chicago bound help..chicano's

[Box and one]

Need a little advice on where to stay thur nite. in chicago.
I'vs got tickets to the Purdue-Notre dame game on saturday.my best freind and i are flying into Midway around noon on thurs sept 28th.we rented a car.this is my 1st time in chicago.
the question is where should we get a room for the nite.We are going to the Cubs-Rockies game on friday afternoon.then after the game we are going to valpariso where we have booked 2 nites at a hotel.
are there any hotels near wrigley field..walking distance.Or maybe close to the park.i'm meeting some friends at shoeless joes on thur nite.
need to get coordinated..
also what sites should we see on thur afternoon and friday before the Cubs game.
I would go to hotel.com but i don't want a hotel on the opposite side of town or far off.looking for a decent hotel. above motel 6,etc..Marroit,etc.. mid range..around $125-150..
any of you "chicano's"..please help
This is a true story.My freshman yr at North Texas i was a typical new yorker.18 yrs old..never been to Texas,etc. My 1st 3 or 4 weeks in denton i kept reading in the North Texas school newspaper there are meetings and clubs for "chicano's".
I never heard that word "chicano" before.I actually said while i was eating in the caferteria with my roomate from NY..."are there that many out of state students from the chicago area here at North texas".That story has become a legend..even at my daughters wedding in austin this year I had to go over to my north texas buddies table and tell it again..sometimes i'm amazed how far i got in life..
And it was at my daughters wedding the nite before in the hotel bar where me and my best friend were talking about 2 things we have never done. we said 'we both have never been to wrigley field to see a cubs game and to Notre dame to see a football game.Unbeknown to us Brother Bob a family friend who flew down to the wedding was listening to us. he is a Holy cross brother and graduate of ND and a close personnel friend of father hessburgh[former pres]
well 3 weeks ago 2 tickets were sent to me for the Purdue-ND game. Hows that for a dream come true..
anyway..any advice on where to stay and what to do??? thanks.

 

[The Boys]

Hi Box:

I'm in Chicago at least once a month and this is my favorite Hotel out of all of the dozen or so I've tried.............I found that if you deal with them direct they will deal with you a little on price.

http://www.sofitel.com/sofitel/fichehotel/gb/sof/2993/fiche_hotel.shtml

 

[The Boys]

Well forget that..........there prices are off the chart with such short notice???

 

[tpaine07]

Sorry I cant be of much help with the hotel situation... all I know is if you're looking for a pizza place, I posted this the last time someone wanted info about Chicago, you can't go with Lou Malnati's.

hope that helps some.

 

[Wineguy]

Have a great time Box!

 

[The Boys]

If your into walking around and people watching this is one of my favorites places:

http://www.millenniumpark.org/

 

[rrc]

Box, I live about 30 minutes from Valpo. Couple good restaurants out there...I'll get some names this week. In Valpo I'd say you're about an hour from South Bend.

 

[fatdaddycool]

Box,
Depending on which Shoeless Joes you are speaking of the only one I know of is on the corner of Manheim and Higgins which is close to several hotels of low to mid range quality and a few very nice ones. However you will not be close to Wrigley. You could get there on the "el" rather easily though. If you want to stay close to Wrigley there are much fewer options. You could stay downtown which isn't really that far from Wrigley but you're downtown. That has to count for something, although Wrigleyville is a gas before and after the game. Make sure you have a brat or burger before you go in at Murphys Bleachers, unbelievably good. I would probably look to stay somewhere in the Lincoln Park area if available. There are so many hotels it is hard to suggest one as I have family there and stay with them. If you need to know anything other than that I may be able to help you more. Have fun.

 

[IntenseOperator]

I'll get into this more tomorrow......

but FD is correct. Ton of places to stay right by Shoeless Joes out in Rosemont (and it's right down the street from one of the Harry Carey restaurants). You can cab it anywhere. I don't think there is a brand name hotel directly in the Wrigleyville area, but it's a 10-15 min cab from anywhere downtown where they are all at.

