this Labor Day Weekend, it should be in the upper 80’s and no rain is in the forecast.

First, on Friday at 5pm there is the monthly Critical Mass Bike ride through downtown and the streets of Chicago. Join up wiht them at Daley Plaza at 5pm if you want to ride along. There is a police escort at the front of the pack and bike riding helmets may be required….

The Chicago Jazz Festival is also this weekend in Grant Park. The 30th Annual Jazz Festival runs Thursday through Sunday.  In the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park they will be celebrating 30 years of jazz with two time Grammy Award winner Sonny Rollins. The admission to the Chicago Jazz Festival in Grant Park is Free! The Jazz Festival will run August 29-31 for three days of free music on three stages from 10:00 am-9:30 pm per day. No Dogs or Alcoholic beverages will be allowed in the festival. The Grant Park Petrillo Band shell Schedule is as follows:

Friday, August 29, 2008
5:00-5:50 T.S. Galloway’s Tribute to Capt. Walter Dyett featuring Julian Priester, Ken Chaney, Mwata Bowden, Edwin Daugherty, Ari Brown and Von Freeman
6:00-6:55 AACM Roscoe Mitchell, Wadada Leo Smith, Amina Claudine Myers, Michael Logan and Thurman Barker
7:10-8:10 Dee Dee Bridgewater’s Tribute to Betty Carter
8:30-9:30 Eddie Palmieri’s Latin Jazz Band

Saturday, August 30, 2008
4:30-4:45 – Remembering Franz Jackson
5:00-5:50 – Pharez Whitted Sextet
6:00-6:55 – Vijay Iyer Quintet
7:10-8:10 – Dave Douglas Brass Ecstasy
8:30-9:30 – Gerald Wilson Orchestra with a special guest Kenny Burrell

Sunday, August 31, 2008
5:00-5:50 – Ron Dewar Quintet
6:00-6:55 – From the Netherlands: The Instant Composers Pool
7:10-8:10 – 8 Bold Souls with a Special Guest Dee Alexander
8:30-9:30 – Ornette Coleman

Naperville is also hosting it’s Jaycee’s Last Fling Concert Event in the downtown area. This is the traditional last event of the summer to celebrate and socialize before the official fall season and back to school craziness takes off and fills the calendar. Click here to see the full last fling booklet with the map, directions, schedule and more info you may need.

The Naperville JayCee’s Last Fling 2008 features a Carnival, Main Stage Performances featuring Nationally known Artists, Free performances on the Entertainment Stage daily, a Beer Garden and Dozens of Great Food Vendors and Business Expo Booths From local Naperville Businesses. It is a great place to take the family for a fun night out. Tickets are $10.00 per person on Friday night and $12.00 per person on Saturday and Sunday night. Tickets can be purchased at Oswald’s Pharmacy at 88 Gartner Road in Naperville, 60540 (in the Naperville Plaza Shopping Center) or at Dean’s Clothing at 226 South Main Street in Naperville, 60540 (in Downtown Naperville). The actual location of the Last Fling is: The Naperville Riverwalk, 100 West Jackson Avenue Naperville, IL 60540 phone: 630-961-4143

Naperville Last Fling Dates and Times:

• Friday August 29 @ 5 pm – 11 pm
• Saturday  August 30 @ 10 am – 11 pm
• Sunday  August 31 @ 10 am – 11 pm
• Monday September 1 @ 10 am – 6 pm

Music Concert Schedule
Friday August 29th
8:00 pm to 10:00 pm Dennis DeYoung
6:00 pm to 8:00 pm The Music of Styx – Hi Infidelity

Saturday August 30th
8:00 pm to 10:00 pm The Doobie Brothers
6:00 pm to 8:00 pm Painkiller Hotel
4:00 pm to 6:00 pm Josh Holmes

Sunday August 31st
8:00 pm to 10:00 pm Gavin DeGraw
6:00 pm to 8:00 pm Absentstar
4:00 pm to 6:00 pm Kimi Hayes

Monday September 1st
4:00 pm to 6:00 pm The Hat Guys
2:00 pm to 4:00 pm Stellar Road 

Enjoy the Labor Day Holiday and have a great weekend!

