Chicago Weekend with Kids: Food, Architecture, Basketball…but Mostly Food

Portillo's hot dog

This is Mark, Debbie’s husband, with a special guest post about a quick Chicago weekend with kids. This was with our son, Zack. First let me say that it amazes me (as a native Chicagoan) how many people have not visited, or only barely visited, one of our country’s (actually world’s) great cities, when it’s just a two hour flight away. Okay, five hours if your flight is delayed like ours.

Chicago Hotels with Kids

Chicago certainly does not lack for hotel options. We’ve been often, and have stayed at the Chicago Embassy Suites: a good value with clean, spacious rooms, plus breakfast and free happy hour included. FYI – the downtown State Street one is more convenient than the Navy Pier Embassy Suites. Continue reading “Chicago Weekend with Kids: Food, Architecture, Basketball…but Mostly Food”

Chicago: Embassy Suites downtown Chicago with Kids Review

**This is the last in our series on Chicago. In this series are our reviews of the Shedd Aquarium, the Willis (Sears) Tower and the Museum of Science and Industry). **

When we stay in a hotel, our preference is a suite – that includes breakfast (and even better for one that includes happy hour). We really enjoy having our kids sleep in a separate area, but not necessarily next door. We often end up at the Embassy Suites in downtown Chicago (600 N. State Street). (While we sometimes get rooms to review for the blog, we paid for this one ourselves).

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The Embassy Suites in downtown Chicago

Continue reading “Chicago: Embassy Suites downtown Chicago with Kids Review”

Chicago: Museum of Science and Industry with Kids

**This is part of our series on Chicago. Also in the series: the Shedd Aquarium, the Willis/Sears Tower, and a review of the downtown Embassy Suites**

We flew into Chicago early morning, and took a taxi straight to the Museum of Science and Industry (as for luggage – we sent that ahead with my husband who had other plans for the day). We planned to spend the day there but I didn’t realize we would spend the ENTIRE day there. So much to see and do. And we still missed out on some of the exhibits. My kids are tween/teen age, and they loved it as much as I did. Plenty for the younger set too.

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The simulator – no way I was going on that!

Some planes “flew” over the miniature set with trains below. Continue reading “Chicago: Museum of Science and Industry with Kids”

Chicago: Willis (Sears) Tower with Kids

**This is part of our series on Chicago. Also in the series: the Museum of Science and Industry, the Shedd Aquarium, and a review of the downtown Embassy Suites**

I’ve been to Chicago many times, and finally made it to the top of the Willis Tower, the Sky Deck, better known to you probably as the Sears Tower. The view from the 110 floor top is amazing – as you’ll see in my beautiful pictures below!

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If you plan to go, make sure to read details at the bottom to save yourself some time and hassle. You will be in for a major wait most likely, so minimize that! Continue reading “Chicago: Willis (Sears) Tower with Kids”

Chicago: Visit the Shedd Aquarium with Kids

**This is part of our series on Chicago. Also in the series: the Museum of Science and Industry, the Willis/Sears Tower, and a review of the downtown Embassy Suites**

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This is first in a series of posts about taking the family to Chicago. There’s still time to go this summer, and fall is a great time to visit too. One stop on the family list is the Shedd Aquarium. Situated on Lake Michigan, it’s the world’s largest indoor aquarium. Continue reading “Chicago: Visit the Shedd Aquarium with Kids”