Start your day west of downtown at the
Market District
(Randolph, Fulton, and Lake streets), where vegetable markets,
meatpackers, and fishmongers cozy up to galleries and urban
residential lofts. Here, you'll also find some of the city's best
restaurants and most popular nightclubs.
If it's a cold day and you want to spend some time indoors, while
away the hours at the
Art Institute of Chicago (111 South
Michigan Avenue, 312-443-3600,
www.artic.edu), which houses 300,000 works of art. Pick your
favorites - Monet? Picasso? - and stare away.
The business-lunch crowd dominates
Italian Village (71 West
Monroe Street, 312-332-7005), which has been serving enormous
plates of pasta for almost 80 years. It's busy, but low lighting
and intimate seating create a cozy dining ambience, while an
impressive wine list has garnered
Wine Spectator's Grand
Award annually since 1984.
April through November, there's no better way to see the city's
historic and architectural highlights than aboard the
Chicago
Architecture Foundation's River Cruises (312-922-3432,
www.architecture.org),
narrated by Chicago enthusiasts who know every detail about
the city's skyscrapers. The organization also offers
terrific, informative walking tours. Any time of year is
right to visit Jackson Park's
Museum of Science and
Industry (5700 South Lake Shore Drive, 773-684-9844,
www.msichicago.org), where you
can walk through a human heart and check out another 2,000 or
so amazing exhibits in 75 halls.
At sunset, stroll along the lake before dining at the
Capital
Grille (633 North Saint Clair Street, 312-337-9400), a classic
steak house where pictures of past and present important Chicagoans
adorn the walls. Dry-aged steaks are grilled with butter and fresh
garlic and served with generous sides. After dinner, it's Chicago
blues at
Buddy Guy's Legends (754 South Wabash Avenue,
312-427-0333,
www.buddyguys.com).
CHICAGO DAY TWO