HI! My boyfriend and I are planning a trip to Chicago in August. However, it will be a rush trip. We arrive on a Friday morning (9:00 am) with enough time to get something to eat (hopefully drink a little too!!) before we head off to a Cubs game (1:00pm) and then we leave on Saturday evening. I was hoping that someone could give me some suggestions on attractions to visit. I have read about the more popular ones such as Navy Pier, the Sears Tower, the Magnificent Mile, etc...but are there any that are unique and unusual? How about restaraunts?? Any awesome pizza hangouts? I want to get the real Chicago experience and I know it will be difficult in such a short amount of time...so, I am looking to ya'll (yep, a real Texan here) for help. I am prepared to go without sleep, although it will be a little hard convincing my boyfriend of that, but if it is worth it, he may be more cooperative. LOL! Thanks so much for any suggestions/advice!!!!!

You can still have tons of fun in Chi-Town in 2 days. Strolling up and down the Magnificent Mile is a must. You could tie that in with walking down by Lake Michigan too. I'd skip the Sears Tower and focus on going to the Signature Room [http://signatureroom.com] at the top of the John Hancock Center. It's especially magnificent at night!

I'd skip Navy Pier unless there's something really special going on there. Instead I'd visit Millennium Park [http://www.millenniumpark.org] and then stroll around The Loop.

Make sure your camera has lots of free memory in order to capture all the amazing sights you'll see!

As for restaurant, I'll leave it up the Queen of Chicago Cuisine (aka Dabs) to fill you in.

Robert

August - perfect for renting a bike and riding along the edge of the lake on Saturday morning! This is a nice way to see some pretty parts of Chicago, and the bike rentals are by the lake, a little north of the Navy pier.

My favorite place to stay was the Embassy Suites Lakeside - nice breakfast, good look around from the elevators, and walking distance from the bike rental.

ooops - for restaurants my favorite is the Star of Siam - http://www.starofsiamchicago.com/

Biking along the lakefront in August is an excellent suggestion, I always tell people to go south of the center instead of north where the bike trail becomes choked with people, many aimlessly wandering into the bike traffic. The lakefront is really Chicago's gem, a continous stretch from the north to the south end of the city.

If you are into architecture, you might want to check out one of the River cruises that go along the Chicago River,most people seem to agree that the one given by the Chicago Architecture Foundation is the best but I've been on a couple of the others and they are fine as well. If you just want a ride on the river but don't need the commentary, the water taxis are a cheaper way to get the river view, they just added an extension to Chinatown on the weekends, you could take it down there and then go have lunch in Chinatown, my personal favorite is Shui Wah for dim sum and I also enjoy Joy Yee's which has a huge Asian menu.

http://www.chicagowatertaxi.com/

The Signature Lounge is a great place to have a drink and get a nice view of the city, it's in the Hancock Building, you avoid paying the price of the observatory but you do have to buy a drink. The view from the ladies room is awesome! Try to go when the sun is setting for a day and night view.

Ask 10 Chicagoans where the best pizza is and you'll get 10 different answers, my personal favorite is Lou Malnati's (the Wells Street location is the closest to downtown), make sure to get the butter crust. Other places people seem to enjoy are Uno's (always a line though), Due's (same pizza as Uno's), Giordano's (stuffed, not deep dish).

Summer is the time for festivals in Chicago, the Chicago Air and Water show is in August and there are always a handful of festivals out in the neighborhoods. Time Out has a good round up by month, if you happen to be coming during Lollapalooza, you may want to book a hotel sooner rather than later, you may already find availability limited.

http://www.timeout.com/chicago/articles/features/29002/august-fests

Food, where do I start? You might want to check out www.lthforum.com, www.chowhound.com or www.yelp.com and do a search by cuisine, location and price.

Finally, you might check out the Chicago Greeter program if you want to go out into the neighborhoods with a local, it's free but it has to be reserved in advance

www.chicagogreeter.com