Not a call to child welfare authorities, but that our family can't wait to return to Chicago.
Whether it's the transparent Sky Deck of the Willis (nee Sears) Tower, the hilarious and historical Untouchables Tour of Al Capone's haunts or the marine shows at Shedd Aquarium, no parent or kid will go home from the Windy City without a great story. Or feeling hungry, given it's a city of 7,000 restaurants, where America's biggest collection of five-star diners shares kitchen space with a giant Rock 'n' Roll McDonalds, the nation's biggest deep-dish pizza, hot dogs and a popcorn connoisseur's paradise.
The U.S. economy is down, but Chicago's fortunes are up, riding the wave of hometown hero Barack Obama's election and putting on its best face in pursuit of the 2016 Summer Olympics. It's already been named U.S. City of the Year (GQ 2008), best skyline (Travel + Leisure magazine), favourite road trip city (Sports Illustrated) and in the top three destinations for adults with disabilities (Open Doors 2006).
What your kids will love is all there is to see just a few blocks from hotel districts on the Magnificent Mile and The Loop or reaching waterside attractions on the Chicago River near the 42 km of Lake Michigan beaches. More than 100 hotels of all price ranges can be found, near landmark Wrigley Field in the north to the Field Museum to the south.
NAVY PIER
A whole day can be enjoyed without leaving Navy Pier, which boasts three floors of the Children's Museum, a 15-storey Ferris wheel, IMAX theatre, funky shops and lots of eats. A flotilla of vessels cruise along the river -- some travelling at a leisurely few knots per hour and others skipping across the waves at top speed.
We picked the immensely popular Chicago Architecture Foundation river cruise. Volunteer CAF narrator Claudia Winkler explained to kids and adults alike how no two Chicago skyscrapers or any of its 37 operable bridges are alike, while easing past the sites where Abe Lincoln was nominated president and where Obama hung out at the gym.
Chicago is putting the finishing touches on a green-themed river walk plan borrowed from San Antonio, Texas. During our 90-minute tour, we were treated with tales of the Great Fire of 1871, which gave city fathers the blueprint for a design revolution that evolved into the Chicago style of architecture.
Claudia related how one architect playing with a pack of cigarettes came up with the multo-tiered Willis Tower concept, one of the three Chicago buildings among the 10 tallest in the world and how ingeniously many old buildings have been adapted for modern use.
There is also a free audio tour/interactive website -- chicagoforkids -- able to be downloaded in five languages to an MP3. It's bound to satisfy curiosity of why the river runs backward and what role Mrs. O'Leary's cow might have played in the Great Fire.
Back on land and just a short walk down Michigan Ave., is Millennium Park with its Frank Gehry-designed music pavillion and the 110-ton Cloud Gate, world's largest outdoor sculpture, 10 X 14 metres of mirrored stainless steel. Kids will try a variety of abstract poses in its reflection, then cool off beneath a 15-metre glass interactive fountain, one of 100 public art pieces found downtown.
ART INSTITUTE
Next door is the massive Art Institute of Chicago, with 300,000 works including the new modern wing. While adults admire Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh and famous American painters Edward Hopper (Nighthawks) and Grant Wood (American Gothic), the kids can take their own Lion's Trail audio tour.
There's more for the small fry just a short drive away at the Robie House, setting for the best-selling kids novel The Wright 3. They can put themselves in the sneakers of the famous tween sleuths, trying to solve an art mystery in and around Frank Lloyd Wright's famous residence.
If the weather is too inclement to watch the Cubs or the live animals at the Lincoln Park Zoo, or if you plan to visit in late autumn or winter, the Chicago History Museum is the local version of the Smithsonian with captivating displays on the city's connection to business, fashion, sports and transport.
LANCE.HORNBY@SUNMEDIA.CA
The New Porsche Collector’s CalendarWoolly fest won’t fleece you
