Chicago, IL

I was on my way to lunch in downtown Chicago yesterday when I spotted this mounted police officer and her decorated horse. I wonder if anyone asked the horse if he wanted to wear a Santa hat? It is kind of like people who make their dogs wear Halloween costumes. What do you think, is the horse likes his decorative flair?

I always like seeing the different ways that the police officers in Chicago get around the city. My favorite is probably via horseback like the picture above. I have also seen police officers in cars (of course), four-wheeled all terrain vehicles, and even Segways. When patrolling down town it doesn’t really make sense to be in a car, especially when most of the people you are dealing with are on foot and not in a car. Segways are great for patrolling the parks, like Millenium Park and Grant Park because the paths are wide enough for it and they can patrol a large amount of area quickly.
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Santa Claus is a very busy man this time of year, but if you want to make sure that he has you on his good list and will be bringing you what you want this Christmas, you may want to steal about of his time.

There are lots of opportunities throughout the city to visit with Santa and his helpers. While visiting Santa in a shopping mall, at Daley Plaza, or at a department store makes for a pretty run-of-the-mill Santa visit, there are some more elaborate ways you can meet with Santa, which makes the season a bit more fun.

One of the oddest ones that I found was a local suburb, Elk Grove Village, actually had a swim with Santa event. It makes me wonder, what exactly Santa wears while swimming? Does he take off his hat? Wear red swim trunks? Or will he just be hanging out while the kids swim?

Swim with Santa
December 16th, 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
Pavilion Aquatic Center
Elk Grove Village
$7 resident / $10 non-resident (pre-registration required)

Odyssey Cruise brunch with Santa
Three hour event featuring a two hour cruise
December 16th, 11:00 a.m. board time
Shoves off from Navy Pier
$52.90 per adult; $15 per child age 3-11*

Ride the CTA with Santa
Santa and his elves ride specific el trains throughout the holiday season and hand out candy canes.
They ride the trains, a different route depending on the day, from 1:00 p.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends and 3:00 p.m.- 6:00 p.m. on certain weekdays. Here are the dates for the remainder of the season:
* December 16 — Brown and Orange Lines
* December 17 — Brown and Orange Lines
* December 18 — Orange Line
* December 20 — Yellow Line
* December 21 — Purple Line Express
* December 22 — Red Line
For more information, visit the CTA website.

There you have it! Three unusual ways to spend some time with Santa this holiday season. Hopefully you can talk him into bringing you a Nintendo Wii.

This post is part of the 12 days of Chicago series, which brings you 12 fun and interesting things that you can do for the holidays in Chicago. In conjunction with the series, this blog is sponsoring a holiday contest, which you can read about here.

Chicago, Christmas, Santa Claus, Swim with Santa, Odyssey Cruise, Navy Pier

The opportunities for good theater abound in Chicago year round. In addition to musical, plays, and comedy shows, there are also terrific dance performances and opera. During the holiday season, the city of Chicago adds some holiday-themed programming to its roster, allowing to get your theater fix, while also getting the holiday experience.

Here are a few options when it comes to holiday shows, although it is by no means an exhaustive list:

The Nutcracker
The Joffrey Ballet
December 12-30th (Friday-Sunday only)
Auditorium Theatre
50 E. Congress Parkway
I saw the Nutcracker performed when I was in the fourth grade it is a very memorable show, even to this day many years ago. It is a great show for younger kids, as well as adults. The music and performance is magical. Another version of The Nutcracker will be peformed in Naperville from December 14th-16th. Visit the North Central College website for more information.
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These days Daley Plaza looks less like a courthouse square and more like a German market, thanks to the annual Christkindlmarket event taking place now through December 24th. The event features a wide-variety of booths selling German food, Christmas ornaments, jewelry, and more.

Here are some photos to give you an idea of what kinds of things to expect at the event:

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In Chicago and its suburbs, just like most cities, they are plenty of opportunities for you to do some good this holiday season. Even if you don’t have a lot of extra cash to donate to worthy causes, there are other things that you can do to help out. Here is a short list of ideas, although it is no way comprehensive.

1) Make a bell ringer smile: The Salvation Army bell-ringers, who collect money throughout the city, are hard to miss. Downtown they are in front of every major department store and other key places. In the neighborhoods, you can find them outside of your local grocery store. Those people work hard, often standing out in the cold for hours waiting for donations. Recently outside Macy’s, I saw a bell-ringer singing carols. I hope she has as much enthusiasm a few weeks from now. So, when you pass one by, drop whatever change you have in your pocket. Better yet, do what my sister and I did one year: take that jar or bowl of change you have accumulating at home and dump the whole thing in the Salvation Army bin. You’ll feel great and so will the bell-ringer.

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Another time-honored tradition in the city of Chicago for the holidays is to visit the decorative window displays at the Marshall Field’s department store. Although Field’s is no more, the window displays have continued at Macy’s, which is located on State street between Randolph and Washington.

