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THE Place for Nightlife in Edison Park
The area known as Edison Park is actually within the city limits of Chicago. At one time there was consideration of the area becoming its own city and, ultimately, a suburb but it decided long ago...
The area known as Edison Park is actually within the city limits of Chicago. At one time there was consideration of the area becoming its own city and, ultimately, a suburb but it decided long ago to make itself part of the city of Chicago. It is surrounded by the suburbs of Park Ridge and Niles and is the area where many Chicago police and firemen end up living. Why? Because they are required to live within the city limits, but Edison Park is close enough to the suburbs to give it a suburban feel.
The area has undergone a kind of rebirth in the last few years. Trendy restaurants offering valet parking have opened and some bars have become quite popular. Without a doubt, the king of the bar scene in Edison Park is the Edison Park Inn.
Known as a great place to hang out on a Friday to have a drink, hang with friends or catch a game on TV, the Edison Park Inn is located on a strip right near the railroad tracks. Along that strip is another bar and a restaurant called Morrettis, and it is just beneath an ancient and tiny bowling alley know as the Edison Park Bowl.
It's a great place to hang out and a great place to meet for a drink. Just be warned that if it's a Friday or Saturday night, the place will be packed.
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It's Fun, Sorta
Gameworks is in the fabricated community known as The Streets of Woodfield. Just across the street from the enormous Woodfield Mall this place is an adventure in and of itself just to get to the...
Gameworks is in the fabricated community known as The Streets of Woodfield. Just across the street from the enormous Woodfield Mall this place is an adventure in and of itself just to get to the parking garage. It is generally so crowded with the restaurants, bars and movie theaters around that you need to have a kind of plow on the front of your car just to push people out of your way.
I was there just this past weekend (May of 2006) for a friend's bachelor party. It started out fine as we sat in the bar and waited over an hour for a table in the restaurant. We had fine views of the Sox game, so it wasn't too bad. The music was at a reasonable level and the music was decent.
We finally got a table and I ordered a Cobb salad without the bleu cheese, please. It came with bleu cheese and had to be sent back. Several friends had game cards from previous visits. They were told that the machine to check how much was still on the cards was down so they would either need to buy new cards or come back next week. So, were we to move back the wedding by a week? A $20 card will cost you around $23 after the activation fee and taxes.
Most of the games were broken. The auto racing game that allows about six people to sit in Indy Car simulators had two cars down. The huge game where to sit in a chair and shoot hot air ballons and shoot up nearly three stories also had a chair broken. The basketball hoop game had a broken station. The Skee Ball area had several broken down machines.
Then, at some point some idiot who looks a lot like the rapper LudaCris took a microphone and began SCREAMING into it and asking people to do insane things like jumping jacks to earn a free game card. The music turned into this thumping, annoying, indecipherable house music like we were at a rave. At some point a friend of mine and I tried to find a spot that was quiet and we both tried to figure out which orifice we could insert the microphone into the raving, not-funny moron with the mircophone.
Dave and Busters is just a short ride south on 355. The food is better and I have never been there and found so many games not working.
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A Declining Amusement
When I was a child there was nothing more exciting than hearing you were going to spend the day at Kiddieland. A pint-sized amusement park set in the middle of a kind of neighborhood on the...
When I was a child there was nothing more exciting than hearing you were going to spend the day at Kiddieland. A pint-sized amusement park set in the middle of a kind of neighborhood on the northwest side of Chicagoland, Kiddieland had a magical quality as a child. There was a roller coaster, still scary as a five year old, but as an adult probably laughable.
As for me, I always loved the rides where you flew the helicopter, really just moving up and down as the machine went around and around. Then there were the cool cars that went in a circle but had these weird rayguns on them that made noise.
As you got a little older there were bumper cars and those weird hand-cart things you could ride that I don't think I can explain. There were the gas-powered cars that rode on these tracks but you had to steer and push down on the gas pedal. There was the train that looked like a real miniature diesel train.
These days, Kiddieland is falling apart. The family that owns it wants to sell it. The neighborhood around it continues to fall apart.
Sometimes things are better left as memory, I guess. Six Flags has all of those family things even if it costs you $60 to get in. Still, maybe you should stop by to see Kiddieland while there still is one to see.
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My Favorite Best Buy
I will confess that driving in the parking lot of the Village Crossing, the shopping center where this Best Buy is located, is like trying to drive through some mass evacuation. I don't know who...
I will confess that driving in the parking lot of the Village Crossing, the shopping center where this Best Buy is located, is like trying to drive through some mass evacuation. I don't know who designed the parking areas of this place, but if you happen to see him or her kick them in the shins for me.
Once you do manage to get through the snarl of traffic and find a place to park some place in the next town and actually get into this store, you will find a decent place to shop.
I have shopped here for years and never been disappointed. I always come out feeling good about my purchase. I have bought a television here. I bought a vaccuum cleaner. I bought music. I bought movies.
It's crowded, it's tough to find a parking space, but once I get in here, I find myself enjoying the experience and this is despite the lines. The service has always been very good to me and you can't beat that with a stick.
