Second City e.t.c.

Celebrating 50 years as the home of Chicago-style improv and sketch comedy, The Second City has launched the careers of John Belushi, Mike Myers, Tina Fey, Bill Murray, Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell and many others. Free improvisation after last show every day except Friday. Dinner/show packages available. Call or log on for specific show information.

CITY: Chicago

Joe's Be-Bop Cafe and Jazz Emporium

Food and live jazz share equal billing here. Casual, southern-style menu. Live jazz seven nights a week. Jazz orients sounds from swing to down-home blues. Latin jazz to mobtime.

CITY: Chicago

National Lampoon's Vacation - Buckingham Fountain

In this wacky comedy a Chicago family takes a hysterical road trip across country to reach a theme park on the West Coast. Illinois scenes include Buckingham Fountain in downtown Chicago's Grant Park (seen spouting its famous cascades of water in the background as the family leaves Chicago) and the Poplar Street Bridge that spans the Mississippi River in East St. Louis (where the family gets lost).

CITY: Chicago

Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament

Journey through time to the age of Chivalry and Knighthood. Feast upon a sumptous banquet and cheer your own knight to victory in the tournament of games.

CITY: Schaumburg

Zanies Comedy Club - St. Charles

Popular comedians perform at Zanies, providing an evening of laughter and fun. The "sister" of the legendary downtown Zanies has been making the western suburbs laugh with the same great talent for over 20 years.

CITY: St. Charles

Modern Wing of the Art Institute of Chicago

Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Renzo Piano, this 264,000 sq. foot building provides a new home for the museum’s renowned collections of modern painting and sculpture, contemporary art, architecture and design, and photography. Be among the first to see this dramatic addition that makes the Art Institute of Chicago the second largest art museum in the United States.

CITY: Chicago

Steppenwolf Theatre Company

With year-round programming across three stages, Steppenwolf is a Tony Award-winning Chicago theater known for innovative, artist-driven theatrical productions. Founded by Jeff Perry, Terry Kinney and Gary Sinise in the mid-1970s, the organization evolved from performing in a Highland Park church basement to gaining recognition as the nation’s premier ensemble theater. Steppenwolf is where great acting meets big ideas.

CITY: Chicago

Steve's Segway Tours

Explore Chicago's lakefront, museums and Millennium Park on a three-hour Segway tour led by guides all year round.

CITY: Chicago

Maneuvers

A Joliet staple for more than 30 years, this LGBT bar features dancing to live DJs on Friday and Saturday nights, Maneuvers Diva’s Den drag shows and live entertainment.

CITY: Joliet

Graue Mill and Museum

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Mill is the only operating waterwheel gristmill and one of three authenticated underground railroad stations in Illinois.

CITY: Oak Brook

Redmoon Theater

Redmoon Theatre was founded in 1989 in the Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago. Redmoon has won national acclaim as the country's leading creator of spectacle theatre -- a highly visual and inventive theatre style that embraces the act of transformation through pageantry, puppetry, contraption-type mechanical objects, robust physical movement, and surprising use of scale and special effects. Using this unique visual language, Redmoon transforms streets and stages into places of public celebration, capable of speaking across cultural, ethnic, and generational boundaries.

CITY: Chicago

The Playground Theater

When you think about Chicago you think Improv Comedy. And when Chicago improvisers think improv they think The Playground Theater. The Playground is the Chicago Improvisers improv theater. This performer run comedy club features the best in Chicago improv and sketch comedy. With shows 7 nights a week, The Playground is a perfect place to start your night with a friends and a laugh.

CITY: Chicago

Illinois Art Gallery

The Illinois Art Gallery is the only gallery in Chicago whose purpose it is to exhibit Illinois art.

CITY: Chicago

Allstate Arena

This facility is home field to DePaul basketball, Chicago Wolves hockey and the Chicago Rush arena football. With a wide variety of events each year, the Allstate Arena is a place where everyone can enjoy quality family shows, riveting sports and mesmerizing musical performances.