Michigan Avenue has been a shopping, vacation and hotel stay destination in the midwest for more than 100 years and features some of the most exclusive stores, luxurious hotels and hip fashion boutiques.Michigan Avenue holds the Chicago Water Tower, the Art Institute of Chicago, Millennium Park, and north of the Chicago River is known as the Magnificent Mile. Chicago has long been the largest city in the MidWest so the retail stores set up flagship stores downtown (on Michigan Avenue and State Street) in Chicago to cater to the wealthy gold coast neighborhood residents and be a destination for all the Midwestern townspeople when they really needed to shop for something special.

Over time shopping on Michigan Avenue in Chicago has evolved from a street of mostly large department stores to many different speciality stores as shopper’s tastes and attitudes have changed. The three department stores still located on Michigan Avenue today are Macy’s (formerly Marshall Field’s), Nieman Marcus and Nordstrom. Other large flagship retail stores are Crate and Barrel, Ann Taylor, Forever 21, The Gap, The Nike Store, H&M, an Apple Store and Eddie Bauer. Smaller Boutique stores include Kenneth Cole, Hugo Boss, Cartier, Tiffany & Co., Banana Republic, Coach, Garmin, Levi’s, Aldo shoe store, the Hershey Chocolate Store, Fannie May Candies, Talbot’s women’s clothing, Express, and Victoria’s Secret. Many Staycations are happening in Chicago this summer and Michigan Avenue has everything to offer that fancy shopping in NYC or LA would have.

Hotels on Michigan Avenue in Chicago

The most popular hotels to stay at on Michigan avenue are the Hotel Intercontinental, The Drake Hotel and the Peninsula Hotel. All of these hotels are historic places where the wealthy have stayed while visiting Chicago for generations. All three hotels have ample accommodations, well appointed rooms and beautiful views of the city. When they were built they were some of the tallest buildings in Chicago, now they aren’t anymore with skyscrapers near by, but they still offer great views of Michigan Avenue and the Lake. The Drake Hotel and The Hotel Intercontinental also have very posh restaurants. The Peninsula Hotel Restaurants are even more regal, and I haven’t had a chance to stay there yet. Expect large marble entry ways and columns and bell hops that help you manage everything. Also expect high room rates for these hotels in season. In the summer the hotels on Michigan Avenue can be $200-$600.00 a night.  (depending on the room and the view) Off Season they might drop to $150 – 300.00 but the top penthouse floors are always over $1,000.00.

Historic Landmarks on Michigan Avenue in Chicago

The most well known historical landmark on Michigan Avenue in Chicago is the Water Tower that survived the great Chicago fire in 1871. The limestone that the Water Tower and the Pumping Station across the street are made from is a local Illinois quarry stone that saved those buildings from going up in flames. After the Chicago Fire Limestone and brick became very popular building materials.

Restaurants on Michigan Avenue in Chicago

There are so many restaurants to choose from when shopping on Michigan Avenue in Chicago. Here are some listings for the restaurants located on Michigan Avenue’s Magnificent Mile or within a block or two of the street. The food choices range from family friendly restaurants to elegant steakhouses and chop houses. The prices range from $10.00 to $100.00 depending on how fancy a meal you are looking for.

410 Club and Conference Center
410 N. Michigan Avenue, 60611
phone: (312)944-7600

Bandera Restaurant ** Chicago Weekend Fun Recommends**
535 N. Michigan Avenue, 60611
phone: (312)644-3524

The Cheesecake Factory
875 N. Michigan Avenue, 60611
phone: (312)337-1101
thecheesecakefactory.com

Cafe Spiaggia
980 N. Michigan Avenue, 60611
phone: (312)280-2750

California Pizza Kitchen
835 N. Michigan Avenue – 7th Floor, 60611
phone: (312)787-7300
cpk.com

Chicago Chop House
60 W. Ontario Street, 60610
phone: (312)787-7100
chicagochophouse.com

