Winter in Chicago, with its blistering winds and freezing temperatures, is not for the faint of heart. When summer rolls around though, the city awakens from its hibernation and rewards its residents with months of festivals and other outdoor pleasures. If you can take a little humidity, summer is the perfect time to explore Chicago's parks, neighborhoods, attractions and food while the city's famous architecture gleam high above you. Take advantage of Travelzoo's deals for Chicago hotels and Virgin America's flights between San Francisco and Chicago O'Hare starting at $149 each way.
Festivals
It seems that there's always a free festival happening every week in Chicago during the summer. From June 24 to July 3, 2011, Chicago hosted the Taste of Chicago, a food festival that stretched for miles in Grant Park. Stands with food from 59 restaurants offered visitors a taste of fried catfish, pierogi, stewed goat, Chicago-style hot dog and deep dish pizza. "The key to budget travel is to approach onward. When it comes to family trips, globetrotting, well-deserved trips and/or going to see new locations we have never been before, the actuality of cost and budgeting is always in the back of our thoughts. Planning and spending our travel budget wisely is a consideration for most families. Curbing consuming and fees, while still savoring your vacation to its fullest, is the key to guaranteed achievements and fiscal liability. Your pocketbook and family will thank you! The thought regarding economizing money while journeying is simple: Even if your personal finances is extremely limited, you can still take a break and enjoy life! Simply put, life is just too short to never step out of the door or departing the homestead! Also thinking about that while traveling, regardless of whether on a resources or not, even the smallest of things can all add op to a large vacation or travel charge!..". Attendees purchased strips of tickets redeemable at the stands of their choice, with each one mandated to offer a small sample for 2 tickets. 12 tickets cost $8. "No line, no wait! Come on Chicago!" yelled the employees as people walked by. Food lovers, mark your calendars for 2012.
Ongoing and upcoming free events include SummerDance, Jazz City Concerts, Movies in the Parks, Downtown Sound: New Music Mondays and Grant Park Music Festival. Check out Chicago's tourism site for a full listing of what's happening during your time there. Watching and listening to a free concert with thousands of other people at the Pritzker Pavilion, designed by famed architect Frank Gehry, as the sun sets and tinges the pavilion's silver headdress with a blue tint is an especially nice way to end the night.
Boat Tour
The Chicago Architecture Foundation River Cruise is the premiere river cruise but if $35 per person is a little steep for you, take Mercury's Urban Adventure Tour instead, which provides a 90-minute ride out onto the Lake Michigan and along the Chicago River for a more palatable $25. An enthusiastic guide explains Chicago's history and buildings as you go through the locks onto the lake and back down to the Sears (Willis) tower. You'll learn interesting facts, such as that river used to be classified as "contaminated" but now is an improved "polluted" and that many of Chicago's skyscrapers, the Prudential Building for example, have to pay millions of dollars to the Illinois Central Railroad just for the privilege of having a building on the land because of air rights. For no particular reason, except for the amusement of passerbys, the Centennial Fountain, located near the entrance to the lake, has a water cannon that shoots a huge spray of water across the river for 10 minutes at the top of every hour. Most boat tours stop and wait for the water to stop so don't worry about getting soaked. If money is really a concern, you can take a water taxi from/to the Civic Opera House to/from the base of the Trump Tower for $2 ($4 if you extend the ride to/from Chinatown).
Navy Pier
Every tourist needs to experience the city's premier tourist trap to get it out of system. If you have little kids in tow, they'll the enjoy the amusement rides and games while you enjoy the views of the skyline. During the summer, the city puts on a free fireworks show set to music Wednesdays at 9:30PM and Saturdays at 10:15PM. Time it right (the line moved a brisk 20 minutes for me on a recent Saturday) and you can be riding the 150-foot-high ferris wheel ($6 per person) as the fireworks explode in the sky behind you. Free concerts, variety acts and comedy shows provide a few hours of cheap entertainment. Throw in a big beer garden and Navy Pier warrants at least a passing visit.
Zoo
When it comes to Chicago, most people don't think of the zoo but Chicago has a pretty good one, especially considering that it's free, in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. Spend a few hours at the zoo amongst families enjoying views of gorillas and zebras.
Eats
Near the Lincoln Park Zoo is Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinder. During prime dining times, Chicagoans patiently wait up to an hour to eat at the tiny restaurant located in the bottom level of a brownstone. There's no wait list; the manager amazingly remembers everyone's waiting order in his head. The pizza pot pie, Mediterranean bread and oven grinders will make you almost forget the long wait. It's rumored that Al Capone ordered the grizzly executions of seven men just across the street on Valentine's Day in 1929.
For something a little more contemporary, head to The Purple Pig on the Magnificent Mile for Mediterranean-style small plates, cheeses and an extensive wine list. The place gets packed with a young crowd clamoring for its roasted bone marrow and fried pig's ear and braised pig's tail. You can sit outside on the sidewalk that they have converted into a cute patio, in a communal table inside or, if you're lucky, one of the two seaters along the tiled-wall. Showing the gastropub's fun-loving environment, quotes such as "I drink, therefore I am," and "Wine improves with age. The more I drink, the better I like it," are written on the wall.
Views
For some of the best views, go to the Signature Lounge, located on the 96th floor of the John Hancock Center. The expansive lounge may look very busy but the servers do a good job of finding seats for everyone. Order their Chicago Martini and relax while enjoying views across four states. Even the woman's restroom has floor-to-ceiling windows.
Dedicate at least half a day to simply strolling Chicago's neighborhoods without any plans. Cloud Gate (the "bean"), the Water Tower, Magnificent Mile, the Art Institute of Chicago, the beaches...the list for what you can fill your Chicago day and nights with goes on and on.
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