Blown away by the Windy City

Hancock Building Observatory

Attraction | "High in the Sky"

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The John Hancock Observatory is one of those places that should be on your must do when you come to Chicago. Used to the Sears Tower which has been renamed the Wills Tower was the must do sigh, but now it’s the JHO and I agree. The JHO has the only open air-sky walk in Chicago. You get a 360 degree view of the city and the lakes. The JHO is 1,000 feet in the sky and you ride an elevator for 40 seconds to get there, this building takes you higher than any other in Chicago. Once you take your quick ride in the sky you are able to get out and see the breathtaking views of Chicago. Also on this stop you will see an 80 foot wall filled with the history of the JHO and other buildings in the world t...Read More

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on February 20, 2013

Hancock Building Observatory
875 North Michigan Ave.
Chicago, Illinois 60611
(312) 751-3681

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Art Institute of Chicago

Best Of IgoUgo

Attraction | "A day of Art"

A Sunday Afternoon Photo - Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois

Quote:

When we plan trips as a family we each pick a couple of things we really want to do. Of course since my boys are huge baseball lovers they picked the baseball related things. For me one of my must dos was the Art Institute. I am someone who loves to look at art and could spend all day doing it. Of course my favorite is the older stuff like Picasso, Monet, and Van Gough. When I looked up info on the Museum I found out that one of my other favorites was also the traveling art display, Roy Lichtenstein.I must start out by saying that the line to get into the art museum was pretty long. I think we waited outside for about 30 minutes. The wait was not bad, however it was a hot day in Chicago t...Read More

When we plan trips as a family we each pick a couple of things we really want to do. Of course since my boys are huge baseball lovers they picked the baseball related things. For me one of my must dos was the Art Institute. I am someone who loves to look at art and could spend all day doing it. Of course my favorite is the older stuff like Picasso, Monet, and Van Gough. When I looked up info on the Museum I found out that one of my other favorites was also the traveling art display, Roy Lichtenstein.
I must start out by saying that the line to get into the art museum was pretty long. I think we waited outside for about 30 minutes. The wait was not bad, however it was a hot day in Chicago that day and for many that was uncomfortable, being from Texas we were ok. The wait was definitely worth it. The hours of the museum are 10:30-5 daily and till 8 on Thursday. Admission is $23 for adults and free for children under 14.
The outside of the museum is just as exciting to see as the inside. The front entrance has amazing architecture and you are greeted by 2 huge lions. To the right of the entrance is a beautiful courtyard with lots of green ivy and other plants and a water fountain. Once again a beautiful and enjoyable place probably any other day but on this day it was hot and humid under all the trees and plants. To the left was a beautiful garden.
Once you are inside you have 3 floors and several rooms to choose from to begin looking at. We went straight to the Lichtenstein exhibit. There were several rooms that connect almost making it like a maze. Art lines both sides of the room and there are even a few displays in the middle. Of course you can purchase a radio that will tell you all about each piece.
After about an hour or more we took off for the different sections of the museum. We saw some modern art, Picasso, Monet and my son’s favorite was the pointillism of a Sunday Afternoon. At school he had been learning about pointillism and one of the other classes even did a project of this specific piece. When we walked around the corner of one of the rooms my son’s jaw dropped. He was in such awe and loved the piece. It was a huge canvas that covered the whole wall.
My favorite piece was the Picasso "Old Guitarist" I am a huge fan of Picasso and love his art; this one was especially unique to me because of its story. Because Picasso was so poor he often painted over a painting because he could not afford new canvas. In this particular painting you could see the images from a painting that had been painted over.
Overall the Art Museum was a great experience. I wish we could have spent more time there. I think we could have easily used 2 days. However with limited time and a 7 year old who could only handle so much we only got to spend about a ½ day there. If you have limited time I would research what the museum has before going and then try to hit your favorites first.
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Member Rating 5 out of 5 on February 12, 2013

Art Institute of Chicago
111 South Michigan Ave.
Chicago, Illinois 60603
(312) 443-3600

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Wrigley Field

Best Of IgoUgo

Attraction | "Cubs game and stadium tour"

Wrigley Field Photo - Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois

Quote:

By far the highlight of the trip. I married into a baseball family and my now 8 year old son loves baseball just as much. So being that I am surrounded around lots of baseball this was a real treat to me. Its one of the oldest original ball parks still used for Major league baseball. We went to a Sunday afternoon game. We arrived early and shopped the stores around the ballpark. We heard that it is best to get there when the gates open because kids can go out on the field to watch batting practice if they are one of the first 50. It was pretty impressive how many people show up 2 hours before game time, although for us that is nothing new. We watched as they rolled open the metal g...Read More

By far the highlight of the trip. I married into a baseball family and my now 8 year old son loves baseball just as much. So being that I am surrounded around lots of baseball this was a real treat to me. Its one of the oldest original ball parks still used for Major league baseball.

We went to a Sunday afternoon game. We arrived early and shopped the stores around the ballpark. We heard that it is best to get there when the gates open because kids can go out on the field to watch batting practice if they are one of the first 50. It was pretty impressive how many people show up 2 hours before game time, although for us that is nothing new. We watched as they rolled open the metal gates and rushed right in with everyone else.

The first stop we made was to get my son his little certificate that said it was his first time at the park. After that we headed down to watch batting practice. Since Wrigley is one of the older stadiums you are able to get very close to the field and see the players us close. After a few minutes of soaking up the stadium we headed down to homeplate when the let the kids down on the field. They slapped a sticker on my son and down he went. This was such a neat experience for him. He was up close and got to watch batting practice from the field.

After BP was over we headed up to our seats. Now Wrigley is so small that every seat in the house was a good seat. We had lower level seats that were in the shade, a good thing too, because it stormed pretty bad and caused a 2 hour game delay, then it was super sunny and hot. We really had great seats.

Now Wrigley is the only stadium that still has a hand changed score board. There a a few men that work the score board for the entire game. During the tour our guide said it can get extremely hot up there and all they have is a hose and a bucket. You can image how gross it must be up there. Oh and NO bathrooms!!!

The bleacher seats were truly a sureal experince, You could almost feel the histroy that came with sitting in those seats. I think the bleachers were my famovirte part of the whole experince. There are so many stories and so much history that goes with them. After the game was over the crowd sang a traditional song, it was so cool beacsue the game was sold out and everyone one was up and singing.

After the game was over we got to take our son down to run the bases. Then we waited by the cubs locker room to watch the players leave. We even got one guys autograph. As we left the stadium we walked around the entire outside as to make sure we did not miss anything. There are several statues that represent some of the history from the stadium.

I highly recommend a trip to Wrigley either in the form of a game or a tour, both if you have the time. It is an experience you won't forget!! Read Less

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on February 4, 2013

Wrigley Field
1060 West Addison Street
Chicago, Illinois 60613
(773) 404-2827

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