2.
Chicago has somewhere around 7000 restaurants from all sorts of ethnic backgrounds and price ranges. While the more upscale restaurants provide a nice ambiance, it would be almost sinful not to try some of the simpler foods Chicago is so well-known for pizza, hot dogs, steak and Fannie May candy.
3.
Chicago is home to three of the world's tallest buildings, including the 1454-foot Sears Tower. Big, it is! Able to accommodate the 14,000 people that work there, the tower houses 800 bathrooms too! Not to mention that if all the cables and wires enclosed in the building were laid end to end, they would circle the earth's equator two times!
4.
If you like Ferris wheels Navy Pier is a must! A former U.S. Navy Training facility and a campus of the University of Illinois, Navy Pier reopened in 1995 after a $196 million facelift. The 150-foot Ferris wheel at this number-one Chicago attraction is open from May until December.
5.
If cheesecake is your weakness, stop by Eli's the Place for Steak. On second thought, maybe you shouldn't! With over 100 varieties of cheesecake, it may be too much for you to bear!
6.
When driving around the Windy City, be sure to mind your P's & Q's. This is a city that's not afraid to give tickets. Over 3 million traffic violations are given every year. To put that into perspective, that's one ticket for every man, woman and child living in Chicago.
7.
For a real shopping experience, try Niketown. This is really the ultimate in a sports fan's paradise. If you're in the market for new Nike's, pick out a pair and cruise on over to the 5th floor basketball court for a test drive!
8.
Chicago is highly impacted when trade show conventioneers come into town. The bad news for tourists is that when a convention is taking place, you can be sure that almost every hotel room within a 100-mile radius of the Loop is booked, and rental cars are scarce. The good news is, the large conventions and trade shows seem to show no effect on availability of cabs and reservations at restaurants.
9.
For a little luck of the Irish, stop by Fadó Irish Pub in the Windy City's River North area. Originally built in Ireland, this authentic pub was disassembled, shipped to Chicago, and rebuilt by Irish craftsmen.
10.
It was in 1871 that fire ravaged Chicago, destroying more than 17,000 buildings, leaving more than 100,000 people homeless and killing 250. It should come as no surprise that Engine Company 98 was the first firehouse in the US equipped with a pole for firemen to slide down. Originally made of wood, the pole was eventually made of brass to avoid painful splinters.
