Chicago Visitor & Tourist Guide
Outdoor ice skating in downtown Chicago:
The day after Thanksgiving means shopping, leftovers, and in Chicago it means the beginning of the outdoor skating season. The best and most popular rink is in the heart of downtown, in Millennium Park right under the "Bean". It is hard to imagine a better setting with the Chicago high-rises & Michigan Ave. as the backdrop. The rink opens at noon on weekdays and 10:00 on weekends. It closes at 8:00 M-Th, 10:00 on Fri. and 9:00 on Sat. & Sun. The best part is that the skating is free, but there is a $10 charge for skate rental.
The rink at Wrigley Field, unfortunately set in the parking lot and not inside the stadium, opens the same day. It is $5, $3 for children, with skate rental
also $5 and $3, but prices double for Fri.-Sun.
Chicagovisitor.net was created by locals as a guide for tourists and visitors. After many years of showing friends and family the sights and sounds of Chicago we decided to share our experiences with tourists by creating this site. We are within walking distance of Navy Pier, the Magnifiencent Mile, Millennium Park and most other attractions. We have visited all of the restaurants, museums, stores and attractions listed on this site numerous times and our writing is based on personal experiences. We do not attempt to cover all of the thousands of restaurants, hundreds of hotels or myriad of sights and attractions. Instead we have narrowed down the overwhelming choices of things to do in Chicago to ones that are worth considering in an effort to make planning your visit easier. Chicago Visitor.net is designed to help visitors get the most out of their travels to the Windy City.
Restaurant pick of the week:
Restaurant pick of the week:
Atwood Cafe
On State Street, in Hotel Burnham, close to Macy's
and the Christkindlmarket. They serve American fare with a bit of flare. They have soups, salads, sandwiches and a few entrees like chicken pot pie. The desserts are particularly tasty. A fun and cozy space it is a great place for lunch while shopping on State Street.
Chicago Restaurant Week:
February does not afford one much to look forward to in Chicago. There is still a lot to do with great year round attractions, a top restaurant scene and tons of live music and plays. But no one would say I cannot wait for February to get here.
There is one event to look forward to every February, Restaurant Week, Feb 17-26. Over 200 downtown restaurants will be offering 3 course lunches for $22 and $33 for dinner. While they are not just giving the food away at $22 for lunch there are some great deals to be found. The key is to do some research. Most spots offer a limited menu. Getting a great deal is not worth much if you are stuck eating something you do not enjoy. Those of you love salmon are in luck. Some places dumb down their menu and just offer foods not found on their menu. At other places it works out to getting desert for free. Free desert is fine but there are better deals to be had.
The best deals are at some of the cities’ top restaurants. Naha is year after year the best deal, it is an upscale place with amazing food where lunch entrée average around $20 and appetizers $12. Blackbird is another one of the cities’ best places participating in Restaurant Week. Joe’s Seafood a Restaurant Week favorite runs out of reservations so book early.
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