Hotels By City: Cheap Hotels, Hotel Guides & Hotel Blogs

If you have kids who like trains, one of the coolest things you can do in Chicago this Christmas season is go to the Botanic Garden. The Wonderland Express, located at the site's Regenstein Center, is full of holiday fun and fantasy.

 You'll travel through rooms and halls decorated with gingerbread houses and wreaths of candy, along with Christmas trees (of course). Then you'll come to the trains--traveling through and around evergreen displays, ...

There's still plenty of time to get out and enjoy the many Halloween festivities this town has to offer. My pick for a ghoulishly fun time this year, if you're from out of town and looking for a scary, hip and happening celebration: Navy Fear at Navy Pier.

Navy Pier's Halloween Celebration includes Demons of the Deep and Ghostly Gardens. You can experience Demons Mild or Demons Wild, depending on your ...

Starting Friday, you can celebrate Halloween right here in the city. The 11th annual Chicagoween festival will take place Oct. 12-Oct. 31 at Daley Plaza. The civic center plaza features many events throughout the year, from markets to political rallies--but for the last half of October, it'll play host to a ghostly, ghoul-filled event that's the centerpiece of Chicago's Halloween celebration, and it'll be renamed Pumpkin Plaza. Rumor has it this ...

The Billy Goat Tavern is a legend here in Chicago, and it was one long before "Saturday Night Live" parodied it in the mid-‘70s. You know that curse on the Cubs, the one involving the goat? Well, it was the original owner of the Billy Goat, William Sianis, who was responsible for that. When he was not allowed to bring his goat into a 1945 World Series game, he cursed ...

You may know The Second City as an incubator for comedians like Mike Myers, Tim Meadows, Bonnie Hunt, Jim Belushi, Bill Murray and many others. The improv troupe's connection with "Saturday Night Live" has been well-documented. Once called the Compass Players when the group started in the mid-1950s at the University of Chicago, this Chicago treasure is still going strong. I have a friend who insists on attending a show ...

As you know by now, Chicago is famous for its deep-dish pizza--covered in lots of gooey cheese and bubbly tomato sauce, usually with spicy pieces of sausage and a thick, thick crust. You can get these delectable pies anywhere in this city, but those of us who live here know that one deep-dish pie is not interchangeable with another. For example, my husband's favorite is Lou Malnati's because of its ...

I don't know about you, but the muggy heat and gloomy weather in Chicago is getting to me these days. I'd rather spend my days in air-conditioned comfort. Fortunately, Chicago is a mecca of culture. That's why I recommend some of this area's many low-key museums for weeks like this...

Mitchell Museum of the American Indian
3001 Central St. Evanston

If you're interested in the history and culture of North American Native peoples, ...

August is always chock full of fun in Chicago, and one of the reasons is this weekend's 49th Annual Chicago Air & Water Show. The great thing about this exciting event is that you don't have to be in one particularly crowded area to see the planes and boats, although it does help if you're near the lakefront. In the past few years it always seems like we're always at baseball games ...

For those of you looking off the beaten path in Chicago, allow me to recommend Cafe LaGuardia, located at 2111 W. Armitage in the Bucktown neighborhood.  Cafe LaGuardia is family owned.  The first time I ventured here with my boyfriend, we were actually seated by the owner's mother!

The menu is fantastic.  Features include traditional Cuban food with pork and seafood in the spotlight, and awesome mojitos.  There are daily specials, and the ever popular "Taste ...

I do a lot of walking, living in Chicago.  This is something that I have come to take for granted, since I do it every day, but I realize that many Americans do not get the chance to walk to their destinations.  Chicago is a great city to see on foot.  What I've put together here are a few short walks that you can take to see some of Chicago's cooler ...