Chicago and Milwaukee - Baseball and Frank Lloyd Wright trip

I could use some advice on a few things and would appreciate any thoughts on my iteneray. I will also post this in the Milwaukee Forum. We are a family of 4 with two teenage sons (13 and 15), and architect husband fying from Richmond to Milwaukee for our April 5-12 Spring Break. I found very cheap airfare and thought ';why not';...even if it may be cold up there.

Arrive Sunday 4/5, 9:30 pm: We would need to stay at an airport area hotel with a shuttle the first night so that we can catch the shuttle back to the airport for transportation to Chicago the next day. I was thinking about the Clarion.

Monday: Looking into either Amtrak (hubby%26#39;s preference) or the Megabus to get into Chicago and back. I have reservations for 3 nights at a new Comfort Suites at 340 North Michigan Avenue that is scheduled to open March 30th. How is this area to stay? It looks as if an Execustay by Marriott is in the same building right now (I wonder if Choice Hotels are taking over this space). We would check out Navy Pier and Sears Tower (or Hancock?). Other? We don%26#39;t HAVE to shop. Should we get a ';Chicago Greeter';?

Tuesday: CTA into Oak Park to do the Frank Lloyd Wright walking and studio/home tour. Maybe take in a Bulls/Knicks game on the way back into the city. Is this worthwhile? How is the area around the subway stop and walk to Union Center? Are there shuttles to the Center? I don%26#39;t mind walking if there will be other folks heading our way.

Wednesday: White Sox game, time TBD. Will get tickets on eBay or when the individual tickets go on sale. Any good ';heated'; seats? Ha. Would like to to a river boat tour. I don%26#39;t think the CAF tours are running that early in April so can someone recommend another tour group?

Will definately take the Wrigely tour since the Cubs are out of town the whole week we are there. Is there a good restaurant in the area that may have a Cubs game on tv?

I am not specifically asking about restaurants since I can find those on this site, but if anyone knows of anywhere two teen boys must eat...besides pizza since we know were to go for that....I will be wide open!

Thurs: Head back to Milwaukee. Get a rental car. Do the Miller Brewery tour and eat sausages (where?) and ';custard'; (where?). We have reservations at the Iron Horse Hotel for 3 nights which I found on Tripadvisor.

Friday: Drive to Racine and tour the Johnson Wax bulding and Wingspreader (more FLW). Is there anything else in the area or ';must eat'; places? I understand there are fish frys on Friday nights in Milwaukee. Is there any one we must go to? It is opening day for the Brewers, so we may need to eat early.

Saturday: Need help here. Is it worth driving to Spring Green to tour Taliesin (FLW home and studio)? They offer only the 2-hr shuttle/walk tours only on the weekends and we would need to do the 10:30 am tour so that we can get back to the Brewers/Cubs 6:30 game. If we don%26#39;t do Taleisin, what else could we do besides possible the Art Musuem or Zoo (brrr!). I feel like we will be soooo close since we live in Virginia that I feel like we must make an extra effort to go if it is worth it.

Sunday: Easter Brunch somewhere? Harley Davidson Museum and leave for 3:15 flight.

Other: Is there a comedy club in Chicago or Milwaukee that offer ';appropriate'; shows for teens? Does anyone know if the 3-day CTA passes are for 3-24 hour periods or for the day you purchase and the next two?

Thanks in advance for any help and advice you can send my way!

Chicago and Milwaukee - Baseball and Frank Lloyd Wright trip

Nice bit of planning there! Your hotel is in a very convenient area, although most of the buildings are office space. I have a few comments on the rest -

Monday: if you take Amtrak or MegaBus from the Milwaukee area, you%26#39;ll end up at/near Union Station, which is very close to the Sears Tower. Ordinarily, we steer people away from Sears in favor of the Hancock, but when you are within a couple of blocks I think the Sears would work. The engineering, by Fazlur Khan, is remarkable. While you are in the area, take a look at the Board of Trade and Rookery (along LaSalle from Adams to Jackson). You could continue to your hotel if you don%26#39;t mind a walk of about a mile and a half in total.

