Southwest Airlines Spirit Magazine / Your Adventure In Chicago

Home

Features

May Features

Your Adventure In Detroit

Runway Project

Trade of the Tools

The Wonders, the Weirdness, the Life Lessons of TED

Your Adventure In

Calendar
Spirit's guide to fun events!

Spirit's Travel Wizard
Spirit's guide to the best Travel!

The Southwest Way
The LUV airline gives back!

Star of the Month
Spotlight on one deserving SWA Employee.

Win Prizes
Send Letters, or Pictures. The best ones win prizes!

Advertiser Information

The Second City? We don’t think so. This glittering metropolis is No. 1 when it comes to sky-high views, urban parks, and an inherent friendliness that makes it feel like home.Our guide takes you from watery byways to global tables, with some surprising stops in between. Beach volleyball, anyone?

By Katherine Lagomarsino

Stay here...

The Elysian Posh black-and-white interiors and style kits at the concierge desk make this hotel a fashionista’s dream.

Hotel Palomar Chicago Kids can dip into the candy jars in the lobby of this hip hotel, where they’re also supplied with a city-centric activity bag.

Park Hyatt A sliding door in your bathroom allows you to soak in views of Chicago’s architectural jewels—from your bathtub.

Chicago's Millennium Park

Walk in the Park

Looking for the place to congregate—Chicago’s equivalent of a thriving town square? Head to Millennium Park, a 25-acre spread in the northwestern corner of Grant Park, and spend a summer afternoon as Chicagoans do—with a free lunch-hour performance of jazz, blues, or hip-hop under the gleaming, stainless steel shell of the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, designed by the great Frank Gehry. Then make your way to Cloud Gate, a mesmerizing 110-ton mirrored sculpture by Anish Kapoor, where you can get a funhouse mirror view of yourself—and the city skyline. Or ramble through Lurie Garden, a five-acre oasis teeming with butterflies and birds. Hot days call for a cool run through Jaume Plensa’s Crown Fountain, two 50-foot glass towers that screen a rotating stock of photos and videos depicting happy-faced Chicago citizens spouting water out of their mouths, gargoyle-style.

Make your way to…

Randolph Street Market This monthly Euro-style antiques market features everything from funky furniture to fancy food.

Ikram Chicago’s most stylish women (read: Michelle Obama) shop this boutique, filled with designs by Alexander McQueen and Comme des Garçons, plus a sweet cache of vintage wear.

Pick-up volleyball at North Avenue Beach

Beach Volleyball

While people-watching is arguably the top sport at North Avenue Beach, Chicago’s busiest lakeside locale, beach volleyball comes in a close second, with more than 100 courts serving as sand-crafted infrastructure. While office and social leagues dominate the scene during summer evenings, it is possible for anyone to get in the game. Rent equipment and reserve a court at the North Avenue Beach House, a 22,000-square-foot steamer ship-shaped structure filled with snack bars and shops. (Weekdays between 1 and 5:30 p.m. are the least crowded times.) After a rollicking v-ball match, head to Castaways Bar & Grill, on the Beach House’s second floor, for a frosty margarita and a stellar view of Lake Michigan’s blue waters. This also happens to be the best vantage point for viewing the Chicago Air & Water Show (August 20-21).

Eat here...

Girl & the Goat Yes, goat is available at Top Chef winner Stephanie Izard’s restaurant—but it’s just one option on the menu of phenomenal small-plate fare.

The Purple Pig Expect Mediterranean pork dishes and a knockout wine selection at this much-lauded eatery.

Longman & Eagle This hip farm-to-table establishment, recently named one of Esquire’s Best New Restaurants, also touts 148 types of whiskey.

Kayaking on the Chicago River

Urban Paddle

Admittedly, the Chicago River’s flow is more mild than wild, but the stories spun by Charlie Portis, a local commercial real estate agent and the owner of Wateriders kayak tours, move white-water fast. His two-hour Classic Chicago tour launches from the Montgomery Ward complex—now home to Groupon—and winds along the river through the heart of the city. As you glide by, you'll get an earful of gangster lore, ghost tales, and incredible feats of engineering. For example, did you know that the construction of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal moved more earth than the Panama Canal? Or that the Windy City has more moveable bridges than any other metropolis in the world? Curious minds will rejoice along the watery way.

Stay up late and head to...

Adler Planetarium Gaze through the Doane Observatory telescope (and sip cocktails) during Adler After Dark every third Thursday.

The Second City Alumni of this comedy club and improv school include Steve Carell and Tina Fey.

Goodman Theatre This historic theater’s stages now sit in two converted movie houses that were once owned by Elizabeth Taylor.

A Chicago food tour

A Global Tasting

Breakfast in China; lunch in the Ukraine; dinner in Greece. No, it’s not Disney’s Epcot. It’s Chicago, a veritable patchwork quilt of foreign enclaves. Start your day with dim sum, pork buns, and steaming shu mai, peddled from the rolling carts within Chinatown’s Phoenix Restaurant. Next stop: Ukrainian Village, where you can explore the Chicago Avenue shops—or peek inside the stunning St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral, modeled after an 11th century structure in Kiev—before diving into a bowl of borscht at Shokolad Pastry & Café. For dinner, head to Greektown for lamb and artichokes in lemon sauce at Athena Restaurant on Halsted Street, the area’s main drag. But save room for baklava and thick Greek coffee at the Pan Hellenic Pastry Shop, just down the block.

Getting There Fly into Midway International Airport, 10 miles southwest of downtown.

Getting Around Chicago Transit Authority’s elevated “L” trains stop at 144 stations citywide. Planning to cover a lot of ground? Buy an unlimited one-day train and bus pass ($5.75).

Getting Out Catch the 28th Annual Chicago Blues Festival in Grant Park (June 10-12). For more local event listings, visit choosechicago.com/events.

Send This To A Friend Print Page Read Complete Article