May I suggest the train in the summer. When you arrive in Chicago, you will walk out of the station onto Michigan Avenue. In one direction, you will see Miracle Mile, bordered by such buildings as the John Hancock at over 100 stories. In the other direction, you will find Grant Park, which has the Art Institute at one end and the Field Museum (as in Marshall Field) at the other with the Observatory and the Aquarium off to the east on a penninsula into Lake Michigan. At the center of the park is the Buckingham Fountain, the largest outdoor fountain in North America. Wander through the Art Institute; then walk to the fountain and along the way taste from every great restaurant Chicago has to offer in the "Taste of Chicago" held every summer the week before the Fourth of July. I guarantee you will have the time of your life. If you stay at the Palmer House, your eyes will pop when you walk into the main lobby steeped in old world tradition.

"Life is a carnival... believe it or not."