Make sure all hands are on deck when more than 20 historic ships make a rare visit to Chicago for Pepsi® Tall Ships Chicago 2010 at Navy Pier® August 24-29. Arriving in a majestic one-mile Parade of Sail, these vessels from around the world will anchor a unique festival filled with maritime adventure and family fun.

Cruising in under billowing sail, the ships – from Canada, Germany, The Netherlands, and the U.S. – will make port at Navy Pier. In addition to viewing from dockside, you’ll be able to board most of the ships and walk their decks during crew-guided tours. And several ships plan to offer once-in-a-lifetime sailaways. Click here for information on tickets and special packages.

To celebrate the ships’ stay in Chicago, a family-friendly festival will offer exciting activities including spectacular nightly fireworks shows, daily music and entertainment, and interactive greening initiatives. At Patch’s Children’s Village, kids will enjoy performances by Cap’n Willie, the Great Lakes Pirate, and watch as mom or dad is transformed into a pirate. Kids’ activities include climbing ship rigging or a 100-foot mast, tying knots, hoisting sails, and more.

Add to your Tall Ships Chicago 2010 experience with a sail on Tall Ship Adventures of Chicago’s Tall Ship Windy or the city’s only wooden tall ship, Red Witch. Visit their site to see the schedule of special sails during the festival.

http://www.navypier.com/tallshipschicago/home.html

For those of you who missed the park options take a look at www.choosechicago.com and you will see all the festivities going on the weekend that you plan to be here. Chicago always has some thing going on so don’t panic there are options. If your stuck give me a call and I will reccommend a few. Now someone pass me that turkey leg!

The White House Exhibit

This is a great exhibit if your coming to Chicago. You will get to see parts of the White House that no one gets to see!

Its inside look at the People’s House that few people get.
The Museum’s new temporary exhibit, The White House: A Look Inside, offers an unprecedented up-close look at America’s most famous and beloved landmark. It takes you from the East Wing to the West Wing, through notable moments in history to the White House as it is today, in grand dimensions and true-to-life scale. Like the home that inspired it, this exhibit offers an awe-inspiring experience for the young and young-at-heart.

It begins with a photographic timeline of the White House: learn about its original construction, and the renovations and expansions throughout its 200-plus years. Gain new insight into the ever-changing role of the First Lady, and behind-the-scenes details on the daily life at the White House, supported by a legion of dedicated staff. See authentic artifacts from administrations throughout history, ranging from White House china to holiday cards. Learn more about the people – and even pets including a pony and a sheep – who have made their home in this famous house, with a special focus on the four Presidents who have lived in Illinois: Lincoln, Grant, Reagan and Obama.

The centerpiece of the exhibit is a meticulously detailed, 60-by-13 foot, 1:12 scale replica of the White House. Complete with hand-carved chairs and tables, stitch-by-stitch carpet recreations and even tiny working televisions, this masterpiece of miniature is the result of more than 600,000 work hours. This gift “to the people from the people” is truly a wonder to behold.

Opening with Christmas Around the World and Holidays of Light on November 20, the doors to the White House exhibit will be open through President’s Day, February 15, 2010.

Overview of the Christkindlmarket in Chicago

So when your planning your trip to Chicago don’t miss this great event and ask our front desk about other happenings nearby.

Chicago Metra Train

So saving money on transportation, saving money on great hotel rates and the convienence of getting to McCormick Place and downtown still makes the Ramada a great place to stay and enjoy all of Chicago. I look forward to meeting you!

Besides Chicago deep dish pizza, and Italian beef Chicago is also known for having some great works of art out on public    display in downtown Chicago. We’ve got Picasso, Chagall, Calder and many other famous artists that have brought their creative genius here on the shores of Lake Michigan. You could spend a day in itself and not see everything that’s out on public view. The Chicago Art Institute is also a great place to visit. Now you maybe be thinking the kids would be bored with that. I can tell you something, The Art Institute will definitely surprise you. They have such a variety of art including the “Art of War” Which is armorment and guns and knives that are unbelievable works of art with their detailed carvings and etchings. Its a sight worth seeing. Here are a few pics form some of Chicago’s great works of Art..