CITY: Rosemont

Phillips Park

Located on over 325 acres, popular attractions include the Mastodon Gallery, the gorgeous Sunken Garden, an 18-hole golf course/driving range, the zoo, a 28-acre fishing lake with a one-mile multiple use trail, war memorials and the Winter Recreation Area. Phillips Park Visitors Center & Mastodon Gallery showcases the mastodon bones that were unearthed in the park during a 1934 Civil Works Administration Project. The skull being the largest of the artifacts, weighs 188 pounds.

CITY: Aurora

Donny's Skybox Theater

Donny’s Skybox Theatre and the de Maat Studio Theatre are dedicated to presenting productions that are rooted in the crafts of theatrical improvisation and sketch comedy as taught by The Second City Training Center. Alumni, faculty, students, and other members of the extended Second City family unite to develop new voices and points-of-view in a manner that honors the history of the work and seeks to propel it into the future. Donny’s Skybox is a studio environment where both emerging and established artists are encouraged to experiment, innovate, and grow.

CITY: Chicago

ComedySportz Theatre - Chicago

ComedySportz is the longest running short-form improv show in Chicago. Now in our 25th year! It's not stand-up comedy about sports...it's improv comedy played as a sport! We're also known for corporate training and corporate entertainment, improv classes and as a great place for any group celebrating a special occasion. If you like great comedy improvisation, visit our theater, the ComedySportz Theatre.

CITY: Chicago

Shoreline Sightseeing

A Shoreline Architecture Tour is a fascinating way to explore Chicago’s past and present. Shoreline’s Skyline Lake Tours offer breathtaking views of one of the most beautiful cities in the world, while the Fireworks Cruise provides a front-row seat for Navy Pier’s spectacular fireworks displays.

CITY: Chicago

Chicago Cultural Center

Chicago's architectural showplace for the lively and visual arts. Daily programs and exhibitions covering a wide range of the performing, visual and literary arts are presented by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affiars. See the world's largest Tiffany stained-glass dome. It was initially built for dual purposes. It was the city's central library and a monument dedicated to the Civil War's Grand Army of the Republic. Since 1977 the building has housed cultural entities that included galleries, an auditorium, and the city's office of cultural affairs. The building architects are Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge.

CITY: Chicago

pH Comedy Theater

pH is a comedy theater in Chicago that has been putting on original comedic work since 2002. pH shows are a fully participatory experience and you will leave most every show having had a hand in its outcome. pH also strives to be an affordable alternative for your entertainment dollar, with most shows falling around $10 per ticket.

CITY: Chicago

Old Town School of Folk Music

The Old Town School of Folk Music provides a wide range of music, dance, theater, and visual arts courses to people of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds. Whatever one's interest, the Old Town School provides broad access to more than 700 accredited class offerings, private lessons, and workshops that span an array of artistic genres.The school features a main stage where concerts are held year round, along with a great shop that sells music and instruments.

CITY: Chicago

American Sightseeing / Gray Line Tours

Offers sightseeing tours in more than 150 destinations on six continents and is widely recognized as the world's leader in sightseeing tours, ground transportation, charter service, airport transfers, and convention services.

CITY: Chicago

Odeum Sports and Expo Center

DuPage's largest sports and exposition facility, includes a 5,500-seat arena, meeting rooms for up to 5,000, food service from casual buffets to elegant sit-down dinners.

CITY: Villa Park

Drury Lane Theatre Water Tower Place

An intimate 549-seat performance space presenting contemporary plays and musicals as well as classics from Broadway and beyond.

CITY: Chicago

Victory Gardens Biograph Theater

Located in the famed Biograph Theater, one of Chicago's most celebrated historic landmarks, Victory Gardens Theater was the recipient of the 2001 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre. Victory Gardens is dedicated to presenting the work of great contemporary playwrights.

