-  Take Metra – Just over an hour from Great Lakes to Chicago Ogilvie Transportation Center.  Weekend passes for unlimited rides both Saturday and Sunday are $8/person.  Here is a link for the Metra Walking tour with sites to see –http://metrarail.com/content/dam/metra/documents/Marketing/Metra%20...

-  CTA buses connect at Metra stations and run every 10 to 20 minutes. The buses can get you just about anywhere within the city you want to go.  1 – Day CTA Pass is $10/person. The travel guide on the link below shows points of interest with the stations you need and walking directions to your destination -http://metrarail.com/content/dam/metra/documents/TravelGuides/Mille...

-  DRIVING to the city – If you drive to the city, the best money saving tip I can provide is to find a parking garage with a flat daily rate and leave your vehicle there. You can walk, hail a cab, or purchase a CTA bus pass to get around the city.  Parking is very difficult to find and when you do rates can range $12-$33 hourly depending on the locality.  If you move your car and park at each site, you will spend a small fortune and have parking stubs for souvenirsJ Navy Pier is a great parking garage to leave your car for the day.  The weekend daily fee is $25 and it is flat rate.  The lakefront and sites of interest on the pier are an elevator ride away from the garage.

-        Street PARKING is the cheapest available but hard to find. Pay to park signs are posted on the side of the street when allowable and the parking meter located on each block accepts card payments or cash.

-        The large MUSEUMS and the Shedd Aquarium are full day activities.  Each site can consume the entire day and won’t leave time for other sites if that’s your plan.  The entrance fees per adult for the museums range from $18 - $36 depending on your choice of exhibits to see. For the Aquarium, general admission $8/adult - $30.95/adult for additional exhibits- $35.95/adult all exhibits and aquatic shows.

-        TRAFFIC – is always congested.  Rush hour (roughly 4-6 pm weekdays) traffic brings sitting still ten minutes then move a tiny bit.  One wrong turn can result in a half hour or more u-turn.  Multiple one way streets require caution in the downtown loop area. Plan carefully to avoid rush hour to assure making it back to the base in time with your SR. Navigation signals will not work on lower Wacker Drive.  Avoid it if possible.

-        The TOLL ROAD will not be as heavily congested with traffic but the stops at toll booths will slow you down as out of towners without I-passes.  If you use the I-pass lanes in error, go online and pay the fee within seven days or the penalties are not worth it (unfortunate mistake by my SR at one point in time for four booths!) Manned booths are cash only and accept no bills larger than $50. Unattended ramp plazas require exact coins – no bills accepted and no change provided.  Most of the toll rates are 90 cents per car.  The online cost for missing a toll is $3.80 for a 2-axle passenger car. After 7 days of non-payment, a $20 fine is added per toll. After 30 days, an additional $50 fine is added per toll.  The Illinois Tollway will not contact you until you owe a fortune.

-        PIZZA – Best Chicago deep dish pizza recommended by most hands down is Gino’s East. The South Loop location is not far from the museum campus. I can barely finish one piece and I’m stuffed!

-        CHINATOWN in Chicago is known for affordable gifts and souvenirs from many types of shops that sell everything from specialty tea and groceries to souvenirs and gifts.  The Wendella boats and Chicago Water Taxi offer scenic tours throughout the city on the river.  Adult tickets are $19 for the water taxi tour and $35.50 for the Wendella Boat tours. Most tours leave from the Wendella Dock at the Wrigley Building.

-        FREE STUFF TO DO - Lincoln Park Zoo is free admission. You may bring in a picnic lunch or purchase items at the snack shop in the zoo. Small enough to see in a half day or at a leisurely full day walking pace. There is a farm within the zoo that is popular with young children. Several smaller museums and art museums throughout the city are free admission. Parks are free.  Millennium Park is free with ongoing programs and exhibitions, art and cultural programs, and most of the time free musical performances at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion when scheduled.  You may bring in your own picnic and beverages.  Alcoholic beverages may only be brought in for performances and only at the Pavilion unless provided for sale at the request of the performers. Also at Millennium, free self-guided tours available 365 days a year through the Lurie Gardens – five acres of four season landscape design boasted as a living work of art. The magnificent mile is popular for the window shoppers and people watchers. Street performers are frequent on downtown State Street or Rush Street.

-   SHOPPING/NIGHT LIFE Wrigleyville is a magnet for sports fans and singles for the late night entertainment with bars lined along Clark, Addison and Sheffield. Quiet and tame by day, a nice visit for sports fans with families with casual dining and souvenir shops.  The neighborhood sits in the shadows of Wrigley Field. The similar scenario can be found in the Wicker Park and Bucktown neighborhood. Shopping along North, Milwaukee and Damen Avenue you will find amazing boutiques and vintage shops for men and women, art galleries, dining, and palate pleasing breweries and craft cocktails.  Known as the “sip and shop” neighborhood. Plenty going on for the nightlife crowds as well.

-   OTHER - Personally, I take my own vehicle and park it for the day.  I am a nearby lifetime resident.  It’s a hassle getting around in a car down town and drivers are not nice – especially cabbies.  It was typical to make my SR do the driving when we had too.  His patience about it exceeded mine! You almost need a constant co-navigator in the front seat too.  It helps immensely getting around.