Top Things to Do in Oak Brook/Chicago
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Top Things To Do In Oak Brook/Chicago NEAR THE HOTEL OAK BROOK CENTRAL PARK The Oak Brook Park District, created in 1962, owns and maintains six parks in Oak Brook, totaling 150 acres. Central Park, located on Jorie Boulevard and Forest Gate Road, is home to the District’s Tennis Center, Family Recreation Center, Fitness Center, indoor Family Aquatic Center, Central Park West, Pavilion, administration offices and outdoor athletic fields. Athletic fields, playgrounds and walking paths are available in several locations for the enjoyment of the community. Central Park is located at 1450 Forest Gate Road. Hours are from Dawn to Dusk. OAK BROOK CENTER Second largest shopping center in the Chicago area. Oakbrook Center is a shopping and dining destination in an area that offers a vibrant mix of cultural and entertainment attractions. Make the most of your visit and explore a variety of nearby activities and entertainment. The District in Oakbrook Center is a convenient, gourmet restaurant experience with options for everyone. Whether you’re in search of a new lunch spot, a pick-me-up near the office or family-friendly fare on a shopping trip, take your pick of 10 elevated eateries in this 14,000-square-foot dining district. Oak Brook Center is located at 100 Oak Brook Center. It is open daily from 10 am until 9 pm (except on Sunday, open 11 am-6 pm). PINSTRIPES Join us at our Oak Brook location, just steps from Oakbrook Center. We offer year-round sophisticated fun, with indoor bocce and bowling and an outdoor patio and fire pit, where you can curl up under a blanket and enjoy our classic smores. Pinstripes is located at 7 Oakbrook Center Mall and is open 10 am-10 pm Sunday, 11 am -10 pm on Monday, 11 am -11 pm Tuesday through Thursday, 11 am- 1 am Friday. GREATER CHICAGO AREA MILLENNIUM PARK Millennium Park is an award-winning center for art, music, architecture and landscape design. It's prominent features are the Frank Gehry-designed Jay Pritzker Pavilion, the most sophisticated outdoor concert venue of its kind in the United States; the interactive Crown Fountain by Jaume Plensa; the contemporary Lurie Garden designed by the team of Gustafson Guthrie Nichol Ltd, Piet Oudolf and Robert Israel; and Anish Kapoor's hugely popular Cloud Gate sculpture. Millennium Park is located in the heart of downtown Chicago. It is bordered by Michigan Avenue to the west, Columbus Drive to the east, Randolph Street to the North and Monroe Street to the South. NAVY PIER Historic Navy Pier® is Chicago's lakefront playground with over 50 acres of parks, shops, restaurants, entertainment and attractions. Navy Pier is the Midwest's #1 attractions with more than 8 million visitors a year. Enjoy a ride on the Ferris Wheel, musical carousel, Wave Swinger and miniature golf course. Visit the Chicago Children's Museum, Chicago Shakespeare Theater or the Navy Pier IMAX® Theatre. Take a ride on a tour boat or dining cruise ship. Fireworks on Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 10:15 p.m. between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Navy Pier is home to over 170,000 square feet of flexible meeting space, including the historic Grand Ballroom, Festival Hall exhibition space, a rooftop tent and 36 meeting rooms available for private and public events. Visit www.NAVY PIER.com for more information. ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO No trip to Chicago is complete without a visit to the Art Institute. Consistently rated among the world’s top museums by TripAdvisor travelers, the Art Institute of Chicago is home to the greatest collection of Impressionist paintings outside of Paris, including works by Monet, Renoir, Seurat, and Van Gogh. Explore the Renzo Piano¬–designed Modern Wing and its extraordinary collection of works by Chagall, Dalí, Matisse, Picasso, and Pollock, and visit the Ryan Learning Center, a free space offering programs and art-making activities for the whole family. With a wide variety of special exhibitions, daily gallery tours, performance programs, and more, the Art Institute has something for everyone! The museum is open daily 10:30–5:00; Thursdays 10:30–8:00; and closed Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s days. SHEDD AQUARIUM At Shedd Aquarium, animals connect you to the living world, inspiring you to make a difference. From whales to snails, tarantulas to turtles, you’ll meet 32,500 creatures from aquatic habitats around the world. Explore Shedd’s Abbott Oceanarium, where you can get face to face with beluga whales, dolphins, sea otters, sea lions and penguins. Polar Play Zone is a permanent exhibit where kids and their families can play, pretend and discover through hands-on activities. See the aquatic show, starring the dolphins, belugas