Vacationing to Chicago, what to do?

[SonicFury]

Hey guys and girls (?), shortly after Christmas my family and I are going to take a vacation to Chicago and stay at the Hotel 71. I wanted ask if anybody could tell me if there any good r/c shops or bash spots near by? I'll be sure to bring my portable R/C's (18T, Blade CP heli) with me on the vacation. Thanks for any help!

Dusty
Grand Blanc, MI :wavey:

p.s. nice site!!!

[DAVEC-NITRO-RS4]

After Christmas...well it's after Christmas sales! Go shopping! You have to go to Al's in Elmhurst for Hobby Shopping.

Visit Navy Pier.

Eat at Joe's Stone Crab $$$$$
Eat at The Chicago Chop House $$$$
Eat at Hard Rock or Rain Forest (just so you can say you did)

Visit a museum; take your pick!!

See the Chicago Historical Society museum. Lot's of great history there.

[SonicFury]

Awesome thank you! I'll be sure to try and check as much as that out as possible. That reminded me, I'm open to suggestions for more than just R/C related things.

[DAVEC-NITRO-RS4]

See the big tree in the Walnut Room in Marshall Field's on State for the last time under the M.F. name.

See a hockey game???

Go ice skating with the kids at the rink on State St.

See the lights on Michigan Avenue, especially north near the Wrigley Building (before Trump spoils it).

Maybe, visit the Billygoat Tavern while you're in that area. Cheeseboorger, chips!

You can ski in MI so skip that here or in WI.

See a Bulls game.

Shop at Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg. HUGE !!!! and decorated for the Holidays.

Leave the RC stuff home and come back in the summer when Leisure Hours has the new tracks open !!!

[UE-Maxx]

Wow Dave! Maybe you can be a travel agent for a side job. j/k

Definately got to navy pier and take a ferris(sp) wheel ride. See the lights on Michigan Ave like Dave said also. Eat at Rain Forest Cafe. Really cool. Not sure if they still do, but when I was there someone washed and dried you hands in the bathroom.

[Notochord]

u gotta visit mellenium park. its really cool. well i dont know how it will be in the snow, the bean is really cool. if u have kids u can go see the windows at marshal fields we go everyonce in a while and its fun. just make sure u dresss really reallly really warm. as for muesems u can go to the shedd if u have kids. and see the dolphin show if u havent seen it other places. the muesem of science and industry is also kid friendly they have a lot of cool exhibits. and they just remodeled the U-505 the captured german submarine thats supposed to be really sweet. and if u go to the Museum of science and industry u gotta see an omnimax movie they are awsome. its better then imax.


now for me to ask u a question lol
when u first got ur blade cp was it really hard to fly. I asked my mom for one this year and i dont know if ill be able to fly it or not.

~noto

[Sh1nn3r]

You can go find some hookers!

[SixVi6-Camaro]

lol.. I dunno about hookers. Mabey Leisure hours raceway will be open by then and you could head out there but it iwll be a bit of a drive. AL's and Leisure hours hobby shop are two of the best places to visit. Since its winter there isn't a whole lot going on RC wise. Al's would be closer to downtown though.


Woodfield mall is a good one. There are all kinds of restaurants around there, gameworks is there by there, Tons of shoping and things to see there. Like was mentioned there are lots of mueseums downtown, Navy Pier, milenium park. Winter time is tough but if you have not been to chicago before There will be plenty to see and do!


Wait you said Hotel 71.. thats like on wacker and michigan ave. so for sure hit up the magnificent mile!

[SonicFury]

Thanks for all of the helpful info, guys! I'm actually 19 going on 20 two days before Christmas but all of your "take your kids" suggestions will be forwarded directly to my parents because they um... have kids.

Dave, heh I can't resist brining my RC stuff along with me. I just love playing with my stuff in new places. I'll probabley be making 40mph fly-byes in the hotel hallway with my 18T before the trip's over.

It's sounding like navy pier is pretty cool. I'll be sure to check that out. And omnimax theaters are sweet, thanks for the heads up, notochord!

