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Organising stuff to do in Chicago before and after WorldCon


Alytha

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(dear Mods, could you sticky this one, please? Thanks)

As my recent poking of people hasn't resulted in nicely worked-out plans for my entertainment in Chicago popping up, I'll just try and get some things going myself ;)

How I imagine this could work:

There will be one post per trip/activity/field of interest, to which, hopefully, a list of attending people will be added in time.

Dates provided to start with will be the ones that I'll be in Chicago for. Things should then ideally get narrowed down until one or several groups/dates remain.

This, of course, should not keep people from adding their own ideas and their dates of choice. In fact, please do so! :thumbsup:

I would be grateful to the native Chicagoans, or however they call themselves, if they could help on logistics. :)

Hope this works...somehow... :leaving:

ETA: here's a provisional schedule of what I'd like to do in Chicago:

27: arrival, if all goes well, and probably keel over at the hotel

28: Field Museum and poking around the campus there

29: Museum for Science and Industry / Oriental Institute Museum

30: Con/ Ghost Tour (see page 5)

31: Con

1: Con

2: Con

3: Con

4: Millenium Park and Architecture boat Tour

5: Indiana Dunes

6: Flavours of Chicago Tour....dunno what else yet

7: Shopping/hanging around, and off to home.

Things left to fit in: Chinatown Food Tour: as it only runs during the weekend, I'd have to find a day during the Con with a boring schedule for noon and early afternoon.

Red Witch/Sailship tour: 29th or 6th I guess.

Links to everything cited above are somewhere in the thread.

Since this thread isn't just about me though, I'll happily (try to) organise other groups and activities for other people on other days!

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To start things off: (just two things, as I'm not actually getting paid for doing this kind of stuff at work...)

The Field Museum at the Museum Campus

Features: Sue the T-Rex, a Ghengis Khan exhibition, Egyptian Mummies, and lots of other cool stuff.

Possible dates: "my" group: August 28 (should fill an entire day)

Who's coming? :) (and when?)

People coming so far: Me, Adz. MG, Arantius, SB

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Shippy things (as proposed by Sophelia)

Tall Ship Adventures offer several activities.

You could book a tour on the Windy, for lots of different types of cruises. Some have pirates. In terms of price, the fireworks cruise on Wednesdays or Saturdays costs 45$ per adult.

Another idea:

We could charter the Red Witch (which would be oddly appropriate). Price would be about 1600$ for 3 hours, for up to 49 people. They give discounts for groups of around 20 people.

Possible dates: August 28/29 September 4/5/6 (for a charter, depending on availability of the ship, of course)

People interested: Me, Adz, motherofdragoncats, MG

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To start things off: (just two things, as I'm not actually getting paid for doing this kind of stuff at work...)

The Field Museum at the Museum Campus

Features: Sue the T-Rex, a Ghengis Khan exhibition, Egyptian Mummies, and lots of other cool stuff.

Possible dates: August 28/29 September 4/5/6 (should fill an entire day)

Who's coming? :) (and when?)

Shippy things (as proposed by Sophelia)

Tall Ship Adventures offer several activities.

You could book a tour on the Windy, for lots of different types of cruises. Some have pirates. In terms of price, the fireworks cruise on Wednesdays or Saturdays costs 45$ per adult.

Another idea:

We could charter the Red Witch (which would be oddly appropriate). Price would be about 1600$ for 3 hours, for up to 49 people. They give discounts for groups of around 20 people.

Possible dates: August 28/29 September 4/5/6 (for a charter, depending on availability of the ship, of course)

I'm up for both things. :)

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Nr 3: Boat Tour by The Chicago Architecture Foundation (as recommended by Lady Narcissa)

The Chicago Architecture Foundation River Cruise aboard Chicago’s First Lady is a “must” for out-of-towners and Chicagoans alike. CAF certified volunteer tour guides—called docents—interpret more than 50 buildings along the Chicago River, revealing how the city grew from a small back-country outpost into one of the world’s most important crossroads in less than 100 years.

Our tour provides an overview of historic and modern architectural styles, plus many stories about the people who designed and built our city. The Chicago Architecture Foundation has literally written the book about the Chicago River, so accept no substitutes!

Price is 35$ per person if you book in advance. Tours leave about every half hour, so we should be able to get one. Lady N would you like to come along as an extra guide? ;)

Participants: me, boiled leater+theredwoman, Neal, Adz, O'thanos

Date: 4th September, in the morning at 11:00.

Some people have to do it during con days though, so there might be two or more groups in the end. (Beniowa and Angalin so far)

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Tour through Millennium Park.

About Millennium Park. It has the Bean in it, which I'd really like to see.

If we get enough people interested, we might be able to book a special tour.

If the map is correct, it's just down the street from the Hyatt, so it might be a good thing to do on the same day as the Boat tour above: 4 September (provisionally).

People: Me, Adz

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Lady N would you like to come along as an extra guide? ;)

Dates: September 4/5/6

I really wish I could! But the disadvantage of having the con for me in my hometown is I still have to go to work on weekdays. And I've got some teaching related things on weekday evenings. *sniff* I think the only time I could really plan to do anything tour guide like at this point is the weekend before the con starts...August 25/26 I think.

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Day Trip to The Indiana Dunes for a nice day hiking around in nature.

Might be worth renting a car for a day, depending on interest.

Something I would like to do as a bit of balancing after being stuck inside for the Con for a couple of days, so: 4/5/6 September.

ETA: Very probably going to take place on 5th September (if it does).

People: Me, Song of Hounds and Wolves, motherofdragoncats, Adz?

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I really wish I could! But the disadvantage of having the con for me in my hometown is I still have to go to work on weekdays. And I've got some teaching related things on weekday evenings. *sniff* I think the only time I could really plan to do anything tour guide like at this point is the weekend before the con starts...August 25/26 I think.

:( What time do they let you escape? The last tour starts around 5:30pm. Maybe you could find a free evening.

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Chinatown Food Tour (as proposed by Sophelia)

Unfortunately only runs Friday through Monday, so the only time I could make would be would be during the Con.

However, they do private tours too, from 8 people. Shouldn't be too difficult to get those together, hmm? Private tours run during the week too.

Dates: 28/29 August or 4/5/6 September or on a boring day during the Con, if such a thing should happen.

And that's all I got for now. Your turn! ;)

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:( What time do they let you escape? The last tour starts around 5:30pm. Maybe you could find a free evening.

Its possible. But I won't know until much closer to that week, possibly not even until that week. But I for sure wouldn't be able to do Wednesday or Thursday evenings due to my teaching schedule.

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Especially the Sweet Chicago Tour ;)

I don't think that sweet tour is worth it. Only a few of the places listed are maybe worth visiting. And all of them are located centrally in busy tourist areas that are easily visit on your own time. I think such food tours are best saved for areas you might not otherwise get to on your visit or areas you wouldn't be comfortable venturing too on your own.

If you want to do a "sweet" tour I can put together a tour for you to follow in that same neighborhood only with better options to visit.

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I don't think that sweet tour is worth it. Only a few of the places listed are maybe worth visiting. And all of them are located centrally in busy tourist areas that are easily visit on your own time. I think such food tours are best saved for areas you might not otherwise get to on your visit or areas you wouldn't be comfortable venturing too on your own.

If you want to do a "sweet" tour I can put together a tour for you to follow in that same neighborhood only with better options to visit.

I won't speak to the sweet tour, but the one I went on last summer was a nice slice of everything. A little touristy, a little not.

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