The display this year has a Nutcracker theme and includes moving exhibits and beautiful exhibits. As seen in the photo above, the displays are enjoyed by young and old alike and have become a holiday tradition for many families in Chicago and surrounding communities.

If you plan to visit the Macy’s windows display, I have a couple of recommendations for you. First, go early. By this I mean go early in the season (they are up already) and also go early in the day. If you go to Macy’s at the height of the shopping day, it can be crowded and difficult to see the displays. That leads me to my second recommendation: have patience. If the windows are crowded, be patient and people will move along. Nothing dampens a festive holiday mood more than pushy, rude people.

The best thing about the window displays is that you can see them for free. Plus, if you are downtown shopping, you don’t even have to go out of your way to see them, as they are right on the main shopping strip on State Street.

Below is a video of one of the windows from this year. It shows the details and creativity that goes into each window and also shows why people young and old become memorized by the views and are slow to move it along.

This post is part of the 12 days of Chicago series, which brings you 12 fun and interesting things that you can do for the holidays in Chicago. In conjunction with the series, this blog is sponsoring a holiday contest, which you can read about here.

Chicago, Macys, Marshall Field

In the near future, various parts of Chicago could be brought to you by various sponsors. Mayor Daley has spent $285,000 to hire a consulting firm to determine what options are available to the city for naming rights on the el, Navy Pier, and other important parts of city life.

You would think that a consulting firm might suggest that spending $285,000 on a project like that is rather silly, but I suppose then they would be shooting themselves in the foot.

As a purist, I would hate to see the city taken over by corporate sponsorships, more so that it already is at least. Isn’t it bad enough that they are advertisements on the buses, on the trains, at the bus stop, at the train stops, on the tops of taxi cabs and on random signage throughout the city? Do we really need to rename things, like “The CTA brought to you by Target”?

This is all just part of a larger picture of this country being saturated with commercials. Remember when the Rose Bowl was just the Rose Bowl and not “The XXY Company Rose Bowl brought to you by ABC company”? Remember when a timeout in a basketball was just a timeout and not “a timeout by GGG company which reminds you to take a timeout and shop with them…” Those were the good old days, I guess, and now we should brace ourselves for a further influx of advertisements.

Any ideas that the outside firm comes up with must maintain “the integrity of the city of Chicago’s brand image.” The plans must pass the scrutiny of “an advisory group of civic leaders.” I have a feeling, though, that the group of “civic leaders” will be a bunch of Daley cronies who are ready to rubber stamp anything with big dollar signs on it.

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Chicago, Mayor Daley, corporate sponsorship

Although the Chicago Cubs did not have the post-season that fans would have liked, it should not be overlooked that they did manage to win the National League central division. True Cubs fans likely purchased various memorabilia to remember the event, like T-shirts and hats. However, soon to be available at auction is a spectacular souvenir: The banners that hung throughout the city following their victory (see photo).

The City of Chicago’s “Sharing It” Banner Auction will take place November 14th and 15th in the east lobby of the Daley Center from 12:00 p.m.-1:30 p.m. on both days.

In addition to the Cubs banners, fans can bid on banners from the Chicago Bears NFC Championship, the Chicago Marathon, and the Chicago White Sox World Series, as well as two autographed Gibson guitars from the Los Lonely Boys and the Black Crowes.

The auction is sponsored by Mayor Daley’s “Sharing It” program which raises money for the underprivileged. Specifically, proceeds from the auction will be donated to the Chicago Anti-Hunger Federation and the Greater Chicago Food Depository. Last year’s auction raised over $13,000.

I think that some of the items would be fun to own, although I think that I would pass on Chicago marathon banners, given my experience with it this year. Now that I think about it, I don’t even remember seeing Chicago marathon banners this year. Most of the usual locations were filled with the Cubs banners this year. Perhaps the banners are from previous years, since it seems like they are auctioning off older things, like the White Sox banners.

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Chicago, Mayor Daley, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Chicago Bears

The Halloween season has descended upon the city of Chicago with the annual Chicagoween event in Daley Plaza. For the festivities, which take place through Halloween night, Daley Plaza is transformed into a spooky mini-town, featuring creepy looking houses and story-telling tents. My favorite part is the way that that the turn the fountain in the plaza into a cool orange color.

The various events include “ghostly games” (Everyday at 11:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 2:00 p.m.; Thursday-Saturday also at 5:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.) and “WICKED story-telling” (Thursdays and Fridays, every hour from 3:00 p.m.-6:15pm and Saturdays and Sundays, every hour from 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m & 6:15pm).

On weekends, you can decorate pumpkins from 11:00 a.m.- 2:00 p.m. The best part is that the pumpkins are free and supplies are provided for each child.

There will also be mask-making demonstrations by Inside Art Studio Thursdays through Sundays at 12:10 p.m., 3:00 p.m., and 6:00 p.m. If you would rather try your hand at making your own mask, join the International Academy of Design and Technology on October 21st from 11:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m.