CITY: Chicago

Ravinia Festival

Ravinia Festival is the oldest outdoor music festival in North America and is lauded for presenting world-class music in an inviting, natural environment. The festival attracts over 600,000 listeners to some 120 to 150 events that span all genres including classical, chamber music, jazz, pop, world, music theater, dance and kids programming every summer from June to September. Events are hosted in an open-air pavilion that seats 3,200 plus lawn; the 450-seat Bennett, Gordon Hall; and the Martin Theatre, an 850-seat prairie-style building that stands as the only building from the park's original 1904 construction.

CITY: Highland Park

Combined Lake and River Tour - Wendella Sightseeing Boats

The Combined Lake and River Tour offers a comprehensive overview of Chicago, with breathtaking views of the magnificent skyline and an up-close perspective from the Chicago River.

CITY: Chicago

Goodman Theatre

The Goodman Theatre is Chicago’s oldest and largest not-for-profit theater, winning international renown for the quality of productions, the depth and diversity of artistic leadership, and the excellence of its many community and educational programs.

CITY: Chicago

MetroWalkz Self-Guided Walking Tours

Our numerous self-guided walking tours with easy-to-use maps and insider narratives make sightseeing a breeze. Current tours include Loop Architecture, Millennium Park, Navy Pier, Magnificent Mile, Museum Campus, Grant Park, Chinatown, Old Town, Gold Coast and the West Loop.

CITY: Chicago

York Theatre

Enjoy first run films in a renovated 1924 Spanish-style movie theater with five auditoriums all equipped with Dolby digital sound. Baby Barton Pipe Organ is played on Friday and Saturday nights.

CITY: Elmhurst

Drury Lane Theatre & Conference Center

The Drury Lane Theatre & Conference Center in Oakbrook Terrace is a beautiful, unique and versatile facility that combines ideal location, functionality and elegance to make it one of Chicagoland's finest facilities for business and entertainment. 971-seat proscenium style live theater featuring musicals, comedy, hollywood personalities and dinner theatre. Banquets for 2,500. 40,000 square feet of trade show space. Conveniently located to the airports.

CITY: Oakbrook Terrace

Billy Graham Center Museum

This museum located on the campus of Wheaton College is devoted to the history of Christian evangelism and its influences on society. View rare artifacts, art and displays that include a powerful 3-D presentation of the gospel message.

CITY: Wheaton

Chicago Savvy Tours

Chicago Savvy Tours specializes in architectural and historical tours of Chicago, and offers a variety of services for both private and group tours.

CITY: Chicago

Light Opera Works

Light Opera Works presents a season of professional musical theater with full orchestra at Cahn Auditorium.

CITY: Evanston

Norris Cultural Arts Center, Theatre & Art Gallery

A 1,000 seat live theatre providing family entertainment for more than 20 years. Season tickets are available. Call for gallery hours and reservations.

CITY: St. Charles

IMPROV Comedy Showcase & Restaurant

The World famous Improv Comedy Showcase and Restaurant will give you the ultimate comedy experience. We are the premiere destination for the country's top headliners and the best showcase for new talent.

CITY: Schaumburg

Lyric Opera Of Chicago

Lyric Opera of Chicago is one of the world’s great opera companies. It is renowned internationally for its artistic excellence and financial strength. Founded in 1954, since its earliest years Lyric has distinguished itself by presenting the finest international singers, directors, and designers in classic and less-familiar operatic repertoire and in world-premiere productions. Opera performances are from September through March.

CITY: Chicago

Chicago Gay Men’s Chorus

More than 150 singers make up this chorus that presents choral, cabaret and musical theater all rolled into one. The Chicago Gay Men’s Chorus performs at various venues and special events throughout the city.

CITY: Chicago

Mercury's Urban Adventure Cruise

Board this 90-minute river and lakefront cruise, complete with live commentary detailing over 50 downtown Chicago buildings and bridges. Cruises depart daily, May through October.