Tuesday - Oak Park to the United Center can be done via public transportation, but some of the area near the United Center is dangerous. I believe you would want to take the Green Line out to Oak Park, but use the Blue Line to the United Center, which would minimize your walk at that end. The eastbound number 20 bus will take you back to your hotel. Or, you could possibly take the Green Line to one of the restaurants on the west side which have shuttle buses to the United Center.

Wednesday - If you wanted to include Robie House on the U of Chicago campus, this would be a good spot for it. The boys would enjoy the neighborhood, and might even get a look at Barack Obama%26#39;s house. You would have to take a cab to US Cellular Field, but could catch the Red Line train back to the Loop. Or, consider picking up your rental car a day early to make this easier.

Thursday - Have you considered heading to Spring Green first, then to Milwaukee? The house tours are offered every day. I think you would save some driving. It%26#39;s about 2.5 hours to Madison and another hour to Taliesin.

I%26#39;ll let the Wisconsinites comment on the rest of the week. I hope you can squeeze in a CAF tour while you are here: www.architecture.org

Chicago and Milwaukee - Baseball and Frank Lloyd Wright trip

I%26#39;ll try to answer a few of your questions:

The hotel you mention is just south of the river on Michigan Ave. It is a pretty good location, especially since you are planning to head out to Oak Park on the Green Line. It is just a few blocks to the State/Lake elevated station.

I did the Frank Lloyd Wright studio and home tour last year. It is a bit of a hike from the train stop. There is supposedly some sort of free shuttle bus that takes people there, but I never saw it so I wouldn%26#39;t rely on it. Definitely buy your tickets in advance on the website, though.

The neighborhood around the United Center is not the best and I wouldn%26#39;t recommend walking around there at night if you are unfamiliar with the area. The #19 bus provides service to the United Center during games.

If the weather turns cold, you might want to go to the Garfield Park Conservatory. It is just off the Green Line at the Conservatory stop. It is free and makes for a nice, warm place to stroll around in.

One other thing that I forgot to mention, the 3-day CTA passes are good for 72 hours from the time of first use. You can buy them whenever you want and even order them online before your visit. Also, the Green Line is elevated, not in a subway. Climb up the stairs on the north side of Lake Street at State to catch your train.

For the United Center, you can catch the #20 bus on Madison in the loop and it drops you right at the front door. The facility is just a little west of downtown so taking a cab will be less cumbersome and not too expensive. It can be dangerous around there so you won%26#39;t want to walk around at night. Just cab in/cab out or bus in/bus out. I would definitley go to a Bulls game--they are alot of fun, even if you aren%26#39;t a huge basketball fan. They have all kinds of fun things going on like contests and game cards, etc that are really entertaining during time outs and half time, etc. Regarding Sears Tower vs. Hancock: definitley do the Hancock. Even if you are closer to Sears Tower, Hancock is not far away and the views at the Hancock are much better than The Tower. Also, Hancock has a new, interactive viewing deck but if you want to skip the deck and go directly to the 96th floor, there is a bar and you can take a drink and see the views from there as well. The boys can have hot chocolate.

Near your hotel:

Boston Blackies

164 East Grand Avenue

(312) 938-8700

great burgers

Near Wrigley Field:

Harry Caray%26#39;s Tavern

3551 N. Sheffield

(773) 327-7800

Goose Island Wrigleyville

3535 N. Clark St.

(773) 832-9040

Kid-friendly comedy - http://www.comedysportzchicago.com/

Good eats on your way up north:

http://www.franksdinerkenosha.com/

I%26#39;ll 2nd the recommendation for ComedySportz which is all age appropriate, we just took my 14 and 15 year old nephew and niece and they enjoyed it. After the show, we took them over to Ala Turka, a Turkish restaurant about a mile away. They have belly dancing on the weekends (Thurs-Sun) but it looks like you will be in Milwaukee for those days. Also along that stretch of Belmont is a store called Uncle Fun, we took another one of our niece%26#39;s there at her request. Another option might be Blue Man Group.