Cielo Restaurant and Bar
676 N. Michigan Avenue, 60611
phone: (312)944-7676

The Dining Room At the Ritz Carlton Chicago
160 E. Pearson Street, 60611
phone: (312)573-5223

Foodlife
835 N. Michigan Avenue, 60611
phone: (312)335-3663
leye.com

Gene & Georgetti
500 N. Franklin Street, 60610
phone: (312)527-3718

Gino’s East Famous Stuffed Pizza ** Chicago Weekend Fun Recommends**
160 E. Superior Street, 60611
phone: (312)345-8500
ginoseast.com

Ghirardelli Chocolate Shop & Soda Fountain
830 N. Michigan Avenue, 60611
phone: (312)337-9330
Old fashioned soda fountain and chocolate shop.

Joy of Ireland’s Irish Tea Room
700 N. Michigan Avenue
phone: (312)664-7290

Kinzie Street Chophouse
400 N. Wells Street, 60610
phone: (312)822-0191

La Cantina Grill Mexican Dining
1911 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Illinois 60616
Phone: 312-842-1911

Lawry’s The Prime Rib Steakhouse **Chicago Weekend Fun Recommends**
100 E. Ontario Street, 60611
phone: (312)787-5000

McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurant
41 E. Chestnut – Corner of Rush Street, 60611
phone: (312)397-9500
mccormickandschmicks.com

McDonald’s Water Tower Place
835 North Michigan Avenue, 60611
phone: (312)649-5562

Mity Nice Grill Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises
835 North Michigan Avenue, 60611
phone: (312)335-4745
leye.com

O’Brien’s Restaurant By the River – Enter by Michigan Ave and Wacker on the NW corner down the staircase to the river. **Chicago Weekend Fun Recommends**
1528 North Wells Street
60610 
phone: (312)787-9400
obriensrestaurant.com

The Signature Room At the Ninety-Fifth John Hancock Tower
875 North Michigan Avenue – Suite 1525, 60611
p: (312)280-5450
www.signatureroom.com
The traditional place to propose to someone you want to marry.

Smith & Wollensky Steakhouse
318 N. State Street At Marina City, 60610
phone: (312)670-9900
The best quality steaks in Chicago!

Spiaggia
980 N. Michigan Avenue, 60611
phone: (312)280-2750

Szechwan Restaurant
625 N. Michigan Avenue, 60611
phone: (312)329-9494

Tavern Club
333 N. Michigan Avenue
60601
phone: 312 263-1239

Tucci Benucch Lettuce
900 North Michigan Avenue, 60611
phone: 312 266-2500
leye.com

Weather Mark Tavern
1503 South Michigan Avenue
Phone: 312 588-0230

Bonus: Parking garages on Michigan Avenue listed for your convienience:

CPS Parking
1 N. LaSalle Street
Chicago, Illinois 60602
Phone: 312-578-1660

Downtown Parking
300 East Illinois Street
Chicago, IL 60611
Phone 312 296-3430

G. O. Parking
875 North Michigan Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60611
Phone 312 335-8600

Hammerschlag & Co
350 West Hubbard Street
Chicago, IL 60610
Phone 312 494-0371

Imperial Parking Corporation
205 West Randolph Street
Chicago, IL 60606
Phone 312-960-0700

InterPark
111 West Jackson Boulevard
Chicago, Illinois 60604
Phone 312-935-2800

Standard Parking
900 North Michigan Avenue
Chicago, Illinois
Phone: 312-274-2040

System Parking
111 East Wacker Drive
Chicago, Illinois 60601
Phone 312-819-5050

Valet Parking Service, Inc.
70 West Madison Street
Chicago, IL 60602
Phone 312-332-1134

Happy Shopping!
 

I got an email announcing the launch of the new Chicago Drinks site with bar and restaurant reviews from the Chicago Reader and wanted to post about it since there are always new bars, restaurants and clubs opening in the city every week. I find it hard to keep up with all the new places opening and closing and find it difficult to make a good recommendation when people ask me where they should go out for drinks in Chicago. My areas of expertise are more around special events, improv, holidays and the loop and burbs. Drinking isn’t something I do very often so when people need a bar recommendation for a party or fun night with friends, I am rarely the one with the suggestions.