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My All-Time Favorite Attraction in Chicago
I have loved the Shedd Aquarium ever since I was a little kid. Back then I was fascinated with sharks. When you walk into the Shedd and step up to the giant corral reef aquarium that is the...
I have loved the Shedd Aquarium ever since I was a little kid. Back then I was fascinated with sharks. When you walk into the Shedd and step up to the giant corral reef aquarium that is the center-piece of the original aquarium, it's truly like being underwater. The feeding time is the best time, when you get to see the person in the scuba gear swimming around in the tank feeding the fish. Yeah, it's cool looking for the sharks, but look in the ree for the moray eels as well.
In recent years the Aquarium has expanded. They have created an entire enclosure for dolphins and beluga whales that is truly one of the most beautiful exhibits I have seen outside of Sea World. This exhibit, sitting right on Lake Michigan and designed to look like the water tanks go right into the Lake, is simply gorgeous.
The beluga whales are beautiful to watch. I believe one of them just had a baby not very long ago. White and graceful, you can watch them in the tank from above or take a trip down below and watch them under water. It looks like they are peeking right back and you and entertaining you as you watch.
The rest of the exhibits are great as well. My love for this place has never died and I wish I could get back there more often than I do.
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A Bird's Eye View of the Prettiest City
One of the greatest things you can do when you live in a big city or plan on visiting a big city is get the view of that city from on high. When the city in question is Chicago, you have a variety...
One of the greatest things you can do when you live in a big city or plan on visiting a big city is get the view of that city from on high. When the city in question is Chicago, you have a variety of choices. Many people know about the Sears Tower, which stands well over all other buildings in the city and once bore the label of World's Tallest Building. Sure, this is impressive, but for my money the best place to look over the City of Big Shoulders is in the John Hancock Observatory located near the top of the John Hancock building.
When you look at a skyline shot of Chicago you see three dominant buildings. The blocky Sears Tower is at the south end, the Aon Center building sits in the middle and way off to the north end is a building that seems to be growing to a point and is topped with two huge antennae. That is the Hancock building.
Just across the street is shopping in Water Tower place and Bloomingdales. The old Water Tower, one of the few surviving buildings of the Chicago Fire is there as well.
The cost is a little steep, but the view is just fantastic. It will literally take your breath away. The problem with the Sears Tower is not only that it is not on Michigan Avenue but it is so tall you feel almost too far away from the buildings. Here you get a great view of the lake and of the Magnificent Mile.
In recent years there has even been a renovation of the observatory and a skywalk added. I have not been to to skywalk and given the wind patterns of this city I can't imagine walking outside.
So, if you're in Chicago and you want to look down on the pedestrians and shoppers, visit the Hancock Building and save the Sears Tower for another trip.
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Go Ice Hogs
I am not sure why I can't find the Rockford IceHogs listed here, but this seems to be the same thing since they are both listed at the same address. Anyway, this is minor league hockey played in...
I am not sure why I can't find the Rockford IceHogs listed here, but this seems to be the same thing since they are both listed at the same address. Anyway, this is minor league hockey played in downtown Rockford at the Metro Centre and it is a lot of fun for the whole family.
I am not the biggest hockey fan in the world. Generally, I can take it or leave it. I work part-time at a radio station in Rockford and it was the station that carried the Icehogs games at one time. I got to do a between-periods game-thing and during the game, I had a blast. The two goalies even got into a fight which, suprisingly, is the second time I have seen that.
The game was people throw orange pucks onto these cardboad signs placed on the ice and if a puck lands on a certain spot they win a prize.
The tickets are inexpensive and the play is excellent. The 'Hogs made it deep into the playoffs this year and generally play very well. They come out in the beginning through the mouth of a giant inflatable pig's head.
It's a fun night in downtown Rockford and a great visit for hockey fans of all ages.
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Midas
Category:
Auto Parts
1505 Irving Park Rd
Hanover Park, Illinois
(630) 830-0500
Don't Go Here For Any Reason Regarding Car Repair.
I once visited this Midas auto repair shop. My brakes had gone past the point where they were squeaking to the point where they were shaking the entire car every time I tried to stop. Time to get...
I once visited this Midas auto repair shop. My brakes had gone past the point where they were squeaking to the point where they were shaking the entire car every time I tried to stop. Time to get new brakes, my brain figured. I thought I would visit the place just around the corner from my house. Why not support the local businesses, I figured.
Never again will I go to this particular Midas store and I urge you to avoid it as well. Their prices? Insanely high. Their service? Questionable at best, negligent at the least.
I sat watching the lousy television in the cramped customer waiting area for what felt like four years. I sometimes need to pinch myself to make sure I am not still there. They gave me no updates. No explanation. When it was nearly closing time they finally told me that they were one set of brakes short and needed to order a new one. Could I drop the car off again during the week?
Um...hello? If I could do that, wouldn't I have already done that? I managed to work it out, pay through the nose, and still end up with a car whose brakes never felt right again.
Lousy service, lousy prices, lousy people, lousy customer service.
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