i'm going to chicago on friday

[LCK]

what do i do

[Commander Fuckass]

try not to get shot

[YPrrrr]

Art Institute of Chicago?

[Dullahan]

move away from chicago

[applesauce]

Lol I'm leaving Chicago on Friday morning.

If you haven't been, you really need to do the observation deck on either the Hancock or Sears. Sears' is a bit higher, has the glass floor thing, and the whole "tallest building in the western hemisphere" thing, but the Hancock's view pretty fucking good, arguably better, and is cheaper. Biggest perk to Hancock is that the line for the Sears on a summer weekend can easily exceed 4 hours, while Hancock's line is usually 20 mins max.

If you're driving down from the TC, don't plan on using your car much or at all. You'll sit in traffic half the day, pay out the ass for parking, and not see any of the city because you'll be sitting in a car. Fuck cars.

Fuck taxis, seriously. The downtown is pretty dense/compact, and the El is convenient and simple. Unless you're under 5, over 65, or disabled, don't take a fucking taxi. You'll see more of the city, have more fun, and save $ for things that actually matter.

Check out the lake, especially the view from across the harbor. I think the view is best from by the Adler Planitarium. I took this pic from there just this past Friday: [spoiler][/spoiler]
The view from Navy Pier has a good view too, and is a bit like the State Fair with less cow shit and more boats. The view from North Avenue Beach, out on the peninsula, is pretty nice, especially at night, as is the walk along the seawall across Lake Shore drive from the Gold Coast.

For museums, definitely don't go to the Shedd. You'll waste all day in line. Same thing goes for the Field Museum. The art institute is damn good, and has a lot of famous stuff most everyone would recognize. Get there 10-20 mins before it opens, and you're good. I like the Museum of Science and Industry the best, and it also tends to have the shortest line (or none at all). Probably because it isn't downtown, but a trip down the Green Line and the #55 would be a good way to see some of the city other than downtown. They've got a ton of awesome trains and planes and such, most of them former record holders of some type. Highlight is the U Boat, the only one ever captured. They have the whole thing in a giant underground chamber. It's pretty sweet.

I dunno what stuff are you interested in? Also specific food things I can recommend if you tell me what type. Where are you staying?

[LCK]

This will all be considered.

Also, I believe the Taste of Chicago is that week? I think I'm going to that

[applesauce]

It ends Saturday. I haven't been (only lived here 10 months), but heard it's a good time.

[Wrench]

Go see the bean

[LCK]

We ended up staying at a house in Oak Lawn for free. We took the orange line down to Roosevelt and transferred to the red line down to Bellemont(?) and explored down around there for a bit and ended up getting a tattoo at The Chicago Tattoo Company place, and just roamed around and looked at some shops.

We also went down to the lake front and checked out Navy Pier which was quite nice.

Drank lots and lots of beer. Discovered 312 and Hacker-Pschorr. Enjoyable drunken nights in Chicago.

Experienced some actually decent pizza. Giordanos, Durbins, and Pizano's. Durbins just kinda seemed like bar pizza, but Giordano's stuffed pizza practically gave me a heart attack, in a good way. And Pizano's deep dish wasn't necessarily my favorite, but it was very good. It was deep dish, but the crust was still quite thin and crunchy. I love big doughy crust.

I roamed around the city more today some where near the Art Institue of Chicago and made it down to the Theatre District just taking in all the sights.

OH, and China Town.

As for the rest of the weekend, it was spent getting drunk in Oak Lawn or Yorkville

[applesauce]

Fun time. Chinatown is about a mile and a half from my place. A lot of my neighbors are asians. 

Giordano's is my favorite deep dish, followed by Pizano's, so good job on that. I also dig Due. A lot of people swear on Gino's or Connie's, but they're pretty meh to me.

[LCK]

We found Giordano's completely on accident and oh god yes


is it interesting living near chinatown

[applesauce]

is it interesting living near chinatown

Somewhat. There are a lot of old asian women that look upset at you when you pass then on the sidewalk. If I am going somewhere east (like campus) between like 5:30 and 7:00 AM there are always old people doing weird Tai Chi or whatever in the park. Sometimes they do it in the kiddie pool. Our grocery store stocks really good mexican meats and salsas for the hispanic population, and gross stuff for the asians (live crabs, raw squids like 18" long, candied baby crabs (you eat them with the shell on), ect). Maybe 50% of the businesses around here have signs in Chinese, and there are a lot of "massage parlors" and other asian businesses that can't afford the rent in the heart of Chinatown. There are a lot of Chinese restaurants, but my favorite is in that big pedestrian-only part of Chinatown.