South Side Neighborhoods Tour Questions Answered
One of my favorite of our private tours is the Neighborhoods and Cultural Diversity South Side Tour, because I get to take people to explore some of the South Side neighborhoods where I have lived, worked and studied. Even being a history enthusiast and a Chicago native, I still need to research a question from my tour […]
You Will Love This Creative New Chicago Neighborhood Guidebook
Belt Publishing, a Midwest-based independent book label, is publishing its new Chicago Neighborhood Guidebook on September 10th. They’ll host a launch party at The Hideout on September 11th at 5:30pm. We hope to see you there because The Chicago Neighborhood Guidebook is awesome. Led by editor Martha Bayne, the contributors to The Chicago Neighborhood Guidebook […]
Witness the 1919 Chicago Race Riot in Jun Fujita’s Photos
This week marks the 100th anniversary of the 1919 Chicago race riot. One mostly-forgotten man’s camera captured the city’s violence and tension with a firsthand view. The remarkable life of photographer Jun Fujita, and his experience as a Japanese American working in the midst of the race riots, shed a new light on this volatile […]
Best Neighborhoods for Historic Chicago Pub Crawls
We love good Chicago historic pub crawls. Just ask the guests from our Historic Chicago Walking Bar Tour. Or the 1893 World’s Fair Tour with Bars. Or the Big Shoulders Historic Bar and Food Bus Tour, which takes guests through the working-class neighborhood of Bridgeport for stops in historic bars. Seems safe to say that […]
Best Historic Wedding Venues in Chicago
In March 2018, I got married in one of the best historic wedding venues in Chicago — the drop dead gorgeous Chicago Cultural Center. As a bonafide Chicago history nerd (like all the Detours tour guides) my wedding had to be in a historic location, and luckily my husband was happy to go along with my […]
Five Real Historic Irish Pubs in Chicago
Irish pubs are the stalwarts of Chicago’s drinking scene. Easily found in many parts of town, these public houses are an abode of questionably-authentic Irish drinks and décor. Only some historic Irish pubs really love up to the name, though. So we tracked down five authentically historic pubs filled with craic. The lovely dives we’ve rustled […]
Best Neighborhood Hotels for a Winter Chicago Staycation
Everyone is looking to get away by the middle of a Midwestern winter. Instead of jetting off to the tropics, we recommend a weekend at these neighborhood hotels for a great Chicago staycation. Of course, you can always sign on for a private tour with us if you’re sticking around town! We research stories from […]
Three Halsted Street Films Seek the Soul of Chicago
Halsted Street shoots straight through the heart of Chicago, running north from the southern border until it merges with Broadway in Lakeview. Along that route, it covers a vast diversity of neighborhoods. With a recent Halsted Street documentary by VICE, I realized that there are now three different documentaries, made over the past century, which have seized upon […]
Review of our Saturday Big Shoulders Food Tour with Bars
This past Saturday, Elizabeth and I took two busses full of guests to Bridgeport as a public preview our newest private group food and beer tour of Chicago, the Big Shoulders Historic Bar and Food Bus Tour. We originally planned to just offer this special experience to one 40-passenger bus. A second tour had to be […]
Architecture at Decorators Supply
The title is just a joke. I had the rare opportunity to go on a private tour visit of the plaster-filled factory of Decorators Supply, a manufacturer of classical architectural details and significant figure in Chicago architectural history. They craft columns, pilasters, capitals, and a seemingly infinite list of ornaments out of plaster, wood, and […]