 

[genosays]

Hampton or Courtyard by Marriott are both downtown and good hotel options I have used before .... will probably be a little above the $$ amount you mentioned though .... however both of these are close to train stop (Red line) which will get you to Wrigley in 15 minutes or so .... after Cubs game you could hang around Wrigleyville area (plenty of bars there) for awhile and then catch train back downtown to finish off the night at Mother Hubbards (sportsbar very close to the Hampton & Ctyd Marriott) or any number of other places (Blue Chicago if you are into music, i.e. the blues) .... like any big city there are of course many options, but that is what my buddies & I do on our annual (or semi-annual) Cubs trip .... you will love the Wrigley field experience and Chicago is a great city to party in, so have fun Box!!

 

[ctownguy]

box,

I did the same thing about 6 or 7 years ago with my brother in law.

Never been to a Cubs game either so we went for a Cubs weekend. Stayed at a hotel downtown best place to be in Chicago I was told and we took the EL every time to the games and it was cheap and great.

We hit all the local Bars around the park and all the Pizza places downtown. Great Trip.

 

[sportsnut13]

Box I will send you an e-mail

 

[rrc]

Box, the restaurant in Valpo is...

Clayton's
66 W. Lincolnway

219-531-0612

Have never been there, but a lot of friends have eaten there and really enjoyed it. Kind of a smaller place, so you may want to call them and make reservations. gl

 

[rrc]

Do you have your tickets yet for Friday's game?

Do you have your tickets yet for Friday's game?

If not get my email from Jack, I might have access to a couple.

 

[IntenseOperator]

Lot's of good restaurants/bars all around the Damen and Milwaukee area (Bucktown). Very trendy and yuppified but the many restaurants are all very good. Big time competition going on there and it's hopping every night. If you don't like the look or feel of one place, walk next door to the next. There are a ton of them within a couple blocks. Upper end food & service but very casual.

My suggestions......

Restaurant/bars....
Silver Cloud
Iggy's
Northside Grill

bars

Maria's Riptide Lounge (only after 2pm), Armitage and the Kennedy Exp across from the BP station

 

[Box and one]

Thank you all for all the responses..
Still confused a little
Boys..thanks for the millenium
fatdaddy..can i take the el or subway from near shoelessjoes to wrigley the next day?
Intense O..same question..
sportnut- I e-mailed you.
When i arrive at Midway,rent a car...then what?
Downtown hotels are pretty expensive.Just need a place between wrigley or near the El.
where ever I stay after the Cub game were leaving for valpariso.. so do i want to be on that side of the city??
maybe just wing it and look for a place.should i get a hotel near midway airport? how far is that from downtown.

 

[IntenseOperator]

Shoeless Joes is at the corner of higgins and Manheim....

http://tripsweb.rtachicago.com/cgi-bin/itin.pl

starting page....

http://tripsweb.rtachicago.com/

PS

I don't know much about the Midway Airport area. But of what I do know( the dump town of Cicero, Ill), I wouldn't recommend staying anywhere near there.

 

[IntenseOperator]

There is a hotel directly across the street from Shoeless Joes that's cheap and decent (been there myself). There are a ton of hotels in the Rosemont area to stay. Check the net if you desire and check out any brand name chain. Cab fair gonna cost you a couple beans to get from Midway to Ohare (Rosemont area) but I think it's well worth it if you are not staying downtown. Only thing decent about Cicero is a couple nice real deal Mexican restaurants, a horse racetrack, and it's history of Al Capone and ability to incubate various communicable diseases with it's current working girls.

 

[rrc]

Wrigley field to Valpo...

Wrigley field to Valpo...

About 1 1/2 hrs or so

 

[spuds]

Box, Not sure I can help a great deal but Ive been to Rosemont for several Dave Matthews Band concerts and have stayed in the Rosemont area and its not bad. Theres a hotel with Harry Carrys and this is a great resturaunt if looking for steaks and seafood. just a couple blocks away is shoeless joes which is good place to party and they serve food late. If you go to shoeless joes you have to get the badabing sandwich very good. There is also a hotel right around the corner from shoeless is rosemont arena parking lot thats nice w/ a bar. Rosemont is out by Ohara. We cabbed it one time from rosemont to wrigley and i think it was like $20 or $25 bucks for my brother and I. Also took the el downtown to the espn sportszone and a few bars. would have to cab from rosemont to el station but not bad like $5 bucks. Also good pizza place at rosemont called ginos. very good. hope this helps as im from south of st. louis but always had fun at rosemont.