This Saturday, October 20th, there will be the Halloween State Street Parade, which kicks of at noon at State and Randolph, goes south on State Street, West on Madison, North at Dearborn, ending at Daley Plaza at Dearborn and Washington.

Following the parade, candy will be distributed while supplies last. There will also be hayrides after the parade at the corner of Clark and Washington. I never heard of hayrides in a city before, but I guess it is possible. There will also be a children’s costume contest. Check here for ideas for costumes for little ones. The hot dog one is my favorite. Cast members from Wicked are expected to make an appearance following the parade

For more information, check out Chicagoween online.

Chicago, Chicagoween 2007, Wicked, Halloween, hayrides, pumpkin carving

The Chicago Cubs playoff series is not the only internationally prominent sporting event taking place in Chicago this weekend. On Sunday, 45,000 runners will take part in the 30th Anniversary running of the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon.

If you want to watch the marathon in person, be prepared to be surrounded by about a million other Chicagoans vying for a good vantage point. The Chicago Marathon website has a spectator guide, which can you give you an idea of good places to view the runners, as well as other helpful information.

As you can see from the map above (click on it for the larger size in pdf), the 26.2 miles running extravaganza covers a lot of landmarks throughout the city and goes through a number of different neighborhoods. The runners will travel north to Wrigley Field, home of the National League Central Champion Chicago Cubs, and as far south as U.S. Cellular Field where the White Sox play. The course also goes through Lakeview, where there are expected to be men in drag handing out water and Gatorade. The course also runs through the Pilsen and Bronzetown neighborhoods. In Chinatown, runners will be treated to a special show, featuring a dragon!

Do you know someone running in the event? You can sign-up to receive text messages letting you know their progress along the race course.

If you want to listen to the coverage of the marathon on the radio, it will be carried lived on 620AM, The Score. The marathon will also be shown on television locally on CBS2, from 7:30a.m.-11:00p.m. CBS2 will also air a highlight show Sunday night at 10:30 p.m.

Chicago Marathon, Chicago, Marathon, 26.2, LaSalle Bank, marathon course

If you are a runner and would like to see the sights of Chicago, you may want to consider signing up for City Running Tours. Whether you are a Chicago resident or a tourist, you can benefit from participating in one of the company’s tours.

City Running Tours has an assortment of routes available, at different distances, including Wrigleyville, the Lakefront, and the Great Chicago Fire. In addition to the running workout, your tour guide will give your interesting information about the area that you are running through.

The pace is determined by the customer, so if you are a slower runner, don’t worry about being left behind. Your guide will provide water for the run and you are permitted to stop along the way to take photos or catch a breather if necessary.

City Running Tours are also available in Washington, DC, New York City, and San Diego. For more information or to make reservations online, visit City Running Tours.

City Running Tours, Chicago, running

This weekend, September 15th and 16th, is the 11th annual Celtic Fest Chicago. The free event takes place in Grant Park and runs from 11:00 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. both days.

This 2-day festival in Chicago’s Grant Park celebrates the music, dance and traditions of the 7 original Celtic Nations: Ireland; Scotland; Wales; Isle of Man; Cornwall; Galicia, Spain and Brittany, France.

Saturday at 4:50 p.m., at the Celtic Crossroads stage, they will hold a “men in kilts” contest, with an award going to the man with the best legs in a kilt.

For more information, including the schedule of performers, visit the website here.

Chicago, Celtic Fest, Men in kilts, kilts, festival

Registration is now available for the 2007 Race for the Cure in Chicago. The event, which will take place on Saturday September 29th, benefits the Susan G Komen foundation which funds breast cancer research. There is a 5k run/walk and a one mile fun walk.

Participants are encouraged to raise pledge money for the cause and there are rewards for various levels of money raised. Breast cancer survivors will receive a complimentary pink hat and T-shirt to wear during the event.

The event kicks off at Grant Park at 8:30 a.m. For more information and to register on line, visit the official website here.

Chicago, Race for the Cure, Susan G Komen, 5k, race, running

Photo from a protest on the opening day of Macy’s.

Although the downtown Marshall Field’s store has been known as Macy’s since last September, there is still a group of Marshall Field’s supporters hoping to return the store to it original name and identity. There is a website called Field Fans Chicago which is “working to bring back Marshall Field’s not only in name, but also in quality, service, culture, history, tourism, and more.”

The group has a protest planned for 1:00 p.m. on September 9th, 2007, on the one year anniversary of the change in the store’s name. The protesters will meet up underneath the clock at Washington and State Streets. They also are encouraging people to boycott Macy’s stores to show support for Marshall Field’s.

At their website, you can order free lapel stickers to show your support and learn more about the cause. They also have t-shirts available for purchase.

Here are some photos of Angelina Jolie filming the movie Wanted here in Chicago this week. It looks like she is enjoying doing the stunt on top of the Dodge Viper.

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