<p>Regarding Second City–the earlier shows are less crude than the late ones. I took my kids when they were about that age–they were pretty savvy, and I knew unlikely to take things the wrong way. Just make sure the other parents are OK with it. It’s quite cool to be able to say they went–especially if they’re SNL fans and know the history!</p>
<p>Which airport hotel? The ones on River Road in Rosemont are walking distance to the train to downtown. The ones on Mannheim are not.</p>
<p>Are we talking Midway or O’Hare?</p>
<p>Second City is great! I took a ton of friends there last year from out of town and they all could not stop laughing even after it ended. The improvisation performance after the main show is a must.</p>
<p>There’s also just the fact that Chicago is awesome. Much better than Los Angeles (feh), or Philadelphia (more feh).</p>
<p>A fun restaurant in Chicago is Ed Debevic’s which is a 50s-type diner where the wait staff will insult you (kindly) and will dance on the counters and entertain you. We always bring visitors there and they love it. Also recommend the Chicago Architectural Tour (by boat on the river) which sounds dry but really isn’t, especially for eggheads! The Shedd Aquarium is also great as is the Museum of Science and Industry as mentioned above. I concur with Millenium Park to visit The Bean! </p>
<p>Have fun; it’s an awesome city.</p>
<p>It sounds like you’ll only have evenings free. My son went to Second City with his synagogue high school youth group and loved it (he’s a bit of an egghead seeing as he’s at Carnegie Mellon in Comp Sci). He also LOVED Blue Man Group. Either or both of those would make a great evening.</p>
<p>Navy Pier is also a great evening destination. <a href=“http://www.navypier.com/home.html[/url]”>http://www.navypier.com/home.html</a> There will be fireworks on May 26 and 27. If they like theater, try the Chicago Shakespeare theater - it has fantastic views of the city: <a href=“http://www.chicagoshakes.com/[/url]”>http://www.chicagoshakes.com/</a> If you go to the theater you get guaranteed (not free) parking. My son’s high school often took groups. They would also enjoy the ferris wheel at the pier, and there’s a fantastic free stained glass museum. The food court would satisfy anyone of that age. If the weather is nice the kids might enjoy this boat: <a href=“http://www.seadogcruises.com/ChicagoSpeedboatLakeTour.cfm[/url]”>http://www.seadogcruises.com/ChicagoSpeedboatLakeTour.cfm</a> Keep in mind the pier will be packed that weekend but that might be part of the fun.</p>
<p>And Millenium Park is always worth a visit - teens really enjoy the Bean and the fountains - but I think it’s better in the daytime.</p>
<p>For one evening you could eat at The Cheesecake Factory at ground level of the Hancock building (I know it’s a chain, but teens do like to eat there) then go up to the top - weather permitting - for the fabulous view. <a href=“http://www.hancock-observatory.com/[/url]”>http://www.hancock-observatory.com/</a> If you get to Michigan Avenue while the stores are open head down to Garmin (very cool; it’s their first retail store) and the Apple Store; also try to get to Garrett’s Popcorn for the best caramel corn in the world.</p>
<p>If you do have time for a museum then I think your group would most enjoy Science & Industry (based on my son’s reactions). So many buttons to push! The museum also has an Omnimax theater.</p>
<p>Come to the Field Museum of Natural History…because I WORK THERE. </p>
<p>Just come by the McDonald’s Fossil Preparation Laboratory (on the second floor, up the stairs near Corner Bakery on the left side of Stanley Field Hall) and you will see my supervisor and me working on dinosaur (and other prehistoric organism) fossils. </p>
<p>I haven’t started up again yet, but there is a chance I will go back this month. If not in May, almost certainly in July. </p>
<p>Enjoy the Museum Campus and the rest of Chicago!</p>
<p>We’re staying at the Crowne Plaza near O’Hare. I’m told it’s near public transportation.</p>
<p>Great location … free shuttle from airport, walk to the train station! Once upon a time (eg gads, nearly 30 years ago) I worked in one of the first office towers in Rosemont. </p>
<p>Pretty much only hotel restaurants within walking distance – but not that long a cab ride to some good pizza! I think it was the Crowne Plaza I had a nice meal in last October with my pet store budds.</p>
<p>The Crowne Plaza is near public transportation, but there’s not much out there besides the airport and related businesses - not much to see or do for the kids at all. The hotel has an indoor pool, and there is a swath of forest preserve close by (the forest preserve would only be open during daylight hours). You may want to decide in advance what your policies are for those two attractions. There is also an enormous Las-Vegas-collides-with-Prairie-style fountain a mile or so north of your hotel that the kids would probably have a good time visiting for a while.</p>