Chicago Drinks could change all that. The Chicago Reader has been rocking the city with real down to earth articles about local people, businesses and events since 1971. The new Chicago Drinks site offers 4 things to continue that trend in the local bar market. They offer a page of local drink specials for the week, a flickr group of local bar photos (where to be seen in Chicago), the Behind the Bar blog that will be writing about new bars and clubs weekly and some video content on news and information you can use in a handy youtube format. A big bonus is that they offer a weekly bar tab contest where you could win a tab covered by the Reader that weekend. From Andersonville to Wrigleyville Chicago Drinks has the city’s bar scene covered.

Of course Chicago Drinks is for over 21 visitors only although it does not ask for your age to enter like most beer web sites do. I know I will be checking it out for more information on what is new and hip with the bar scene in Chicago in the coming weeks. For your weekly dose of new bar, club and restaurant information visit the site at drinks.chicagoreader.com.

I think Chicago is a bad choice for the 2016 Olympic Games. I know that I am in the minority with that opinion, so I wanted to make my opinion points (and those of others like me) visible online. Just to be clear, it isn’t that I am not a fan of the Olympics. I actually am a fan and usually watch some part of the Olympics on TV when it happens. In fact I was such a fan of the Olympics that spent most of my childhood idolizing the Olympic athletes and spent a decade of my family’s own time and money pursuing a figure skating career inspired by the 1984 Olympics.

Now that I am an adult who works hard to pay a mortgage, taxes and transportation costs in Cook County my views of the Olympics have matured.  I now work in Marketing for a living so I realize that the Olympics much like the NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL are glorified marketing advertising circuses and money machines maximized for entertainment value, seat ticket sales, advertising revenue and profit. Not much is done for the love of the game and in fact much is done in spite of it with drugs, enhancements and fixing. (the NBA Finals this year were largely believed to be completely rigged, and many olympic medals have been given back in recent years due to illegal doping and cheating) Therefore, I don’t see an overall benefit of the 2016 Olympic Games being held here in Chicago in an inspirational, financial or infrastructural way since none of those things are the actual goal of the games. (the only real goal is to make a lot of money)

The issue I have with the 2016 Olympics in Chicago would be that they are a huge industrial, infrastructural, financial and logistical process that will end up costing the citizens of Cook County and DuPage county millions of dollars in taxes. This raises the same question we ask about the Iraq war. Why should we be spending all that taxpayer money on something petty, frivolous and non-essential when there are so many basic needs not being met for the people in Chicago? Lets list a few basic community needs we have that aren’t being met that might be a better use of the city, county and local corporate investor’s dollars:

1. Basic Transportation- The Chicago CTA budget goes broke every year or two. The EL trains are falling apart and falling off the tracks every few months. The Buses spew black smoke into people’s faces when they pass by on the street clogging daily traffic and they keep cutting back on routes people need to get to work. Cars don’t have it much better. All the major highways have backed up traffic jams into and out of the city at all 24 hours a day now and construction rips things up every summer while cutting traffic down to 1 lane and yet the roads never get less congested or better in quality.  I think these funds would be much better spent overhauling the EL trains, tracks and stations, converting Buses to electric rechargeable power and research and installation of better quality road materials that don’t require replacement yearly. This also factors in to how the 2016 Olympic Games thinks they can route hundreds of athletes and thousands of viewers through a network of highways and train routes that can’t handle the 9 million people who live here now. The bandwidth just isn’t there.

