<p>MeHappyKid - are you familiar with Yelp- very helpful site, for restaurants, hotels, activities. For the most part they are legitimate 'user" reviews, and I’ve found some great suggestions from Yelpers.</p>
<p>Got the flight booked and today use priceline, put 69 offer for 4 star hotel, got hyatt regency hotel in millennium park area. Include tax, less than 99. Happy about it.</p>
<p>Just have to add–I’m eating a Valentine Frango mint as I’m reading this. Frangos are one of the best things about Chicago! Since you’re staying in Millenium Park, do go by the Bean if the weather permits. (And we get to see Willie Nelson at the Chicago Theater on March 18!)</p>
<p>The Italian beef sandwiches in Chicago are excellent. Ask the locals. Roma’s on Cicero just a couple of blocks south of Montrose, for instance.</p>
<p>^We used to live near Montrose and Cicero! A bit out of the way for someone staying at Millenium Park but great food in the neighborhood. Susie’s Drive In on Montrose has the best fries ever!</p>
<p>For a great Italian Beef in the Loop, try Al’s Italian Beef on West Adams.</p>
<p>There is NO “over age 21” age requirement for Second City. The FAQ section on their website says anyone age 10 or older is allowed into the theater.
I think our kids were 15 and 13 the first time we took them, but they may have been a year younger.</p>
<p>We live in the Chicago suburbs, but we go downtown once a year at Christmas and stay at the Kimpton Hotel Monaco, really close to the river and Michigan Ave. Great service, and the windows have large window seats with comfy cushions (at least in the rooms facing the street?).</p>
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<p>I’ve forgotten - who did Marshall Fields become? MIL used to send our kids boxes of Frango mints…they knew what they were before they unwrapped them because of the yummy smell.</p>
<p>^Macys. So sad.</p>
<p>No more Uncle Mistletoe.</p>
<p>^^ Well, Marshall Field’s did ultimately became Macy’s. But the story is a little more complicated. Marshall Field & Co., was bought out in 1982 by British American Tobacco (BATUS), which bought the Marshall Field name along with the properties, kept the Marshall Field’s name on the stores, and even opened some new Marshall Field’s stores in markets like Texas. BATUS already owned Gimbel’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Kohl’s. A few years later, it shut down Gimbel’s and switched some of its former Gimbel’s stores to the Marshall Field’s brand. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, Dayton’s department stores in Minnesota, which had already launched its discount subsidiary Target, bought out the J.L. Hudson department stores in Detroit. In 1990, Dayton-Hudson (which had kept the Dayton’s brand in Minnesota and the Hudson’s brand in Detroit) bought Marshall Field’s from BATUS, and then proceeded to re-brand its Dayton’s and Hudson’s stores as Marshall Field’s, figuring that brand had greater cachet although it was the subsidiary and Dayton-Hudson the boss. Then in 2000 Dayton-Hudson changed its name to Target Corporation as by that time Target was its most valuable brand. In 2004, Target Corporation jettisoned the Marshall Field’s brand and all its department store properties, getting out of the full-service department store business entirely in favor of its more profitable Target business. Field’s was unloaded on the May Co., a St. Louis-based department store chain that had already acquired the likes of Filene’s (Boston), Foley’s (Houston), Lord & Taylor (New York, originally), Strawbridge’s (Philadelphia), and The Jones Store (Kansas City). A year later, the May Co. was bought out by its chief competitor, Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores, which had owned Macy’s since the 1920s and had acquired such other department store brands as Bloomingdale’s, Shillito’s (Cincinnati), Burdine’s (Miami), Rich’s (Atlanta), Boston Store (Milwaukee), Bullock’s (Los Angeles), and I Magnin (San Francisco), among others. Then Federated switched all its Marshall Field’s stores (including the former Dayton-Hudson stores) to the Macy’s brand, as it had already done with many of its other holdings. Finally, in 2009 Federated changed its name to Macy’s Group, Inc.</p>
<p>So Marshall Field’s did become Macy’s, but the old Marshall Field & Co. had ceased to exist all the way back in 1982. The Marshall Field’s brand persisted through a succession of corporate owners until 2006, when it was finally killed off in favor of the Macy’s brand, much to the consternation of long-time Chicagoans. </p>
<p>But you can still get Frango mints at Macy’s, at least here in the Midwest. They taste like the old Frango mints.</p>
<p>BClinktock, thank you so much for that history refresher. We were in Marshall Fields State Street one Saturday before Christmas (I’m not allowed to say “Macy’s”) and the place was jammed! You should have seen the line for the Walnut Room. I’ve never eaten there but my husband has taken my daughter, so that she could see what Daddy grew up with. I worked for Carson’s in the 80’s and I still ended up buying some of my work clothes at Fields.
P.S.–in the 80’s, Marshall Fields had branch stores in Texas–go figure!</p>
<p>Interestingly Marshall Field’s got the Frango mint recipe when they bought out Seattle’s Frederick & Nelson Department store in 1929.</p>
<p>On a happier note, this morning we set a new record for snowiest February ever!</p>
<p>If you are in town March 12th, you might like to attend the silent auction held by the Chicago Rocks and Minerals Society. Geodes, fossils, crystals, shark teeth, jewelry stuff, polished rocks and more rocks, maybe some stones. Very fun event, all ages.</p>
<p>Steakhouse - how about Fogo de Chao (Brazilian style) or David Burke? They are totally different but both look great and have good reviews at yelp.com.</p>
<p>Weather - kind of worry about the weather. We plan to spend some time outdoor (the park, pier…). Is it possible?</p>
<p>re #55
I think you should play that one “by ear” depending on the weather.</p>
<p>I concur with momcat in #46. I went to Second City with our son when he was 19. The only restriction was that he couldn’t order alcohol (of course). Some of the subject matter was sexual, so that may concern some parents. Son and I both found the show that we saw to be very funny.</p>
<p>We will have run out of snow. Used up our allotment for this year.</p>
<p>Lots of good information.
If I go my trip will be last minute. What airport is easiest? Best way to get into the city?</p>
<p>Mom60, go over to tripadvisor.com, and your questions can be easily answered.
Both airports have train connections directly to the center of the city. Midway airport is smaller and easier to navigate than O’Hare, and about 10 minutes closer by train, but that’s not much difference. Southwest only flies to Midway; the major airlines mostly fly to O’Hare.</p>
<p>mom60, just go with the best fares. Neither airport is much more convenient than the other.</p>