and more, and don't miss the "Jellies" special exhibit. Then meet some of Shedd's critters up close during live animal encounters in the Waters of the World galleries, talk to a diver in the 90,000-gallon Caribbean Reef, take a walk through a flooded forest in Amazon Rising and watch sharks overhead in Wild Reef. And visit Granddad, the oldest fish in any aquarium or zoo! Two million annual visitors can’t be wrong: Shedd Aquarium is the "must-sea" destination in Chicago! THE FIELD MUSEUM Leisure Visitors: Discover Sue, the world's largest and most complete T. rex ever found! Descend into an Egyptian tomb and see 23 Egyptian mummies and 5,000 year-old hieroglyphics, shrink to 1/100th of your natural size and get a bug's-eye view in Underground Adventure, come nose-to-nose with the man-eating lions of Tsavo, walk among dinosaurs in Evolving Planet or explore 13,000 years of history from the Ice Age Mammoth hunters to the temples of the Aztecs in the Ancient Americas Hall. Experience Chicago’s only completely digital 3-D theater featuring "Waking the T.Rex." Open daily 9am-5pm, last admission at 4pm. Adults $15, students & seniors $12, children (4-11) $10. Some exhibits require additional ticket. Ongoing: "Sue" - the T.Rex; Underground Adventure; Evolving Planet, Ancient Americas, Inside Ancient Egypt. Meeting Professionals: The Field Museum is Chicago’s most elegant and unique setting for special events. Whether it is an intimate dinner for 10 or a rockin’ reception for 10,000, we can accommodate your needs. Let us treasure you and your guests by providing superior service and priceless exhibitions to experience. Year round your groups can enjoy more than 35 world-renowned exhibitions. Don’t miss our Mammals of Asia and Native American Halls; Explore Inside Ancient Egypt, with its mysterious mummies and dazzle your guests with our Hall of Gems. Daytime meeting space, theater space and outdoor terraces are also available. Travel Professionals: Groups of ten or more can enjoy discounted admission to The Field Museum! Home to SUE, the world's largest, most complete T. rex ever found! Discover 23 Egyptian mummies, the Halls of Gems and Jades, a journey to the ancient Incas and Aztecs and 4 billion years of life on earth inside our expanded dinosaur hall! Enhance your group’s experience with a docent led tour, a behind the scenes experience or a lunch with the man-eating lions of Tsavo! Located on Chicago’s Museum Campus, The Field Museum also has dining facilities, performance and clinic opportunities and an unbeatable view of Lake Michigan and Chicago’s downtown skyline. MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY The Museum of Science and Industry is the largest science museum in the Western Hemisphere! Housed in the only remaining building from the 1893 World’s Fair, MSI is a Chicago must-see! You’ll experience 14 acres of mind blowing, hands-on exhibits and have the chance to navigate through a mirror maze; manipulate a 40-foot tornado; climb aboard a World War II German submarine; take a run in a human-sized hamster wheel; descend into an Illinois coal mine; board a 727 hanging from the ceiling; transmit your pulse to a 13-foot, 3-D, beating heart; and much more! It’s fun and interactive! ADLER PLANETARIUM The Adler Planetarium—America’s First Planetarium—is more than a museum; it is a laboratory, a classroom, and a community exploring the Universe together. Each year, over 550,000 visitors experience the museum’s interactive exhibitions, live planetarium shows, hands-on, minds-on STEM education programs, and world-class collections. The museum's scientists, historians, and educators inspire the next generation of explorers and invite you to explore space with us.The Adler is located on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago's Museum Campus. Please visit www.adlerplanetarium.org for admission rates, hours and more information. SKYDECK CHICAGO The Ledge at Skydeck Chicago is at Your Feet-Literally. Dare to Stand Out on the 103rd floor, with never before seen views. The 1,353 feet straight down, with a glass boxes extending 4.3 feet out from the Skydeck, providing never before seen views of Chicago. Enjoy 360 degree views spanning up to 50 miles and 4 states. The new, multi media elevator ride gives visitors one of the fastest in the world, while referencing points of interest that match the ascending height. Atop the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, Skydeck Chicago is a "one stop Chicago" experience featuring museum quality interactive exhibits. Open daily. 9-10pm March - Oct; 10-8pm Oct - February. Multi language maps available. Groups of 20 or more receive discounts. 360 CHICAGO (FORMERLY JOHN HANCOCK OBSERVATORY) Soaring 1,000 feet over Chicago’s legendary Michigan Avenue, 360 CHICAGO is one of the city’s most unique attractions.