Heading to Chicago for the weekend!

[AlphaDawg]

Tomorrow night I'll be off to the Windy City for a few days for Magic: The Gathering Nationals at McCormick Place. While I'm not qualified to play in the main event one of the guys in our group is. There are last-chance single-elimination "grinders" on Thursday I can try to qualify through. Failing that, there's side events all weekend, so a good time is guaranteed to be had by all.

However, in the very likely event I'll tire of non-stop, 24/7 Magic, I figured I'd look for some other things to do while there. I tried to get Cubs tickets... fuhgeddaboudit! The White Sox will be on the road I believe. I know Lollapalooza is this weekend but huge concerts really aren't my thing.

I know a couple members here live in or around Chi-town, and a few more have to know more than the nothing I know. So, would anybody like to suggest some things our group could do while in town? What would really be awesome would be something we could do overnight Wednesday into Thursday morning, as we'll essentially be "homeless" during that time. Our flight arrives at Midway at about 11 PM tomorrow night and the event venue probably won't open until about 8 or 9 AM Thursday. We can't check into our hotel until 3 PM Thursday so we can't go directly there.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[ZTC]

lemme know in the very off chance that you're going to be in the smelly Kankakee County (and by offchance, I mean about 80 minuets south of Chicago via I57 lol). If you do, I'll let you know where I work so I can hook you up with a free lunch or somethin. I'd head up to meet you, but with work and stuff, I can't :shrug: I do wish you luck though.

[The_Amaster]

Drive north to check out the Bristol Renassaince Faire on Saturday or Sunday, located just south of the Illinois-Wisconsin border! :D

I'd say check out the Sears Tower, but security has been so beefed up lately. I mean, from what I've heard for when my dad goes to visit his clients, I can't even imagine the screening they put you through as tourists. The museum of Science and Industry is also really tight, if you're into that kind of thing.

As for a way to pass the time Wednesday to Thursday, well, I'd say just wander the streets in the better parts of town into the wee hours of the morning. It's what I did in Berlin, and it was a bast.

And let me know how the event goes!

[Blisspath]

man..I love the Windy City..check out the Navy Pier of course...toss one back for me at Harry Carey's..and if it is your thing check out the Jeff Koons collection at the MCA..or hell just walk along Sheffield Ave. during the Cubs game..mingle with the real fans and you might just catch a homer..

http://www.navypier.com/
http://www.harrycaraystavern.com/
http://www.mcachicago.org/

[Pineconn]

I just recently visited Chicago for a band trip. The Navy Pier was really only okay... My favorite thing was going to (sorry Amaster) Medieval Times in Schaumberg, IL, which is just outside of Chicago. You get a dinner and get to watch a very entertaining show. If it's not too late, I strongly suggest that you go to it (there are other national locations as well, just to let you know).

http://www.medievaltimes.com/home.aspx

YouTube videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-m0OylFgGs (part 1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_W8IQ2o5_8 (part 2)

[ZTC]

Yeah, but you have to reserve tickets for it if I remember correctly. Just don't get arrested or pay for too much stuff, and you should be just fine.

[AlphaDawg]

I'm not going to have a car (rental plus parking is just too expensive) so unfortunately I'll be limited to places I can walk or take public transit to. Thanks for all your suggestions though!

[AlphaDawg]

I'm making this post from my phone... unfortunately we're going to be stuck on the runway in Philly for the next hour or so. :(

We'll eventually get to Chicago, I hope... not such a great start to the vacation.

[Sam Atoms]

Well, let's see.... I suppose you could drop into the nearest sports bar and watch whatever baseball game is on over a drink.

[Lilith]

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[Beldaran]

I wouldn't wander around Chicago without a gun, personally.

[Lilith]

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[AlphaDawg]

I got back Monday morning. We only ventured into downtown Chicago once. The plan was to go to the original Pizzeria Uno, but nobody in our group besides me felt like waiting 45 whole minutes to be seated. The horror! We ended up bringing some deep-dish pizzas from Giordano's back to our hotel room, only to find out they deliver... doh!

McCormick Place is a beautiful convention center, probably the best I've ever been to, but it's kinda located in the middle of nowhere. There wasn't much we could walk to besides the White Castle in the ghetto. We had dinner there two of the four nights.

My Magic play sucked for the most part, but I did manage to snag a free Mox Ruby (valued at $350) in a raffle Saturday night. Woo hoo!

Next week it's off to Indianapolis for Gen Con...

[The_Amaster]

...*incredulous* You won a Mox Ruby!? Alpha, Beta, or Unlim?

*sigh* Lucky...

[AlphaDawg]

It's an Unlimited Mox. It's in pretty good condition compared to a lot of Power 9 I've seen, probably Fine to Excellent on the Mint - Near Mint - Excellent - Fine - Good - Poor scale.

I actually don't have it in my possession right now, I gave it to a friend who went to Grand Prix: Denver where Mox artist extraordinaire Dan Frazier was making an appearance. I'll get it back tomorrow with his autograph. Score!