smilies79

Hi there. So my boyfriend's parents would like to see him for his birthday but we live 9 hours apart so we found that Chicago would be a good 1/2 way meeting point for us (each driving 4 1/2 hours...us from northeast Iowa and them from southwest Ohio) Can anyone give me good ideas of a meeting place either in or near Chicago. I would be happy to drive a little further if there was a good place that his parents wouldn't have to drive so far into Chicago. I had mentioned The Museum of Science and Industry but maybe that's not a good meeting point. We plan on meeting around noon this Saturday (2/28/15) and will only be a day thing for us to meet as they want to get back on the road by 6pm. Any suggestions of not only where to meet but a good restaurant to eat at would be great!! Also any suggestions of decent priced hotels for my boyfriend and I to stay at that night taking into consideration that we will have a vehicle and I know a lot of hotels charge for parking. Hoping not to spend more than $125 for the night. Thanks in advance!!!

KGCDRC63

There really isn't a lot of on the South side of Chicago. I would NOT recommend the Museeum of Science and Industry, as you would spend all your time in traffic and parking.

I would recommend the Oak Brook area. There is a lovely and immense shopping area, along with a host of resturaunts and hotels. For a piece of Chicago there is a Giordannis pizza, also recommend Butches Italian, and Wildfire (in the shopping center) for lower priced fare.

To keep them completely out of Chicago traffic, Valparaiso Indiana is about 40-50 miles from downtown Chicago. Small college town with lots of cute shops and remarkable dining. Hotels available. Recommend Piks Tavern, valleyKitchen(upscale modern) and Stacks (looks like library with upscale bar food). Some will. Red reservations.

exiledprincess

Forecasts are predicting another storm coming through the area for this weekend, although you know they really aren't that accurate this many days out. This would be particularly bad for your BF's parents, if this is indeed the case, because they have to drive through a major lake effect snow belt to the SW of Michigan.

Please don't go to a suburb - especially to a mall. What type of birthday celebration is that? Particularly after driving hours.

I'll give an alternative for your parents IF the weather cooperates: Since this is only a day trip, have them drive to the South Bend Regional Airport and take the South Shore and South Bend Railroad into Chicago (www.nictd.com). This would be about a 2.25 hour trip each way - but they won't be driving. They do, however, have to pay for parking.

And I'll give an alternative for you IF the weather cooperates: Drive to O'Hare airport and take the Blue Line into the city. Why? Since this is only a day thing, you can get a room at one of the hotels out there rather cheaply - usually with inexpensive parking.

If you stay in Chicago, you'll have to budget more. As well as budget for the parking.

Inasfar as dining, cannot tell you at this late date what might be available. You don't mention your budget or preferred cuisine either. But since you are both making this supreme effort, PLEASE don't settle for a chain restaurant. Go somewhere a little nice for lunch.

exiledprincess

"because they have to drive through a major lake effect snow belt to the SW of Michigan". Sorry that should be "to the SE of Lake Michigan". My proofreader needs to be fired!

I'm thinking that maybe a restaurant somewhere near the Art Institute might be a good choice: Russian Tea Time, about 1/2 block to the west on Adams, or maybe Acanto near Millennium Park. The reason why I recommend this is because they could even see Millennium Park or spend a little time at the Art Institute. Maybe go across the street from the AI to the Chicago Architecture Foundation's main location, the ArchiCentre. Maybe you'd like to go to the Chicago Cultural Center, at Michigan & Randolph, just across from the north end of Millennium Park.

If they take the South Shore in, the last stop in Chicago is right under Millennium Park. So you just aren't limited to that area. I just thought it might be nice to do a little something other than travel or eat.

P.S. I forgot to tell you that your ride on the Blue Line would be approximately 50-55 minutes each way. But it might be better than driving in, depending on the weather.

exiledprincess

At least two of the weather forecasts have just changed the date for the snow/sleet/wintery mix storm to Sunday from Saturday (which was what it was this morning before I posted above). If things continue as they have all winter, I'm sure the forecast will change again before the weekend is even here.

Maybe you'd like to delay this for a few weeks. Maybe we'll finally have spring - some day.

KGCDRC63

My recommendations for smilies79 were based on a) time and b) budget and c) drive times. I had thought about After 4.5 hours in a car it would be about 1.5 hour train ride! They would have The folks would have to LEAVE Milinnium station at 1:30 pm to be back on the road by 6. The trains are extremely limited on weekends.

