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 […]
Five Fun Things to Do Near McCormick Place
McCormick Place can often feel like a very nicely-appointed island in the South Loop. Its relative distance from downtown’s hot spots can leave both visitors and locals attending a conference or trade show at a loss. If you’ve got a few hours to spare during your conference, what are some fun things to do near […]
New Buildings in Chicago – Vista, One Bennett Park and More in 2019
2019 may turn out to be the peak of the current building boom in Chicago. As a professional tour guide here with Chicago Detours, it can be dizzying at times to keep up with all these changes! To take account of the frenzy, I’m highlighting some of the new buildings in Chicago. Some of the big […]
Explore Printers Row Architecture During Lit Fest
Printers Row, a section of the South Loop with historic architecture related to the printing industry, will become the most dangerous part of Chicago this weekend for book lovers. The neighborhood is hosting the 34th Annual Printers Row Lit Fest. Here I have made a brief guide of some of the Printers Row architecture highlights you can […]
The Giant History of McCormick Place
The history of McCormick Place is packed with one big disaster and tons of ambition. According to its website, nearly 3 million people visit the vast complex every year. Perhaps only the grounds of the 1893 and 1933 World’s Fair have held so many visitors. And yet, for both visitors and locals alike, McCormick Place is likely […]
We Ain’t Afraid of No Ghost Signs in Chicago
Look around at the architecture in Chicago and you just may cast your eyes upon a specter…but this is nothing too frightening though! Just one of the city’s many ghost signs. Ghost signs are historic advertisements, usually painted on the sides of buildings, which have been left up for decades. Many of them, perhaps even […]
Prairie Avenue Chicago: The City’s First Neighborhood of Mansions
Maybe you’ve heard of the elite Gold Coast neighborhood on the Near North Side, but how about the Historic District of Prairie Avenue? Potter Palmer constructed a million-dollar mansion on the formerly-swampy Lake Shore Drive in 1882, establishing the city’s most affluent neighborhood on the North Side. Still, it wasn’t Chicago’s first affluent neighborhood. Before […]