CITY: Chicago

Riverside Walking Tours

Take a walk through Riverside's history by spending the afternoon with the Frederick Law Olmsted Society, your guide to learning more about the village's unique community and landscape design. Riverside was designed in 1869 by famous landscape architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux.

CITY: Riverside

Noble Horse Carriage Ride

Let Noble Horse make your day or evening special. See the city from a lovely antique horse carriage ride. Noble Horse Carriages are available at 2 locations: Michigan Avenue: 820 N. Michigan Avenue, the corner of Michigan Avenue and Chicago Avenue and Old Town: 1410 N. Orleans Street, the corner of Schiller and Orleans.

CITY: Chicago

The Black Ensemble Theater

The Black Ensemble Theater is a dynamic organization described as a local cornerstone, a national treasure and an international success. It has launched over 100 productions and employed over 5,000 artists since its inception. Annually 50,000 patrons experience its musical theater and it has become one of the most prominant African-American theater companies in the nation.

CITY: Chicago

Hot Tix

Conveniently located in the Loop and along the Magnificent Mile, Hot Tix theater geniuses offer half price theater tickets up to six days in advance. View this week's list of 1/2 price shows at HotTix.org.

CITY: Chicago

My Kind of Town Tours & Events

This company offers group cultural and educational tours. Reservations are required.

CITY: Highland Park

Athenaeum Theatre

The Athenaeum hosts theatrical and dance performances throughout the year.

CITY: Chicago

Chicago Opera Theater

This opera company specializes in a unique repertoire that focuses on works from the 17th, 18th and 20th centuries, performed beautifully in a small venue.

CITY: Chicago

Museum of Contemporary Art

One of the nation’s largest facilities devoted to the art of our time, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (MCA) offers exhibitions of the most thought-provoking art created since 1945. The MCA documents contemporary visual culture through painting, sculpture, photography, video and film, and performance. Located in the heart of downtown Chicago, the MCA boasts a gift store, bookstore, restaurant, 300-seat theater, and a terraced sculpture garden with a great view of Lake Michigan. The MCA aspires to engage a broad and diverse audience, create a sense of community and be a place for contemplation, stimulation, and discussion about contemporary art and culture.

CITY: Chicago

Heart of Oak Park Walking Tour

See the evolution of architecture, from early Victorian to Art Deco, on this self-guided tour. Combination tickets include admission to Frank Lloyd Wright's Unity Temple, Ernest Hemingway's Birthplace and Museum, and Pleasant Home.

CITY: Oak Park

Edman Memorial Chapel - Wheaton College

This large auditorium, seating more than 2400 people, is the site of campus chapels, concerts, commencements, and various community-related events such as the Artist Series.

CITY: Wheaton

Chicago Shakespeare Theater

Chicago's internationally acclaimed professional theater dedicated to presenting the works of William Shakespeare.

CITY: Chicago

Jay Pritzker Pavilion

Architect Frank Gehry designed this spectacular outdoor concert venue in Millennium Park that is home to the Grant Park Music Festival, along with other free concerts and events.

CITY: Chicago

UP Comedy

UP Comedy Club presents an eclectic mix of comedy seven days a week featuring the best in Chicago stand-up, sketch and improv comedy. The club also features a full service kitchen and bar with a no drink minimum.

CITY: Chicago

Fox Valley Repertory (formerly Noble Fool Theatricals) at Pheasant Run Resort

Theater devoted full time to elevating the art of comedy in all its forms comes to Pheasant Run Resort & Spa in St. Charles.

CITY: St. Charles

Charnley-Persky House Museum

Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis Sullivan designed this Gold Coast residence, now the home of the Society of Architectural Historians. Open for tours.

CITY: Chicago

Green Mill

This Art Deco-style jazz club in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood has a storied speakeasy past from the days of prohibition. Sit back and listen to some of the best jazz and cabaret music in the city at this elegant club that served as one of the locations for the hit film, High Fidelity. The Green Mill was patterned after Clark Monroe's Uptown House in Harlem (as it was during the 40's). Uniquely comfortable to all audiences, the magic of the Mill is that the audience co-mingles in its mutual respect for the music.