2. Poverty – There are more people homeless, begging and asking for money on my 5 block walk to work downtown than I ever saw in the first 25 years of my life. Homelessness, poverty and drugs are a huge problem in Chicago. Some of this is created by Gangs, but now that the “projects” are taken down, there is no one place you can go to find the problem and try and work on helping. I shouldn’t see so many people desperate for a variety of reasons and it shouldn’t be Chicago’s priority to make a few developers even more rich with Olympic development contracts when so many people just want a stable income to live on so they can have a place to live and food to eat. Most of us believe that this situation is related to the continuing cycle of a lack of education, ease of finding drugs and lack of available jobs. This 2016 Olympic investment money would be much better spent on education programs in the low income neighborhoods, schools and work training programs. A lot of people say that the Olympics will bring jobs and money to Chicago, but a job for a year will leave these people out on the street again soon and doesn’t solve anything. Chicago doesn’t have a very good track record in helping the greater community, over choosing to help the rich get richer. Big corporations in Chicago choose to send money to Malawi and Africa (a certain jobsite and Oprah Winfrey) for the trendy PR value rather than fund needy local schools and children’s charities that make a difference in the community that they actually live in. Cook County has a board and a city hall constantly plagued with political patronage scandals, ghost employees and contracts awarded without competitive cost bidding because of under the table kickback deals. This town is still all about organized crime and patronage decades after Al Capone died. Some things never change. Maybe the Olympic Committee is really the same kind of organization, and they don’t care either? The Olympics being associated with Chicago’s patronage and organized crime problems is not going to be good for their PR.

3. Education - It is great for a kid to aspire to be a famous athlete, but isn’t it more practical and realistic that they aspire to finish school, make a good living and contribute to a better neighborhood? These are basic ideals in the suburbs but not seen as much in the city. I know the Olympic committee will lump Chicago and the surrounding suburbs into one category when they are here (and so do we sometimes) but we are really a completely divided culture. (a large number of suburbanites won’t ever go into the city because of the crime, cost and constant gridlock) The suburbs really want nothing to do with the Olympics because it doesn’t contribute to those goals that they have mastered. It doesn’t help their schools get better, their kids get smarter nor them to make any more money. It actually costs everyone more money for an experience no one wants with a lot of traffic and security nightmares.  In addition to all that, this money would be much better spent improving the Chicago Public Schools and making sure that these kids get better instruction, more resources and achieve more goals just like the suburban kids do. Even the suburbanites would agree with that.

Basically, I think it is important for the Olympic committee to get off the approved cleaned up shiny show path when they visit and see the real problems that Chicago has in addition to all that is being offered and see that they will negativley impact the 2016 Olympics if held here. We are a city with an identity crisis. We have lost most of the titles we had for years with business, manufacturing and standard of living (even tallest building) and we haven’t really figured out a clear path to success again. (seriously, right now we are mostly known for bringing childhood and adult obesity to the world through the success of McDonald’s which was started here and is still based in OakBrook) No offense to the Olympics, but a bunch of stadiums we don’t need and a 2 week sports party aren’t going to help us figure out how to reinvent the business and industry here any faster.

We should instead invest our time and money in our community, our citizens and our infrastructure for the right reasons, not because we can sell a lot of advertising and make some big money fast. A lot of people will be far more hurt in the long run by a lack of basic resources and higher taxes and living costs than will be helped by a transient sporting event bonanza. I would really like more people to voice their opinion about this in the comments, especially those who have been silent before now. It’s the silent people who don’t get represented and then have to pay the high price for decisions that affect our lives like hosting the 2016 Olympics in Chicago.

The Chicago Blues Festival is the second most popular and attended event in downtown Chicago and Grant Park every year. The most popular is the Taste of Chicago. I missed Blues Fest this year due to some lack of planning and lack of time. I still think this is an important festival for chicagoans and visitors alike to attend because it helps continue communicating the language of jazz and blues music to the next generation while providing a weekend of great entertainment for everyone. Chicago has long been a center of both jazz and blues music creation and performance. There are fewer jazz and blues clubs in Chicago than in the heyday of Jazz but it is still an important part of our local culture and should be preserved and innovative at the same time. This year’s blues fest was a great success and these are some pictures that I looked up on flickr. I hope you enjoy the sights of the Chicago Blues Festival recapped here. And maybe next year I will get to actually attend the fest!

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. The Blues Bus.

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. The Skyline behind people watching the show at the Chicago Blues Fest in June.

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The Front Portch Stage at the Chicago Blues Fest.