Sixvi, what's the magnificent mile?

notochord, the Blade really is quite hard to learn at first. The training gear is an essential addition for beginners. Don't take it off until you can comfortabley hover. With the training gear, it took me about 3 weeks of solid flying and $30 of crash repairs until I was ready to take off the gear (starting as a complete beginner). You just have to stick with it because when you finally do learn how to fly and make it go where you want, the feeling is indescribable. Also, some quick tips if you do get one... work on keeping the rotor pointing at you at all times it will make things MUCH easier. You also have to learn to get some guts and just pop it off the ground because it's extremly hard to fly close to the ground.

[Czech-it-Out Graphics]

magnificent mile is like a stretch of decorations downtown for christmas pretty cool. Chi-town rocks as you can see

[SonicFury]

oh ya! I'm looking forward to shopping the most. I'm a consumer whore We're also going to see the Blue Man Group live in concert which should be quite awesome.

[DAVEC-NITRO-RS4]

Mag Mile is Michigan Avenue north near Water Tower, also in the Wrigley Building area, previously listed.

Jeez, how could I forget to list "see a show". Tons of theater options. Live music too. Blues Clubs!

Ok, since he's bringing the mini, let's come up with the largest open indoor public space where he can rip without hassles....

Bruce, chime in here city guy!

[Mr. Tune]

I hear blue man group is supposed to be off the hook! I never met someone who's seen that show and said it was bad.

[PoPRC]

Don't forget to eat some good Ol' Chicago Deep Dish pizza. You can go to Uno's, Lou Malnatis, Gino's East. All of them are in Downtown Chiacgo. Just ask your host at the Hotel and they will point you in the right direction.

[DAVEC-NITRO-RS4]

How could I forget "eat PIZZA". I should be ashamed. Going to Papa Passero's in Lisle for lunch today!

[Traxxas_Junkee]

yeah, blue man group is the best

[Notochord]

i really want to see them. their show looks awsome. and if ur going to get some pizza make sure its Lou Malnati's.

and Sonic Fury when u got ur blade cp was did u have to trim it. or did u have to mess with it

~noto

[squirrel]

blue man group rocks!!!!! def go see them! also navy pier (everyone else said it?) but when your there go to bubba gumps shrimp!!!

[FreeRideFrosty]

I would vote for Blue Mab Group as well... I haven't seen it but I have heard nothing but good.

[SonicFury]

Yup, Blue Man Group is gonna rock! Thanks for the eating suggestions I'm a food freak.

noto, my Blade came out of the box perfectly trimmed. Yours should too as they are all test flown before being packaged. It's always a good idea to take your Blade to your lhs and have an experienced pilot fly it just to make shure, though.

[SonicFury]

Well, I'm back! Thanks for all of your advice, guys you were a HUGE help!!! Overall, I enjoyed your city. I just found it hard to believe how big and busy the city is. Past the novelty factor, I probabley wouldn't enjoy my self after about a week (I haven't been raised around those types of environments). Here's what we did in the time we had;

-Tons of shopping (with very little buying). Some of the high-end stores were great to walk through.
-Shedds Aquarium
-Hancock Observatory
-Lots of eating... Weber Grill and Uno were my favorite
-Blue Man Group concert (HOLY CRAP WAS THAT AWESOME!!!)
-Numerous walks down the Magnificent Mile, saw the giant Christmas tree, too. Way cool!
-Hotel 71 is a horrible hotel.

Thanks again for your help guys and hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

P.S. You're all freaking insanse drivers haha

[squirrel]

glad you enjoyed our city!! lol yeah the city is pretty hectic, thats why when i go i just take the train out and take a taxi wherever i go from there. and the drivers are only crazy in the city! suburbs aren't that bad!

[BottledBeast]

thats what u think drive by me and see how nutty that is...lol....yea the city is way different then the suburbs..how was the weber??? i always wanted to eat thier but never had the chance to go

[SonicFury]

I had a burger at Weber and it really was incredible. They do a great job of giving it a true char-grilled taste. It was just way busy and the rolls suck

[Traxxas_Junkee]

yeah, the weber grill is cool, u should have wwent to ed debevics, i think thats how u spell it, its a resturant where the waiters/waitresses are crazy they dance on the tables and insult u at the table and stuff like that, its pretty fun.