Chicago

[UnderRated]

Yes, Chicago is a brilliant place for kids:

Aquarium (largest indoor one in the country, apparently, with dolphins, whales, turtles as well as fish)

Planetarium

Field Museum of Natural History (with a fab playlab that DS loves)

Children's Musuem is great

Navy Pier with fireworks every Saturday & Wednesday nights during the summer

Boat Rides

Architecture tours

the Beaches

Nature Museum

Free Zoo

Museum of Scienece and Industry (has a great kids area)

Also

Shops

Restaurants (Cheesecake Factory is always popular)

American Girl Doll Store

Further afield

Morton Arboretum (great children's garden)

Brookfield Zoo

Botanic Gardens

Garfield Park Conservatory

Busy helping me much? Wow, musta took a lot of time on that one. Thanks

I thoroughly want to go, now. It is like a list of all the places we go when we go on vacation. The kids would totally twerp out at the mythical creature exhibition at the Field Museum, of course it would end on the 1st of September.

The mythical creature exhibit is ok but not amazing. DS and I have been a couple of times (on the Free days) and he just runs through it.

Glad the list may be of some use.

When I visited in 1995 (first visit to USA, on way to LA to see a film director friend), I stayed in Chicago at a B+B in the Lincoln Park area.

One place I found out about before my visit - but which was 'news to' a member of staff in the massive Washington Library (at 400 S State St) - was the Museum of Holography. At least I can now have a virtual visit!

OK, we've all seen a hologram on a credit card, but that was a place I set out to find (1134 W. Washington Blvd., Chicago). Unfortunately I was walking along East Washington Blvd at around 3:45pm (they shut at 4:30pm) and that bleak cold November night they were shut (with just a guard dog, barking) by the time I got there.

Never did get to see it, flew over to LA the next day, unfortunately. Oh, and have now lost (following unplanned house move, mine was repossessed) an H Washington baseball cap (with 4 books in different colours on) which I treasured, as it had no other markings, and few would have known its origin.