The Informed Traveler
The Informed Traveler
On Location in Chicago
We spent 5 fantastic days in Chicago last week attending the US Travel Association and Brand USA's annual IPW travel conference. While there I met up with Lisa Nucci, Chief Marketing Officer with Choose Chicago to discuss the sites we experienced and some of the other things Chicago has to offer. I also had a quick chat with Kate Demonte, Director of Sales for the Navy Pier to learn what to experience when visiting the Navy Pier.
Well, hello and welcome to the Informed Traveler Podcast, a weekly travel podcast where our goal is to help you become a more informed traveler. And I'm your host, Randy Sharman. We are back in studio after spending five fantastic days in Chicago last week. We were there attending the U.S. Travel Association and Brand USA's annual IPW Travel Conference. It's a huge travel conference boasting about 5,000 delegates and media from all over the world. And it was my first time in Chicago, and I gotta say, I honestly never knew Chicago had so much to offer visitors. Being a sports fan, I knew about all the sports teams, of course, the Cubs, the Bears, Blackhawks, Bulls, etc. But as I was quick to learn, Chicago has so much more to see and enjoy. It really is an amazing place. We started our first day with a media brunch at the famous Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs, followed by a river tour to see the sights and learn all about the amazing architecture Chicago has. And we also enjoyed a quick tour of the Chicago Museum of Art, which showcases the works from Picasso, Monet, Renoir, just to name a few. And I really do encourage you to visit our Facebook and Instagram pages to get a visual of the many things we experienced in Chicago at facebook.com slash informedtraveler and informedtraveler on Instagram. I also met up with Lisa Nucci. She Chief Marketing Officer with Choose Chicago to discuss the sights we experienced and some of the other things Chicago has to offer. So to learn more about Chicago, here is that conversation for you now. So this is my first time to Chicago and I feel kind of dumb because, you know, I'm a sports fan and I know all the sports teams, you know, the Cubs and the Bears and the White Sox and the Bulls and all those. But after that, I knew nothing about Chicago. And the reason why I feel so dumb is that there is so much to do. There's so much going on. And it's like, why wasn't I here a long time ago?
SPEAKER_02:Oh, we forgive you. It's okay. We're so happy to welcome you. And, you know, I think the interesting thing about Chicago is that we are a sports town. Like, we have the GOAT. You know, we have the Cubs. You know, obviously Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, all of that. But it continues to evolve in terms of the type of sports that we bring. You know, WNBA Sky. The Chicago Fire just announced that they're building a new stadium. The Bears are expanding. And so it's constant. constantly innovating, but we are a sports town through and through.
SPEAKER_00:But way more than a sports town. So if you're not a sports fan, if you're a music lover, if you like diversity in cuisine, there's lots here for you as
SPEAKER_02:well. Let's talk about music. So my favorite thing about Chicago is that there's all these nooks and crannies of different types of places to experience music. So you can go to a mega concert at Soldier Field, that's where the Bears play, and see Beyonce, or see Taylor Swift or the Rolling Stones. The Rolling Stones were amazing. But then you can also go to smaller venues that are super historic, like Green Mill in Uptown. It has this amazing Green Mill electric sign. If you see it, you'll know what I'm talking about. And see amazing live jazz music in a super old establishment. Then you could also go to the Salt Shed, which is a Morton salt factory, literally like salt and pepper, that they completely revitalized and made it into this large venue right on the river. And then you have Kingston Mines, which is in Lincoln Park. And so there's all different ways to experience music here. But one of my favorite things to do for music is Pritzker Pavilion, which is right in the center of downtown on the Mag Mile. It has an amazing outdoor amphitheater, and you can go see the Chicago Symphony Orchestra play there for free. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and we could probably go on and on and on and on, but those are some of the highlights and some of the things. So when we got here, we did a tour of the river tour with First Lady cruises and I think if you've never been here before this is a good way to start and learn about the some of the history and the architecture is amazing like to me it's like really just tall buildings but when you get someone explaining to you like who built them why they built them and all this other stuff it's it's truly amazing
SPEAKER_02:oh of course and I always think that the river cruise the first lady river cruise is like if you're jet lag or if you're just tired or you just want someone to tell you where to go it's like a good orientation into the city right and you can start to learn about the stories of Chicago like there's like we you know we're a city that is like very into superstitions right and so you'll start to hear kind of like how Chicago and our architects you know how we built things that would you know shove it in the face of New York and so I think that that's a great place to kind of get to like the center and core of who we are
SPEAKER_00:and you know and plus the scenery is amazing and you're right it's very relaxing part of that tour also was a visit to the art museum amazing artwork like from Picasso and Monet and like artists that everyone can recognize
SPEAKER_02:yeah absolutely so they just are wrapping up or are about to wrap up the Frida Kahlo exhibit which is awesome but my favorite thing that we did is NASCAR Chicago Street Race it's in its third year in Chicago and the Art Institute and NASCAR collaborated on a Picasso inspired car so there was literally a race car that looked like a Picasso painting zipping around Chicago which I was like this is the crossover, no one knew that they needed. And
SPEAKER_00:then, well, there was a party for IPW guests and delegates at Field Museum, another place that's just amazing. So you could stay here a month and not see the same thing twice.