In Milwaukee if you want to try German food, Mader%26#39;s is the more well known place, I like the food better at Karl Ratzsch%26#39;s but it is more expensive.

I don%26#39;t know if your husband would enjoy this book but you might since you%26#39;ll be visiting so many FLW places, ';Loving Frank'; by Nancy Horan, a novel about the affair between him and Mamah Cheney. The Cheney House in Oak Park was designed by FLW and Taliesin is featured in the novel.

The last time I went to a Sox game we stopped by Chinatown 1st and had lunch and then headed to Sox Park, they are both stops on the red line. You can go for dim sum or for a regular Chinese meal.

I think you can also take Metra (commuter train) out to Oak Park, it%26#39;s more expensive and runs less frequently but you might feel more comfortable on it.

I took some friends on a Chicago Greeter tour and I think they enjoyed it, you might consider that if you go down to see the Robie House in Hyde Park. They will likely meet you at the Cultural Center in downtown Chicago and then give you a 1 day CTA pass and get you to/from Hyde Park. You can%26#39;t get near Obama%26#39;s house anymore, it%26#39;s blocked off by secret service. You can get a glimpse of it though as it%26#39;s a corner house and they can%26#39;t block off the east/west street running past it (E. Hyde Park Blvd %26amp; Greenwood)

Regarding the Bulls/Knicks game: the cheap seats at United Center, IMO, are not worth the price. I would not get less than the front row or two of the 300 level. ($60)

The White Sox are planning to invite Barack Obama to throw out the first pitch on Monday, April 6th, so it might be worth it to look for tickets to that game instead. (Obama is from the South Side and is an avid White Sox fan.)

I know that you can take Amtrak right from the airport in Milwaukee, not sure if you can do that with megabus or if you would have to go into downtown Milwaukee. I do Amtrak now and then and can recommend it. As to the White Sox game, if you can get tickets on the 300 level, they are expensive but give you access to the club level (not the stadium club), which is an inside, heated area that has its own food and a full bar at one end. Otherwise, get 100 level tickets (shouldn%26#39;t be a problem) so that you can access the entire stadium, 500 level tickets can%26#39;t access the lowers level. Even though the kids are teens, they will enjoy the are by left field that has batting cages, etc., even though it%26#39;s referred to as a kids area. As far as the Bulls game, I would stick to the Madison bus referred to by a previous poster or a cab, which are plentiful, as you%26#39;re not familiar with the area. The Art Museum in Milwaukee is fabulous and definitely worth a visit. You can stop at the Brat Stop (Highway 50 and I-94, Kenosha) and get your brats there. I like Leon%26#39;s for frozen custard, it is on 27th Street, other people recommend Gillie%26#39;s and/or Kopps, all are excellent. Turner Hall has a Fish fry on Fridays, it is directly behind Mader%26#39;s (love the sauerbraten) and across from the Bradley Center. Have you thought about renting a car in Chicago and driving to Milwaukee, doing the Racine tour and the Brat stop on the way?

This sounds like a great trip for everyone in the family! We really enjoy the Chicago Architecture walking tours. There is one of Historic Skyscrapers and one of Modern Skyscrapers. Each takes about two hours. If I could choose one, I think I would choose the historic one, but that may be personal taste. These are walking tours with volunteer leaders. I am not sure that your boys would enjoy them, although I have been on them with teens (variable interest!).

I am a ';nervous nellie'; about travel plans. Are you ';sure'; the hotel will be open (that is only 5 days after the announced opening date)? Have you considered making a reservation that you can cancel without penalty (24 or 48 hours ahead of arrival) in case you learn that the hotel opening has been delayed?

This sounds like a super spring break.