CITY: Chicago

Bronzeville Children's Museum

First and only African American children's museum in the country for children ages 3-9. Interactive exhibits, unique programs. Focus on culture, history and contributions of African Americans.

CITY: Chicago

The Streets of Woodfield

A lifestyle and entertainment center offering streetside shopping and dining in a suburban setting. A vibrant shopping alternative including Carson Pirie Scott, AMC-Loews Theater, GameWorks, Laugh Out Loud Improve Theater, and some of Chicago's top restaurants. Store, restaurant, and theater hours vary.

CITY: Schaumburg

Fox Valley Symphony

Top-notch pop, classical and family performances are presented under the guidance of Maestro Fusao Kajima.

CITY: Aurora

Theater on the Lake

Set in a red brick building beneath the towering trees of Lincoln Park, Theater on the Lake offers a great view of Lake Michigan and low ticket prices.

CITY: Chicago

Howl at the Moon

It's a singing, clapping, stomping, dance on the piano, rock 'n' roll show. It's part concert, part piano bar and all centered around audience participation.

CITY: Chicago

Wrigley Building

Located in the center of the Magnificent Mile, and steps from the Michigan Avenue Bridge, The Wrigley Building has been a hallmark of Chicago’s skyline since 1920. Designed as the headquarters for the successful chewing gum, the building was modeled after the Seville Cathedral’s Giralda Tower in Spain. Today, it is still home to Wm Wrigley Jr. Company, and is perhaps best known for its dazzling white towers that illuminate the city at night.

CITY: Chicago

The Second City's de Maat Studio Theater

Named for the late improvising guru Martin de Maat, this 49-seat theater is dedicated to presenting productions that are rooted in the crafts of theatrical improvisation and sketch comedy as taught by The Second City Training Center.

CITY: Chicago

First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre

Beautiful outdoor music theatre open May through September with a capacity of just under 30,000 people. Concessions and private catering available; tour buses welcome.

CITY: Tinley Park

West Chicago City Museum

DuPage County, Chicago’s Western Suburbs - Housed in historic Turner Town Hall (National Register site), the museum features community history exhibits and a research collection including local history and railroad materials. The Kid Zone Gallery offers changing hands-on displays for all ages.

CITY: West Chicago

Chicago at Sunset Tour - Wendella Sightseeing Boats

The setting sun gives way to the city's nightly light show as each building begins to shine. For two hours you'll be treated to what's been called the world's most beautiful skyline.

CITY: Chicago

Tour Black Chicago

This city tour travels in luxury coaches and highlights African-American social, cultural and historical events.

CITY: Chicago

Frank Lloyd Wright Prairie School of Architecture Historic District

Guided and self-guided tours of historical district containing the greatest concentration of Wright-designed structures. A virtual outdoor museum of architectural history in America.

CITY: Oak Park

Merle Reskin Theatre

1325 seat proscenium theatre provides performance space for the nearly 200 public performances of the DePaul Theatre School.

CITY: Chicago

College of DuPage McAninch Arts Center

The McAninch Arts Center is home to five resident professional ensembles: Buffalo Theatre Ensemble, DuPage Opera Theatre, Arts Center Jazz Ensemble, New Classic Singers and New Philharmonic.

CITY: Glen Ellyn

Sears Centre Arena

A new 11,000 seat arena located in Hoffman Estates featuring world-class entertainment including concerts, family shows, and sporting events. Home of the Chicago Slaughter Indoor Football (IFL) and Chicago KICK Indoor Soccer (MISL).

