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 […]
Mysteries Solved on Our Wicker Park Neighborhood Tour
We’re going to answer some questions and solve some mysteries from our Old Polonia and Wicker Park Neighborhood Tour. Sometimes our tour guides get questions from curious tour guests which stump us, despite all the research we do! Being responsible and honest folks, we never fib. Instead, we take the time to do research and discover more […]
Get to Know Chicago Detours Guide Morgan Lott
Being a Chicago Detours guide is very often a terrific job. We get to show people around a city we love and illuminate its history and architecture for them. Tour guests often ask us how we got into being a Chicago Detours guide or other questions about our backgrounds and interests. We figured, why not […]
Questions from our World’s Fair Tour on Today’s Anniversary
In the 18 months since it launched, we’ve had tons of guests discover a huge piece of Chicago’s history on our “1893 World’s Fair Tour with Bars.” As anyone who has joined us knows, our guides always encourage questions from guests. Accordingly, we’ve been doing some fun research on the questions from our World’s Fair […]
Four Engineering Secrets that Help You Survive Winter in Chicago
It can be a real challenge to survive winter in Chicago. The bone-chilling cold, pothole-strewn roads, battering blizzards, and endless slate grey skies make for a brutal experience. From the first chills of October to the lingering muck of May, most locals can only focus on how to simply make it through winter in Chicago. […]
History and Neighborhoods of Chicago Television Shows
Recently I was guiding a private group tour of Chicago, I was asked by a group of newcomers about television shows filmed in Chicago. On our Historic Chicago Walking Bar Tour, we mention movies filmed in Chicago, but I found that the history and neighborhoods of Chicago television shows were more difficult to discuss. So […]
Walking Tours of Chicago Questions Answered
We give walking tours of Chicago almost daily to locals and tourists alike. One of the many perks of my job as a tour guide is meeting so many curious people. Encouraging questions as much as we do means getting stumped every once in a while. Here are answers to some of those questions. Is […]
Three Classic Chicago Books for Summer Reading
I’m often asked “What Chicago books should I read?” Since this question is usually during a tour, it’s fair to say our guests want to learn more. As a lover of literature and an alumna from the History Department of UIC, my studies are based on how we learn history without reading standard, dry history […]
Chicago History and Architecture Answers from Tour Questions
To make good on our commitment to questions asked on our Chicago architectural and historical tours, here are some answers to questions from inquisitive people. What ever happened to the World’s Fair? This question struck me most of all the random requests that are made of my knowledge bank during our tours because I had […]
A History of Hugh Hefner in Chicago
Most locals remember that, like Hugh Hefner himself, the myth and image of Playboy was born here in Chicago. But standard trivia like that is never enough for us! So let’s take a moment to talk a little more about the story behind the man and his club. You can learn a bit more by […]