There is such a variety of wonderful things to see and do in Chicago. At the risk of luring you away from the meetings and out into the city, I will share a few of my favorite things that may be new for you.
One block west of State Street is Dearborn Street, which has several incredible outdoor art pieces. Going north from Jackson Boulevard, you will come upon Flamingo, a Calder stabile, Four Seasons, a Chagall mosaic, and a monumental sculpture of a horse by Picasso. Across Washington Street, near the Picasso is a smaller sculpture by Miró. Walk a block west to Clark Street and another block north, and you will find Monument with Standing Beast, by Dubuffet. The Dubuffet stands in front of the Thompson Center, a state office building designed by Helmut Jahn. All these sculptures may be seen at any time of day or night. Although children occasionally climb on the Picasso and hide inside the Dubuffet, it fills me with pleasure and pride that these sculptures are never vandalized.
The Art Institute, in the Loop, is open until 8:00 p.m. on Thursday night. Terzo Piano, the beautifully situated restaurant in the Modern Wing, is open for lunch every day and for drinks and dinner on Thursday. There are two gardens on Michigan Avenue, one on each side of the museum entrance, for sitting, reading, and talking. These are quiet, replenishing oases.
Going south from the Art Institute is the Chicago Architecture Foundation, on the corner of Jackson and Michigan. Here you can browse for gifts and books about Chicago architecture and buy tickets for walking tours and the highly recommended architectural boat tour. The Segway rental store is next door. I have not tried it yet, but if you're brave you can take a tour around the Loop on a Segway.
In Grant Park there are more outdoor sculptures, including a bust of Sir Georg Solti and a statue of Lincoln by Saint-Gaudens. A little farther on, just south of the Adler Planetarium, is Northerly Island, which was home to Meigs Field Airport until our former mayor, in a gloriously imperious moment, had the runways torn up. Now it is a wildflower and bird sanctuary. Northerly Island is about a mile walk from the Palmer House.
Going north from the Art Institute on Michigan Avenue, you will find the “Miracle Mile,” our upscale shopping area, and the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA). In addition to an interesting collection, the MCA has an attractive terrace restaurant and an intriguing shop. The MCA is open late on Tuesday night.
If global warming has brought summer by mid-June, you will have several swimable beaches on the North Side. The Oak Street Beach, at the north end of Michigan Avenue, is a popular beach with a beachfront restaurant. There is a smaller beach at Navy Pier, where several boat cruises set sail on Lake Michigan.
Chicago has been called a city of neighborhoods and I would encourage you to visit some of them. On the North Side, River North is home to a collection of art galleries. Wicker Park, Bucktown, Logan Square, and Noble Square are hip neighborhoods in various stages of gentrification.
Caryle Perlman, M.S., a training and supervising analyst, is chairman of the Local Arrangements Committee for the 101st Annual Meeting in Chicago.
They are full of unique shops, boutiques, and enlivening vibes. Also on the North Side are Boys' Town, a heavily gay neighborhood, and Andersonville, a former Swedish neighborhood with a Swedish museum. Andersonville became a lesbian neighborhood, which stabilized the area and led the way for gentrification. Great Lakes Pizza, which GQ called the best pizza in America, is here. All of these neighborhoods have good restaurants and lively bars. Farther north, at the Evanston/Wilmette border but still accessible by public transportation, is a Bahai Temple, one of the largest and grandest.
On the South Side are Chinatown, with good restaurants and grocery stores, and Pilsen, a former Czech neighborhood that is now largely Mexican and is becoming an artists' community. If you go to Pilsen, don't miss the National Museum of Mexican Art.
The West Side is largely residential and poor, and does not have as many attractions as the rest of the city. Perhaps the most notable is the Garfield Park Conservatory, the largest in the New World and second only to the Royal Kew Gardens. To visit Garfield Park, you can take the CTA Green Line on the way to Oak Park. Oak Park, the suburb immediately west of Chicago, is famous as the home of Frank Lloyd Wright. You can visit his home and studio, and take a walking tour to see the exteriors of several of his other buildings. Ernest Hemingway's boyhood home is also open for tours.
The Chicago Cubs will be in town the week of the meetings. Although the Cubs remain incredibly popular and a lot of games are sold out, you can get tickets from ticket agencies or before games from people on the street. Near Wrigley Field is Graceland Cemetery, a green and enjoyable place to walk. It is the final resting place of many famous Chicagoans; Marshall Field, George Pullman, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Potter and Bertha Palmer are buried there.
Chicago is famous for jazz. I will mention only a few of the venues: the Green Mill on the North Side, Checkerboard Lounge in Hyde Park (not the same building but the descendent of the place that Muddy Waters made famous), and Jazz Showcase.
If you prefer classical music, Maestro Muti will be conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra the week of the meetings. The Grant Park Music Festival opens its season on Wednesday, June 13, at 6:30 p.m. You can buy tickets for the better seats but there are some free seats and seating on the lawn is always free. (See box on next page.)
Chicago has many famous restaurants and several more excellent but not yet famous ones. If you are pining to have dinner at one of the hot restaurants, make your reservations now. It is already too late to get into Next or Alinea, which are currently the hottest places. Check out Time Out Chicago and Chicago magazine for restaurant reviews and suggestions. Both of these are available on line. (Time Out Chicago is also a good source of information for music and theater.) We have innumerable ethnic restaurants that are the footprints of the different immigrant groups that have settled in the city, such as Chinese, Czech, German, Indian, Italian, Japanese, Mexican, Pakistani, Polish, Russian, Thai, Vietnamese, along with others. Many Chicago restaurants participate in Open Table, so it is easy to make reservations online.
Chicago is as safe but no safer than most big cities. You just need some street smarts and have to pay attention to your surroundings. All of the suggestions here are accessible by public transportation and it is easy to get around the city that way. At night, taxis are sensible for return trips back to the hotel. Our meetings will take place on some of the longest days of the year so we will have lots of daylight. I hope you will take advantage of it and enjoy Chicago's lakefronts, parks, and other attractions.