CITY: Hoffman Estates

Oak Park Festival Theatre

Oak Park Festival Theatre presents its 35th year of professional productions. Its season opens indoors in the National Historic Landmark, Pleasant Home, 217 Home Avenue. Then the company moves outdoors to Austin Gardens, adjacent to downtown Oak Park. With Shakespearian classics, witty drawing room mysteries, and farces, plus moving contemporary plays, Festival Theatre pleases audiences -- indoors and out. See our website, or call (708) 445-4440.

CITY: Oak Park

Zanies Comedy Club at Pheasant Run Resort

This "sister" of the legendary downtown Zanies has been making the Western suburbs laugh with the same great talent! Great for group outings and motor coaches!

CITY: St. Charles

Albright Theatre

This local theater troupe is located in the "attic" of Batavia's Government Center.

CITY: Batavia

IO Theater

Home of the best long-form improv comedy in Chicago, iO offers two theatre spaces with performances by some of the best comedians around.

CITY: Chicago

Northwestern University Walking Tours

Founded in 1851, Northwestern University is a renowned educational institution rich in history and architecture. More than 150 historically significant and interesting sites on campus are featured in various 30-minute walking tours.

CITY: Evanston

First Street Playhouse

This cozy, professional theater presents year round productions, including comedies, dramas and musicals.

CITY: Batavia

Chicago Detours

Experience history and culture through educated commentary and multimedia on iPads while exploring stories and places even locals don't know about. Highly trained guides share forgotten stories from the past on regularly scheduled tours.

CITY: Chicago

Big Shot Piano Lounge & Restaurant

Big Shot is an upscale Restaurant & Piano Bar. A cozy place to meet, eat, and drink while listening and interacting with talented musicians. From the warm atmosphere to the variety of enticing menu items, this intimate spot will showcase live talent every night. The extremely friendly restaurant will invite its patrons to participate and sing along with new songs performed by talented professionals. This will definitely be a place to start and end an evening.

CITY: Arlington Heights

Performing Arts Chicago

Performing Arts Chicago is dedicated to the presentation of new work by local, national and international artists.

CITY: Chicago

Diversey River Bowl

Diversey River Bowl features a phenomenal light show, great sound system, video arcade and bowling fun. Open lanes every night.

CITY: Chicago

Aon Center

The city’s second-tallest building, located at 200 E. Randolph St., rises 82 floors. Interestingly, the structure was first clad entirely in marble, but the slabs turned out to be too thin and were later replaced with thicker slabs of white granite.

CITY: Chicago

National Shrine of St. Therese

DuPage County, Chicago's Western Suburbs - The National Shrine of St. Therese sits peacefully on a 50-acre estate owned and operated by the Carmelites. The Shrine is home to the most wonderful collection of relics, personal effects and memorabilia of Therese, "the little flower," outside of France. Religious shop/bookstore.

CITY: Darien

Zanies Comedy Club - Vernon Hills

Popular comedians perform at Zanies, providing an evening of laughter and fun. The "sister" of the legendary downtown Zanies has been making the suburbs laugh with the same great talent.

CITY: Vernon Hills

Sri Venkateswara Swami Temple of Greater Chicago

This temple is one of only three Sri Venkateswara Hindu temples in the United States, constructed by Native American artisans.

CITY: Aurora

Mastodon Gallery at Phillips Park

Get an up-close view of Ice Age mastodon bones unearthed in Phillips Park in the 1930s, while glimpsing into the rich history of one of the area's most beautiful parks.

CITY: Aurora

Beverly Art Center

Located in Chicago's historic Beverly/Morgan Park neighborhood, the Beverly Art Center is a multidisciplinary, cultural center offering classes in art, music, dance, and theater. Offers rotating exhibitions of contemporary art and performing art.

CITY: Chicago

Mexican Folklore Dance Company of Chicago

As Chicago's oldest Mexican dance institution, MFDC has received countless recognitions and awards, performed for three presidents and represented Mexico in the 1994 USA World Cup opening ceremony, as well as numerous national television performances, most recently at the 2009 Latin Grammy Awards. MFDC's performances reflect Mexico's rich history which shapes its traditional arts, culture, and values. The historical periods revealed in the dances include pre-Columbian indigenous times, the Spanish Colonial Period, the Struggle for Independence and the 1910 Mexican Revolution.

