Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Did You Know?
Buckingham Fountain
's jets and electric light displays are actually controlled
by a computer 700 miles away in Atlanta.
Fun Fact
of Grant Park, in a band shell designed by superstar architect Frank Gehry. The
music festival, which includes performances Wednesday through Sunday evenings
over a 10-week period, bills itself as the nation's only remaining free, municipally
funded outdoor classical music festival. For a schedule of concert times and dates,
contact the
Grant Park Music Festival
(
&
312/742-7638
). Other favorite annual
events are the free outdoor blues festival (in June) and the jazz festival (Labor Day).
Taste of Chicago
(
&
312/744-3315
), purportedly the largest food festival in the
world (the city estimates its annual attendance at around 3.5 million), takes place
every summer for 10 days around the July 4th holiday. Local restaurants serve up
more ribs, pizza, hot dogs, and beer than you'd ever want to see, let alone eat. (See
chapter 2 for a comprehensive listing of summer events in Grant Park.)
Scattered about the park are a number of sculptures and monuments, includ-
ing a heroic sculpture of two Native Americans on horseback entitled
The
Spearman and the Bowman
(at Congress Pkwy. and Michigan Ave.), which
has become the park's trademark since it was installed in 1928, as well as like-
nesses of Copernicus, Columbus, and Lincoln
(The Seated Lincoln),
the latter
by the great American sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens, located on Congress
Parkway between Michigan Avenue and Columbus Drive. On the western edge
of the park, at Adams Street, is the
Art Institute
(p. 166), and at the southern
tip in the newly redesigned Museum Campus are
The Field Museum of Nat-
ural History
(p. 151), the
Adler Planetarium
(p. 150), and the
Shedd Aquar-
ium
(p. 154). At the north end of the park, adjacent to the nascent Millennium
Park, is Daley Bicentennial Park, featuring an outdoor sports plaza with a dozen
lighted tennis courts, a rink for ice-skating in the winter and 'blading or roller-
skating in the summer, and a field house.
331 E. Randolph St.
&
312/742-7648.
Subway/El: Brown Line to the Loop. Bus: 3, 4, 6, 60, 146, or 151.
LAKE SHORE PARK
Located just behind the Museum of Contemporary Art, this park offers a view
of the lake and packs some good facilities into a small space. You'll find baseball
diamonds, a fitness center, a gym for basketball, an outdoor running track, and
tennis courts. Again, although it's tiny, this little green space is a big find for
families staying in the heart of the city.
808 N. Lake Shore Dr. (at Chicago Ave., 3 blocks east of Michigan Ave.).
&
312/742-PLAY.
Bus: 151.
LINCOLN PARK
Straight and narrow Lincoln Park begins at North Avenue and follows the shore-
line of Lake Michigan northward 6 miles to Ardmore Avenue (not far from the
East Asian enclave radiating from Argyle Ave. and quaint Andersonville), mak-
ing it the city's largest park. Within its elongated 1,200 acres are a world-class
zoo, a half-dozen bathing beaches, a botanical conservatory, two excellent muse-
ums, a golf course, and the usual meadows, formal gardens, sporting fields, and
tennis courts typical of urban parks. Attractions in the park include the
Chicago
Historical Society
(p. 169),
Lincoln Park Zoo
(p. 185),
Lincoln Park Con-
servatory
(p. 187), and
Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum
(p. 188).
