Chicago: Need help

[Benning Boy]

I'm planning a trip to Chicago. Want to attend an event at Symphony Center. It looks like the least expensive way for us to fly there is to go through O'Hare airport. Can anyone recommend good places to stay near the Center, preferably within walking distance. (But, should we even be walking in Chicago after dark? Everything I read tells me violent crime is a popular hobby there, and I cannot bring my 18 little friends with me for backup.) Is there public transportation that would connect the Symphony Center with O'Hare? I ask here as I will most likely be both traveling and attending the event kilted. I've never visited Chicago before, other than to pass through Midway airport on the way to and from elsewhere.

[Steve Ashton]

Thread moved to Misc.

[auld argonian]

Okay….the crime thing…depends on where in the city you are…much like any city anywhere. Odds are slim to none that you'll have any trouble at O'Hare…slim to none that you'll actually have any trouble downtown where the Symphony Center building is located.

Like many other cities, our public transit system connects to both major airports. When you arrive at O'Hare, you would take the Blue Line in to Downtown Chicago. The line turns from an above ground "L" train to a subway as it approaches downtown. The stop closest to Symphony Center (220 South Michigan Avenue) will be the Jackson stop and you can go up at that stop and be at Jackson (an East/West oriented street) and Dearborn (a North/South oriented street) right near the Everret McKinley Dirksen Federal Building (no security problems around that!). Walking East on Jackson, you'll start at Dearborn…next N/S street you will cross will be State Street (that great street!)…next street going East is Wabash (overhead L tracks) and you will finally come to Michigan Avenue…turn left and you'l find Symphony Center in the middle of the block between Jackson and Adams. Those East/West streets are, neatly, mostly named for Presidents so if it sounds like a President, it's an East/West Street.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ch...133e83ec91f1be

As to accommodations….there are hostels downtown if'n that's yore cup of tea. If not, I would start looking with the Chicago Essex Inn (800 South Michigan)…my wife often has to find fast lodgings for visiting academics and this is one of her best fallback hotels…not fancy but very serviceable. It's easily within walking distance from Symphony Center. I would also suggest that you see if there's an offering by Groupon that matches your planned date…I'm seeing uber-cheap deals on downtown hotels, most of which are slightly farther away than the Essex but are certainly not outside of walking distance and probably a bit more posh than the Essex. If you're going to stay here overnight, it's worth it to try to stay downtown and enjoy the city a bit…the alternative of staying out by the airport works if your flight times are early AM or tight but being out in Grant Park or Millennium Park in the morning on a nice day is magnificent. I often find an excuse to be sitting near "The Bean" with a cup of coffee on an early weekend morning just sipping and grooving on the panorama of architecture.

If you're going to be kilted in transit, you might get a few looks while on the Blue Line…I wouldn't take it too seriously…this is the train that goes out to the convention center in Rosemont where they hold one of the two big Comic Cons every year and I've traveled kilted for that sitting in an L car with Obi Wan Kenobe and several anime chicks…can you say "surreal"?

Let me know…if you need food info….if you wanna grab a beer…let me now the date on your event and there might be more pertinent info I can provide.

Best,

AA