SPEAKER_02:Absolutely right. So every part of the season, you know, a lot of people love Chicago in the summer and I love Chicago in the summer. But my favorite season is the fall. Right. And so and people love coming here in the winter to experience chris kindle mart which is this magical little christmas village downtown and so there's no shortage of things to do in chicago but what i appreciate about chicago the most is that the people who live here love on this place are just authentic and cool and welcoming and i some people say that we're like a big city with a small town personality super clean it's easy to find your way around we're on a grid system which is a fleeting thing in the world. And so there is no shortage of anything to do here. But I hope when people come here, they feel like they're part of the family when they come to Chicago.
SPEAKER_00:Well, that's good you bring it up because it is a big city. So if you're coming here, how would you plan something so you're not stuck in trying to get somewhere all the time?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, well, I think the one thing to note is that Chicago was voted the most walkable city in the U.S., right? So, you know, there's nothing worse than when you want to see a lot of things, but you feel like you're zipping from one thing to the next and you're just waiting in a bunch of lines. So know that Chicago is super walkable. Know that we have lots of modes of transportation and are very accessible for folks that need more support ramps or whatnot. And so I would say, depending on the day part, start your day taking a walk on the lakefront. I know people can't, listeners can't see this right now, but our lakefront is beautiful. miles, and I think that that will give you a good perspective of where you are in the city. Make sure you spend time exploring downtown. You mentioned the Art Institute. There's the Cloud Gate, which some people call the Bean. And then for lunch, I would dig into going out to one of the neighborhoods. So, Pilsen is an amazing neighborhood, and there's this place that I like to go called Five Rabonitos. No frills, amazing Mexican food, and you will feel like you're immediately part of the culture of Pilsen. And then from there, ask for recommendations. Chicagoans love giving recommendations. And so if you're open to kind of having an open itinerary, I would start there. But definitely start on the lakefront and then head out to a neighborhood for a meal or two.
SPEAKER_00:Nice.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:I did make some notes here. So you mentioned Mag Mile. That's a magnificent mile. It's yet to experience it. So tell me about that.
SPEAKER_02:So the Mag Mile is Michigan Avenue and it literally goes from the Bean all the way to the lakefront. So kind of like the Drake Hotel. And it's like the gem of the city, right? And so people people who walk through it. You'll see these amazing, majestic buildings, like the Wrigley Building, Tribune, Towers. Things when you look at pictures of Chicago, it will start to look familiar when you're walking down the Mag Mile. If you're a shopper, like many people are, you have Nordstrom's, you have Bloomingdale's, you have all of these amazing shops, but also small shops to go with. And I always say for people who have kids, I'm a mom, it's like, how are you going to get the energy out? Take it to the Mag
SPEAKER_03:mile.
SPEAKER_02:There's this amazing pavilion called Pioneer Court, and kids can just run through it, get that energy out, and then parents can go grab a glass of wine down the street.
SPEAKER_00:You know how to
SPEAKER_02:do it, right?