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Harry Potter Exhibit

The Museum of Science and Industry has the Harry Potter Exhibit at the museum until September 27th. Kids and there families are staying with us as were the closest hotel to the museum. I’ve never seen so many kids with us before. They usually come for the American Girl Experience but Harry’s got them beat. Here’s a link to the musem and the exhibit which is worth seeing.

After seeing the exhibit mast of the families are heading either to our nearby beach or Navy Pier. It’s great to see all the families here. They love the fact that they save at least $35.00 a day on parking here at the Ramada since its free here. I feel like I should be wearing round glasses and a special hat though also. Anyone know where I can get an owl?

http://www.msichicago.org/whats-here/exhibits/harry-potter/

• Chicago is the third largest city in United States
• The name ‘Chicago’ is the French interpretation of the Miami-Illinois name ‘Shikaakwa’, which means ‘wild leek’.
• Chicago was founded in 1772, when Jean-Baptiste Pointe du Sable, a man from Haiti, established a settlement on the north bank of the Chicago River, calling it Eschikagou.
• Chicago is home to over 40 museums, more than 150 theaters and over 6,000 restaurants.
• Chicago boasts of housing three of the world’s tallest buildings, Sears Tower, Amoco Building and John Hancock.
• The world’s largest public library, Harold Washington Library Center, with a collection of more than 2 million books, is in Chicago.
• Roller skates, steel frame skyscraper, elevated railway, cracker jacks, zipper, window envelope, hostess Twinkie, pinball game and spray paint were invented in Chicago.
• More than 200 annual parades take place in the city of Chicago every year.
• Chicago is home to the largest building in America (excluding Pentagon), The Merchandise Mart, with 90 acres of floor space.
• Oceanarium, in Chicago, is the largest indoor marine mammal pavilion in the world.
• Chicago is home to one of the last free zoos in the world, the Lincoln Park Zoo.
• Chicago River is the only river in the world that flows backwards.
• Chicago is known as the ‘Candy Capital of the World’.
• The Art Institute of Chicago is home to the largest collection of Impressionist paintings in the world, apart from the Louvre (Paris).
• Kate Sturges Buckingham donated $750,000 to the city for construction of Buckingham Fountain as a memorial to her brother Clarence. The largest fountain in the world, it shoots a water jet 135 feet high.
• The Wrigley Building is the first air-conditioned office building.
• The first McDonald’s franchise restaurant, owned by Ray Kroc, opened in the suburb of Des Plaines.
• Chicago has 29 miles of Lake Frontage and 15 miles of public beach.
• Lake Michigan is more than 10,300 years old, 307 miles long, 118 across at its widest point, average depth is 279 feet, maximum depth is 923 feet
contains roughly 1,350 trillion gallons of water, covers an area of 22,300 square miles
• Tribune Tower, home of the Chicago Tribune newspaper, has exterior walls that are embedded with authentic pieces of famous buildings including Westminster Abbey, the Alamo, Hamlet’s castle, the Great Pyramid, the Taj Mahal, Fort Sumter and the Arc de Triumph.

I also met some intresting people staying with us for a special event here in Chicago this week.  American Idol is in town for tryouts! Thousands of people are here to let “Simon, The Big Dog Randy and Paula” hear them sing their hearts out.  A couple of the girls were singing in the lobby, I hope to see them on the funny side of the show. I don’t think their going to make it!  No one else was letting us hear them so I couldn’t judge the others to see if we had a winner staying with us.

A large family came in from their day of visiting our fair city Saturday night.  They looked dead to the world.  They told me that they had walked 8 miles up Clark Street to see Wrigley Field.  Plus they walked all around downtown and at Navy Pier.  They were planning to go to the pool and just soak for the rest of the night.  Thats what we provide here at the Ramada “Rest & Relaxation.”  We even have a beach accross the street for those sun worshipers staying with us.  As I have always said there’s always something to do in Chicago and Ramada Chicago Hyde Park is just the place to recharge your batteries and enjoy A Great Midwestern Vacation Destination.