Recs for Chicago trip

Thanks for recs. Wife is already worried im going to be bothering her while at market

"Definitive" Chicago thread I created that you can read through, if you'd like: LINK

I will say, visiting in March is tricky... Weather is completely unpredictable and I would track it leading up to the day you leave. Could be 70 and sunny one day, then 40 and cloudy the next. shite, its been beautiful the last few days and currently 65 with clear skies, but we're expected to drop into the high 30s on Friday. Gives you a sense of how variable it is.

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Keep in mind, im 50yo old dude. Dont party like I used to

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If weather cooperates, highly recommend walking Lakefront Trail. Can do this one of two ways:

1. Walk north from your hotel in The Loop or River North and just turn around when you feel like it.

2. Take the Red Line to Fullerton and walk towards the skyline. Beautiful, beautiful walk. This would be my preference and it's a similar route my wife and I do every weekend in spring, summer, and fall.

Though you don't "party" like you used to, Chicago has an excellent stretch of breweries known as Malt Row in Ravenswood. You don't have to explore every brewery, but you can take the Brown Line to Irving Park and get to the know the neighborhood a bit. Ravenswood and North Center are beautiful neighborhoods. Very oriented to young families, but a lot of great independent, local shops sprinkled alongside breweries.

Some other activities and attractions to pass time: Skydeck (Willis Tower), Riverwalk, Boat Tour, Art Institute, Michigan Ave., Navy Pier, Museum Campus (Adler and Shedd), Millennium / Grant Park, Lincoln Park Zoo, Garfield Conservatory, Museum of Science & Industry, Montrose Beach / Bird Sanctuary, and Chinatown / Ping Tom Park.

Don't know if this is a "formal activity," but all of our independent, local shops and restaurants are in neighborhoods. With ease of the Red, Blue or Brown Line, you can pretty easily visit Wicker Park, Lincoln Park, Lake View, Roscoe Village, North Center, Logan Square, etc.

ETA: As someone else said, Cubs start the season with a four-game homestand against the Nats from March 26-30, if you're around during that time. Wrigleyville went full-blown Nashville, for better or worse, and isn't what it used to be, but still a fun time.

Museum of Science and Industry. U Boat indoors to tour.
Art Institute , where they filmed art scene in Ferris Bueller
Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger restaurant from SNL fame.
The Ledge glass area in the Old Sears Tower (could be crowded and may need ticket)
Millennium Park/the Bean
Beginning of Route 66
Fountain from Married with Children
Field Museum
Bike Food Tour

Enjoy!

Many great suggestions that I'll second. Also, when I was there last they had free hop on/hop off tourist buses that circulated around the more popular spots - museum campus, Navy Pier, Willis Tower, etc.

The entire museum campus is really nice. I really liked the Shedd Aquarium. Two really cool features were a cylindrical reef tank and an infinity pool for the dolphins that made it look like it connected to Lake Michigan.

The Tiffany glass museum on Navy Pier was unexpected and interesting.

Unless the weather is really socked in, go to the top of either the Hancock or Willis towers. Amazing views.

Boat tour. Architectural one is the one folks recommend but even just the cruise out toward the lighthouse and breakwater was impressive to me.

Grab a deep dish pizza. We stayed in River North on West Ohio and went to Pizzeria Ora - would eat there again.

Didn't do it but I really wanted to do the gangster tour to see the location of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre and other famous mob spots.

Last suggestion - look at the City Pass. Sometimes the are cliche but depending on what you decide to do it might save you a few bucks on admission fees.

I definitely would like to see Wrigley Field for a game one day. Been to several stadiums, that one is a bucket list

Even though I live in south Louisiana, I know about those months. Went to Jackson hole a few years ago in May. Dealt with snow and sleet

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Museum of Science and Industry. U Boat indoors to tour.

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We were in Chicago a few weeks ago and did this….it was amazing

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It appears she definitely does not want me with her. Lol

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You should go one day if she’ll let you. My wife has a clothing and gift shop with wedding registries, and I’ll tag along about half the time to gift market. I’ve come to really enjoy working it with her. She walks my arse into the ground though.

It’s pretty solid people watching too.

If it's at Merchandise Mart you should at least go walk around. The building itself is worth it.

Go grab a burger at the bar at Au Cheval. Get there at 11:00….i hate waiting in line. JMO, pass on the deep dish and just go with tavern style pizza. Zarella on N. Wells is a good spot, but they aren’t open for lunch Monday-Thursday.

Zarella