SPEAKER_00:I'm seeking from experience, yes. Exactly. So you mentioned some of the neighborhoods. Expand on that a little bit of what are some of the other neighborhoods.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so we have 77 neighborhoods. So, you know, I've been to all of them, but I grew up here, right? And so the reason why we like the neighborhoods is because that's where the people are living working that's where people live in Chicago and I always think people want to know what are the locals do locals are a lot of times in the neighborhood so Hillsons amazing spot Lincoln Park which is up north is kind of like a college area but then you'll get like a ton of bars bustling little shops like it's very lively Gold Coast and River North it's definitely more upscale so that's where you're gonna get like the Langham Hotel and really great steak restaurants like steak for or Gibson so like if you want that type of like luck Chicago stay there and I also really like Uptown I mentioned before there's an amazing LGBT community that throws amazing festivals that's always a great place to go but the one thing that you should do when you're here if you're planning your itinerary like you asked street festivals are a thing in Chicago and so go to 2chicago.com we have an amazing calendar of street festivals and just go pay the five bucks and wander around it's like live music amazing food you get to see what people are doing in Chicago and it's like a free cultural experience
SPEAKER_00:yeah and one more iconic thing that we did is the sky deck where you get an amazing view we're there at nighttime and oh my gosh
SPEAKER_02:yeah so sky deck is super cool right and so for thrill seekers I definitely will toe tip into the thing and so essentially it's at Willis Tower many people call it Sears Tower but it's called Willis Tower and the team at sky deck has done such a tremendous job so you can literally walk out into a glass box and see the whole city. But what is the coolest thing about Sky Deck is that They have an amazing museum, and so you can kind of go through. Your journey is a little bit of a tutorial on Chicago, and they have some really great photo ops. I'm glad you had a good time.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, it was a really good time. So what did I miss? What are some of the other places of note that people should see?
SPEAKER_02:When they're here, so you mentioned the river, which is great. So there's a river walk that, I wouldn't say it's new, but it's for someone who hasn't been back to Chicago in 10 years, it's new. And so the river that goes through Chicago they've built a river walk that has a bunch of different wineries, breweries, and shops. And so if you kind of want to take a little bit slower and not be in the hustle and bustle of, you know, Mag Mile and Wacker, go down the steps and just stroll along the river. You can rent kayaks, you can rent little boats. The park district does an amazing job on the weekends. If you have kids, they give like free fishing lessons. So that's really fun. I wouldn't eat anything you catch, but you know, it's up to you. And so that's always really special. And then at the end of it, they have a huge lawn that has all these beautiful anoramic chairs, and you can just sit back and chill and take a moment from the busyness of the city. And so I definitely think the Riverwalk is something you should definitely add to your itinerary
SPEAKER_00:when you're here. You mentioned festivals. Any other particular events or things that are coming up through the summer, maybe into the fall?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so for music lovers, we just wrapped Suenos, and that's a huge deal, right? Shakira was there. Lollapalooza is coming up. That's a four-day festival that we have a lot of folks from out of town. So if you haven't booked your and you want to come to Lala, get ahead of it. Yeah, do it now or plan for next year. So Lala is like a huge moment for the city. We have NASCAR Chicago Street Race coming up over July 4th weekend. If you're here over July 4th time, go to Navy Pier and check out the fireworks, take in the Ferris wheel. It's like a really special way to kind of see the city. And then we have Blues Fest, Jazz Fest, Taste of Chicago. There's quite literally something every single weekend But also if you're in the theater, we have Shakespeare, we have Chicago Theater, there's Steppenwolf. There's so many cool independent theater companies that we need support because they really create up the dynamicness of our city, Broadway in Chicago. And so I definitely would say catch a theater or the ballet when you're here.
SPEAKER_00:Awesome. So much to see and do. I guess the best way to plan is to go to your website, choosechicago.com and pick and choose what you want to see so you're not just Disappointed, right?
SPEAKER_02:Absolutely. It's a great time to visit any time of the year, and I'm so glad you were able to come. We hope you come back.
SPEAKER_00:Awesome. Thank you so much. Lisa Nucci is the Chief Marketing Officer for ChooseChicago. ChooseChicago.com is the website. Thank you so much for doing this. You're welcome. This is the informed traveler podcast. I'm Randy Sharman. Just want to remind you of our website, the informed traveler.org. That's where you can find our contact page. If you have any questions or comments about the podcast, you could also email me too, with any questions you might have. My email address is Randy at the informed traveler.org. And if you want to get up to date travel info through the week, just see a few amusing travel stories or links. You can like us on facebook.com slash informed traveler on Instagram at informed traveler. or on X and Informed Traveler. That's also where you'll find our videos and photos and images of our trip to Chicago. So I encourage you again to go visit those sites and have a visual of our visit in Chicago. Plus, you can sign up now for our monthly newsletter. It's released at the beginning of every month. Our June issue is available now. Just go to our website, theinformedtraveler.org. Click on the newsletter button. It'll take you right there. Or better yet, you can subscribe to it and have have it arrive in your inbox each month. Now, one of the popular attractions in Chicago is the Navy Pier, and that's where the closing night ceremonies was held for IPW delegates. It's a place full of shops, restaurants, rides, including the Centennial Wheel. It's a great way to spend a day while in Chicago. You can also do harbor tours from the Navy Pier, and you can even stay there too at the Sable Hotel. So to learn more about the Navy Pier, I had a quick chat with Kate DeMonte. She is the Director of Sales for the Navy Pier, NavyPier.org would be their website. So here's that conversation now. Tell me about the Navy Pier. I've never been there, so for someone that's never been there, what do I have to look forward to?