<p>The Blue Line train to the city has been having some problems, so the trains are compelled to slow down in several zones, making the trip downtown close to an hour. You’ll emerge along Clark or Dearborn Street; for the northern parts of the city, you’ll have to transfer at Jackson Boulevard to the Red Line. All this takes time, so I’m wondering how much you’ll have left to enjoy the sights. Note that the FLW Home, the museums, and the architecture boat tour are strictly daytime ventures on Fridays-Sundays. </p>
<p>One evening could certainly be well spent seeing the sculptures and buildings downtown and visiting Millennium Park and Buckingham Fountain, with no time constraints. The kids will probably want to go up in the Sears Tower, and that stays open fairly late (but the views are better in daylight). Navy Pier stays open until 10 and there are fireworks on Saturdays in the summer - check the website. Second City is fine for older teens, IMO - the humor is political and situational, not the gross-out kind. You will hear a half-dozen f-words, if that’s a concern. Check chireader.com and metromix.com for entertainment listings. Also, look into group rates at theaters, etc. Feel free to PM me with any questions.</p>
<p>Even though the Sears Tower is taller, I think the Hancock skydeck has better views, and it is located near other tourist attractions. It’s also not too far from Pizzerias Uno and Due (the originals).</p>
<p>Allow lots of time for the Blue Line and transfers. O’Hare is a long way from downtown.</p>
<p>I limited my response, becasue it appears they only have a couple evenings and with HS students, so there will be restircitons. The museumas will probably be closed, and so will many of the attractions. Therefore, loved the Second City (but it can and will be bawdy), bandshell concert and ballgame ideas for evening activities with HS kids. Now, start a thread on the best hotdogs! That should really get something started, and yes, you need to sample some of those.</p>
<p>Tickets to ball games are not always easy to get. If the White Sox are in town, call as soon as you can the public relations office and tell them you are coming to Chicago for an academic event and inquire about the possibility of purchasing tickets for the group, and if possible, ask if it would be possible to display the group’s name during the game. It will be a big thrill for the kids. I have found the White Sox to be most accommodating, especially for academic purposes.</p>
<p>Some of the museums do, from time-to-time have evening events, check online. Millennium Park is fun in the evening as well.</p>
<p>I know it was mention earlier, but the Chicago River boat tour is really fascinating. The one you want is Wendella’s Chicago River Architecture Tour.
I had been to Chicago many times and always passed it off as a tourist trap. But a friend of mine suggested I take it and boy am I glad I did. It’s a great history lesson on Chicago, and a unique visual perspectives of the city. You can catch it under the Michigan Avenue bridge, across the street from the Wrigley Building (which also has a great story).</p>
<p>You guys are making Chicago sound too enticing.
I had talked myself out of going to Lollapoolza ( I only really wanted to go for the main event anyway), even though my H is easy and thinks we have the budget for it.
I did want to see a baseball game- The Mets are playing the Cubs the weekend we would be there- I was looking forward to seeing a game I wasn’t too emotionally invested in 
( plus I was hoping for Eddie Vedder to sing the anthem- he likes baseball so much, he even goes to the Cubs fantasy camp 
)
Grant Park also sound beautiful & the museums make Seattles sound pretty sad.
Im researching hotels anyway.</p>
<p>They also have evening boat tours that begin, I believe, near Buckingham Fountain (also a great attraction).</p>
<p>I think you mean this company, idad, but they aren’t cheap
<a href=“http://www.shorelinesightseeing.com/archboattours/laketour.php[/url]”>http://www.shorelinesightseeing.com/archboattours/laketour.php</a></p>
<p>However, the best regarded tour is through <a href=“http://www.architecture.org%5B/url%5D”>www.architecture.org</a>, but I don’t see how the hours would work with this group. </p>
<p>As someone mentioned previously, the Hancock skydeck is just as good, if not better than the Sears. (You can also go to the restaurant/bar on the 95th floor of the Hancock and get a beverage with the same view.) The Sears is much closer to the Blue Line train, though.</p>
<p>10TH grade son and band marched in the St Patrick’s parade, and did many of the things listed - I haven’t read all the posts - they took a “Gangster Tour”, pronounced it awesome, they also saw Wicked, but had tix way ahead of time.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.citysegwaytours.com/chicago/[/url]”>http://www.citysegwaytours.com/chicago/</a> Tons of fun. The kids will love it!</p>
<p>The segway tours look really fun. Great suggestion!</p>