OT: haven't forgotten about you...will email, life crazy.

Bubba Gumps is good, altho Dick's Last Resort is pretty cool. I always suggest DLR if you're on navy pier. Skip the rest of the pier, it's gentrified like san fransisco or santa monica or seattle, standard imax/giftshops/amusements stuff, although the ferris wheel is fun on a clear day.

Art Institute, Museum of Science and Industry, Field Museum are very good. Shedd Aquarium is nice, far better than the one in Seattle but IMO not as cool as Monterrey Bay.

A bit of comedic history is The Second City; this is where Carvey got his start, and is why Wayne's World was in Aurora, Ill (my hometown). They used to say, "Are the people from Aurora here yet?" Look at a map and this makes sense--back then, it went Lake Michigan, Chicago, suberbs, western burbs, Aurora, farms, rocky mountains. Not so true anymore but that's how it was back then.

Remember "Cheeseburger Cheeseburger Cheeseburger?" on the old SNL's with Belushi? Billy Goat Tavern, don't remember the address but it's somewhere on lower wacker drive and ask around. This is the source of the "billy goat curse" on the cubs.

If it's clear, the observation deck on sears tower is worth a look. I used to work in the building right across the street, 311 s wacker. Did you happen to see that movie Michael a few years ago? (good date movie). If so, the courtyard at 311 is where his death scene took place, I had many a smoke right there.

Wrigley Field is worth a look if you're into baseball, and the cubs are allegedly pretty good this year (don't know, don't pay attention).

While you're there, you'll be right by the Chicago River. Note the drawbridges. One year, like 89 or so, one of those fell _up_ because a counterweight broke. That was the same year that the river leaked into a bunch of coal tunnels that had been forgotten about until a lot of high-rent-building basements flooded. The joke that year was "Welcome to Chicago, where bridges fall up and rivers leak."

Daley Plaza, with the picasso that shows up in every movie about chicago even if the action takes place nowhere near it, is a few blocks north and east of the tower.

Chicago works on a grid like the seattle area (and allegedly seattle itself). The streets are named but the major ones show the grid number, and the locals frequently know the grid assiciated with the street.

I'm not really a nightlife in the city kind of person, somebody else can probably help you there more than I can. Division street used to be cool, just be careful or you end up in robert taylor homes (used to be that way anyway).

Yummy Italian place in Wrigleyville where my sister works, I'll get the exact address.

When and how long are you there?