SPEAKER_01:Navy Pier is the number one tourist destination in Illinois. Public Pier, open to the public. It is a non-for-profit, 501c3, but it is widely open to the public. We have plenty of restaurants. We are home to the Chicago Children's Museum, Chicago Shakespeare Theater. We have the Centennial Wheel. We have Pier Park, which has lots of rides. We have swings, carousel, teacups, mini golf, and then a lot of the Chicago tour boats dock at Navy Pier. City Cruises, which is down the way, and the boats right next door over here, and then the Tall Ship Wendy, which kind of looks like a pirate ship, all dock along Navy Pier. We also have a marina that just opened on Saturday, a brand new marina, public-private charter boats can all dock at the marina. They could dock for a day, they could dock for three days. So you could be in Michigan, you could take the boat over, dock for three days, explore Chicago, head back to Michigan. But those can be booked, dock slips can be booked online. Tell
SPEAKER_00:me how it works though. So obviously I need a ticket. Do I have a wristband that gets me on all the rides? Because we are looking for people that are listening to us. We are looking at a huge picture of the Navy Pier. By the way, it's on the waterfront because you know it is a pier. And yeah, so you have the giant wheel, you have rides. It reminds me a little bit of Santa Monica up here.
SPEAKER_01:But we're better. So the wheel, you can get a ticket just to the wheel, or we have a Play the Park ticket, which is an unlimited ticket, which is a wristband, and you can ride any of the rides for an unlimited amount of time for the full day. Nice.
SPEAKER_00:So when is it open all year round? Because I would imagine it gets a little chilly in the wintertime here, or seasonal?
SPEAKER_01:We are open year round. All the rides in Pier Park are open Memorial Day through Labor Day but the wheel is open year-round.
SPEAKER_00:So now you have a big indoor thing here so I'm imagine there's restaurants there's I mean everything you can think of to entertain your family is there.
SPEAKER_01:Yes many different things the flyover again right next to us just opened a little over a year ago so that is a great exhibit ride if you've done Soarin' and Disney it's better than that it's much more interactive then again the Chicago Children's Museum is housed at Navy Pier, and Chicago Shakespeare Theater is housed at Navy Pier, so other ticketed attractions you can do inside the pier.
SPEAKER_00:Can I do it in half a day if I'm visiting, or do I need a full day to kind of take it all
SPEAKER_01:in? It really depends on what kind of traveler you are. If you're coming with kids, I would say you definitely need a full day because there is so much to do. If you don't have kids, you could probably do it in half a
SPEAKER_00:day. And I imagine it's a great place for all the locals, so we weekends, it's probably very busy, so if you wanted to avoid crowds, maybe a mid-week visit?
SPEAKER_01:Yes, mid-week. However, between Memorial Day and Labor Day, we do offer free fireworks on Wednesdays and Saturdays. So free fireworks is city at night, so Wednesdays and Saturdays during the summer are our most popular days to come down and see the fireworks. Also, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, we do offer live music in our beer garden, so there's some good programming going on on those days as well.
SPEAKER_00:And I guess if people wanted to check out what ticket prices and all that other stuff, they just go to your website, NavyPeer.org.
SPEAKER_01:Correct.
SPEAKER_00:Thank you for doing this. Kate DeMonte is the Director of Sales for the Navy Pier here in Chicago. NavyPeer.org is the website. Thank you so much for doing this.
SPEAKER_01:No problem. Thank you.
SPEAKER_00:And that is our show for this week, all about Chicago. We had an amazing visit. It truly is an amazing city. We want to thank the U.S. Travel Association and Brand USA for inviting us. As I mentioned as well, You can check out our Facebook and Instagram pages for the photos and videos of our experience in Chicago at Informed Traveler. And if you have any comments or questions, we'd love to hear from you. If you have a show idea, send that along as well. My email is randy at theinformedtraveler. You can check out our website too at theinformedtraveler.org. In the meantime, thanks for listening. Travel safe and be an informed traveler.