If your hotel budget is $125 total---sorry you aren't looking at downtown Chicago. A budget for a birthday lunch was never stated. Check the menu prices for sticker shock.

As for taking the blue line in from O'Hare. Know that traffic can be a nightmare in and out of the airport...I travel quite a bit for work.

I adore Chicago, but If you are looking for a spot to spend a few hours together as a family that is relatively hassle free, safe, and with options I would stay out of downtown Chicago.

tomfuller

Check out Champaign-Urbana IL. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran..._Illinois.html
It is a great college town (University of Illinois).

voyager61

I will echo that meeting in Chicago for a one day trip is going to be a huge hassle for everyone, resulting in very little actual time to celebrate the birthday. Besides Champaign-Urbana, there are Peoria and Springfield, IL. Springfield has major Lincoln sites, if anyone is interested in those. You could stay in a much nicer hotel for your budget in these smaller cities, plus you can use TripAdvisor to find a good non-chain restaurant that will be easier to drive to and from for his parents. Chicago might be best left for a long weekend when you have more time and a larger budget.

exiledprincess

Don't get me wrong. I, too, think that driving 9 hours a day is just too extreme - no matter what season it is. However, if all the parties are determined to do this...

KGCDRC63, I think you may have forgotten that Chicago and South Bend are on different time zones. If they take the South Shore train which arrives in SB at 5:08 p.m. - that's actually 4:08 p.m. Chicago time. Nearly 2 hours before they wanted "to get on the road".

The next scheduled train has an ETD of 4:43 p.m. out of Millennium Station has an ETA into S.B. of 8:14 p.m. That would put them right on schedule, since it normally takes a little more than 1.5 hours to travel between Chicago and S.B. (IF good weather and little traffic).

The OP and BF don't have to stay at a hotel around the airport. I suggested it merely because of their very low lodging budget (plus nothing budgeted for parking). They simply won't find that in Chicago, even if they went through Hotwire or some such.

They could get a hotel in Evanston and take CTA into Chicago. They'd have to check the rates there, though - but I doubt they'd be as low as out by O'Hare.

I really don't think the OP may want to go too much to the south. They are from northeast Iowa and these recent storms are tracking more towards the south of Chicago (because of the Siberian Express). Which I may add will still be in the picture at least until the end of this week.

tomfuller

The largest HI hostel in the US is at the intersection of S. Wabash and E Congress in Chicago. https://www.hihostels.com/en?linkid=...FatxQgod9TEA1g
My DW and I stayed there for 2 nights in between trains.
The upper floors are used as dorm rooms for several of the nearby colleges.
If you do choose to go to Chicago try to find a cheap or free place to park near a train station and ride a train of some type into the city instead of driving in.

exiledprincess

"cheap or free place to park near a train station and ride a train of some type into the city instead of driving in"

LOL, Tom. Easier said than done. That's what every visitor who tries to drive into Chicago wants in order to avoid the costly parking rates "downtown". And guess what's so very hard to come by?

Re CTA, I believe that only the Cumberland and Rosemont stations still allow overnight parking. And since they are so close to O'Hare, the OP might as well stay out by the airport. Some of those hotel rates probably won't be much more than the hostel downtown, when you figure that there are two people.

Metra is a little different. The various municipalities own/operate the parking lots surrounding the stations. And it depends on what that municipality allows. So that means you'd have to check each possible location along a particular the Metra routes to see what's available.

But this brings up another thought which just occurred me...

I'm not sure how far northeast in Iowa that the OP/BF may be located but perhaps it might be less of a drive for them to go to Milwaukee and pick up Amtrak, taking it into Chicago from there.

tomfuller

Sturtevant WI (SVT) has 250 long term free parking spots. There are 6 Hiawatha trains per day that stop there on the way into CHI. The one way fare is $23/pp SVT to CHI.
When my nephew graduated from Navy boot camp at Great Lakes I remember riding a commuter train run by BNSF from Waukegan into Chicago.

exiledprincess

tomfuller, just to be clear, I was not suggesting that the OP just park their vehicle in Milwaukee and stay in Chicago overnight. This is to be only a day trip to Chicago, not for an overnight stay there.

My suggestion was that they drive from Iowa to Milwaukee; take Amtrak in for the day ONLY; return to Milwaukee and spend the night there. IF the weather allows and that destination is a viable option, based on where the trip originates.

I would *NEVER* recommend to anyone that they only drive a portion of the distance, parking their vehicle overnight or long-term.