CITY: Chicago

Richard J. Daley Center & Plaza

This powerful, 31-story tower was designed by Jacques Brownson (b. 1923) of C. F. Murphy Associates. Composed of three massive structural bays, each an unprecedented 87-feet wide and nearly 48-feet deep, and supported by warren trusses at every floor, the building achieves incredible structural integrity and interior flexibility. The exterior wall plane consists of 12-foot-high windows with amber-tinted glass and 6-foot-high panels of self-weathering Cor-Ten steel, which has aged to a rich brown color. The large public plaza features a 50-foot-tall Cor-Ten sculpture of 1967 by Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), gifted by him to the city of Chicago. The Daley Center plaza is one in a line of three important public plazas in the heart of the Loop (see also the Federal Center and Chase Bank Plaza). Photo courtesy of AIA Chicago, Wes Urschel. Copy and descriptions courtesy of AIA Illinois and the 150 Great Places in Illinois www.illinoisgreatplaces.com

CITY: Chicago

Carson Pirie Scott & Company

Carson Pirie Scott & Company’s former flagship store, designed by Louis H. Sullivan (1856-1924) was also built in stages, beginning in 1899, 1903, augmented by an addition by D. H. Burnham & Co. in 1906, and ending with a 1961 addition by Holabird and Root. Although Carson’s wide windows and narrow piers are expressive of the internal steel frame, the building is more famous for its exquisite ornament by Sullivan. The embellished storefronts, newly restored decorative cornice, and ornate columns capitals on the interior all bear Sullivan’s personal style of ornament. It was both named a Chicago Landmark and listed in the National Register in 1970. It was named a National Historic Landmark in 1975. Copy and descriptions courtesy of AIA Illinois and the 150 Great Places in Illinois www.illinoisgreatplaces.com

CITY: Chicago

Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago

The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago is the city's leading presenter of contemporary dance, showcasing artists of regional, national and international acclaim.

CITY: Chicago

JBar at the James Hotel

Get your night started at our lounge, JBar. Anchoring the south end of Rush Street's nightlife, JBar offers signature cocktails in a modern environment. The James is a new hotel group that effortlessly blends a sense of modern, residential comfort with state-of-the-art technology and exceptional service.

CITY: Chicago

Downtown Arlington Heights Shopping & Entertainment District

Diverse collection of charming local shops and major retailers. Outstanding restaurants, theaters, nightlife, and entertainment, all within walking distance.

CITY: Arlington Heights

Music of the Baroque

Music of the Baroque performs classical pieces in venues around Chicago.

CITY: Chicago

Kenwood Neighborhood

Located along Lake Michigan on the South Side of the City of Chicago, Illinois, is one of the 77 well-defined Chicago community areas. Kenwood was part of Hyde Park Township, which was annexed by the City of Chicago in 1889. Kenwood was once one of the most elite neighborhoods in Chicago and contains some of the largest homes in the city. It includes two Chicago Landmark districts, Kenwood and North Kenwood. Burnham Park runs along Kenwood's lakefront. A large part of the southern part of this region is in the Hyde Park-Kenwood Historic District. In recent years, the neighborhood has received national attention as the home of United States President Barack Obama.

CITY: Chicago

Oak Park Visitors Center

Stop by the Visitors Center for an audio walking tour, maps, books, souvenirs and unique gifts. Tickets are available for Hemingway's Birthplace Home and Museum, Frank Lloyd Wright's Unity Temple, Historic Pleasant Home and the Historical Society of Oak Park & River Forest.

CITY: Oak Park

Chicago Athenaeum International Sculpture Park

Sculpture from around the world is on display from sunrise to sunset at this park located in Schaumburg's Robert O. Atcher Municipal Center.

CITY: Schaumburg