GatewayRedbirds.com

That aquarium isn't a little disappointing, it's colossally disappointing. People aren't honest with their visit there because 1) it's work and money to get there and people don't want to invest in something that is bad so they can't admit it to themselves just how bad it is and 2) you are supposed to like those cultural things so you feel funny being honest.

No. It's a horrible aquarium. Go to Baltimore or Miami and see those, and tell me that the one in Chicago isn't worse than third rate. It's dingy and awful.

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"Boy, that was exciting. I always say it ain't over til it's over, but that one should've been over a while ago." ~ Yogi Berra

Eh, I go to Chicago a few times a year, and I generally really enjoy it. And yes, I definitely thought New York was depressing each time I went there (3 or 4 weeks over the past 4 years). Mainly because you really get the vibe the place is a people factory, and there's very little color in the city aside from the ugly graffiti that's everywhere there.

I think the beautiful weather we've had in St. Louis lately has made me a little less receptive to other cities. Chicago is entirely flat, which I can't stand, and I spent a lot of my time in the northwest suburbs, which hasn't aged that well. It's nothing like riding around St. Louis seeing all the great parks, beautiful old brick buildings, and people just seem happy lately. It seemed like I didn't see a single person smiling in Chicago and everybody was overweight and puffing smoke out their car windows.

Then this morning I rode my bike through Forest Park, where everybody was running or riding a bike, and people were smiling. Yea, Forest Park and the Chicago northwest suburbs aren't comparable for St. Louis vs. Chicago, but hopefully when I go back in a month or so to see a game at Wrigley I enjoy it more.

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NW Suburbs of Chicago are the pits. The worst of suburban sprawl. The highlight is a shopping mall in a town called Schaumburg. And it is flat as flat can be, don't let the towns names fool you. Mount Prospect ... Arlington Heights. Rolling Meadows. Bull [expletive]. What the hell were they smoking when they named those?

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"Boy, that was exciting. I always say it ain't over til it's over, but that one should've been over a while ago." ~ Yogi Berra

I love visiting Chicago. It helps that my sister-in-law lives in Chinatown, so so much of the city is readily accessible by car or mass transit. Next best thing is my wife went to school there, and so I just pick my family's brains for restaurant picks and directions, and don't have to wrestle with the details of the city as much.

You can still enjoy yourself at Shedd, but it definitely has a lot of downside. It's worth a visit if you have time, or like me every couple years or so, but it's not worth the hassle to go out of your way.

As someone who lives in the northwestern suburbs, I'll stick up for them a bit. The metra extends all the way out there to give quick access to the city, there's not any traffic outside waiting an extra turn at a stop light at busy intersections at busy times, there's a pretty expansive forest preserve system that's nice, and most of the suburbs have pretty nice downtown areas. Needs more hills, I guess? I wouldn't put that in the top 50 or so reasons to live somewhere, but some people like their hills I suppose.

I love it too. Although I was there a week or two ago for just a day and a half on business, and after walking around the loop all day - magnificent mile, the cool mirror thing, decent Thai place for late lunch/early dinner, some tea place with a good bubble tea - I was looking for a nice, hopping bar for a few drinks. By nice I don't mean fancy and expensive, just decent and with a nice crowd. I don't know if I was just in the wrong part of the loop at that time or what, but I couldn't find [expletive]. I finally asked a local if there was a decent bar within a few blocks, and he pointed me to some place called the Sky-Ride Tap, which was a [expletive] dive. Wouldn't have been too bad, but there just wasn't much of a crowd. Plus the layout didn't lend itself to drunken socializing with random people; too long and skinny.

Thought about posting on GRB for a recommendation, but didn't think I'd get a response on a Friday night and my phone was dead anyway.

To me St. Louis is too flat. It's just something that if you grew up with hills, you'll miss them when you're in flat areas. I love seeing downtown Cincinnati from the cut in the hill and seeing Mt. Adams looking over the city. Flat areas depress me, and with my new-found passion for cycling, I do appreciate having some hills in St. Louis to help me kick my ass a little harder when out for rides.

I do like that from my uncle's place in the NW suburbs I can walk just a few blocks to catch a train downtown, but I've said it many times, I love visiting Chicago, I don't want to live there, though. I was born near Chicago and spent a year of my childhood living in the NW suburbs, but it's just too damn cold, and all the other stuff I said.

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The NW suburbs are the most blah set of towns I have ever seen. It's just suburban sprawl run amuck. It feels to me like it's stuck in time ... like about 1975 because I'm guessing that's when most of the houses/businesses were built. They still have supper clubs for god's sake with those gaudy signs that were common on the old Las Vegas strip. And the Woodfield area ... do I need to say anything more? I lived in Lake Zurich for a while and liked it out there actually but that was pretty far out there and am not sure it's the same class as the Mount Prospect's and Des Plaines (pronounce the 's''s of course - the one town name that makes some sense in that area and they screwed the pronunciation of it) of the area.

I'm trying to decide whether to stay at the Days Inn($109) near Wrigley or a B and B ($99) 3 blocks from the park. The B/B is actually cheaper and I don't think they sock you with the hotel tax although I could be wrong. Parking is free as well - that's at least $20 or more. So I might be looking at a $40-50 difference between the two. Going to the Tues night and then Wed afternoon games and don't want to make that miserable drive. Dumping your car and leaving it for the duration of the visit is priority #1 on any Chicago visit for me.

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"Boy, that was exciting. I always say it ain't over til it's over, but that one should've been over a while ago." ~ Yogi Berra

Chicago has suburbs? What kind of people live there?

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Silence is golden.

People in $30 jeans

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