Free Chicago
The city is bursting with secrets. They echo off steel and glass, swirl around corners, and nestle under sidewalks. To hear these windy whispers you need only show up on May 19-21 at 224 South Michigan Avenue.
Next month the Great Chicago Places and Spaces weekend offers dozens of free, guided tours throughout the city. Tours are conducted by accomplished authors, architects, historians and more. Let these secret keepers open your eyes to all that the city is coveting.
A few select tours require advance registration but the majority are booked on a first come, first serve basis the day that they occur. Hidden Spaces, Secret Places is one of the first tours to fill up because it explores places that are usually off limits in public buildings and private rooftop gardens.
I suggest arriving very early if you have your heart set on a certain tour, at least an hour or more before the doors open. If you can't bear to wake up early, just show up when you're ready (although I still suggest before noon) and see what tours are still open and you will have a surprising and exciting time. Even if you get tickets you must arrive at the designated meeting location on time or the tour will leave without you, as I sadly discovered last year when I was late for a foundry tour (which isn't offered again this year).
Discover neighborhoods based on ethnicity (Chinese, Greek, Arab), geography (Pullman, Pilsen, Bronzeville, Bucktown, Lincoln Park, Gold Coast), or even coffee (East Roger's Park Caffeinated Tour ending at the Heartland Cafe).
Chicago has one of the best skylines in the world and a portion of the tours focus on skyscrapers and downtown. Last year I went on walking tours of Historic Skyscrapers and examples of Downtown Deco. In a fun twist for bi-linguals some tours will be conducted in Italian, German, or French with focus on how each culture has influenced the city.
One of the most popular tours is the Architectural River Cruise, but there are a myriad of fun ways to cruise the city sights. Besides trolley tours there are bike tours, tours on the "El", a tour of a submarine, and Segways on the Lakefront.
Legacy of the Plan of Chicago is a grand tour that shows how the city has evolved from what was planned a century ago. There are other tours with more specific historical significance that tell of the great Chicago fire or study Frank Lloyd Wrights Prairie homes or Frank Ghery's gems.
Ever wonder how the city works? There are tours that go into bridges, train stations, and even under the Millennium Park Crown Fountain that shows how the spitting video sculpture operates.
For pop culture enthusiasts like myself there are multiple tours that show how Chicago is portrayed through the lens of a video camera: Director's Cut: Tour of Landmark Movie Locations, Lights, Camera, Architecture!, Chicago On Screen, and the NBC 5 Studio. If you like to being behind the camera there are two tours that focus on Loop Photography on both Michigan Ave and Wacker Dr.
Chicago is rich with arts and culture and there are tours that go into places like the Oriental Theatre where the musical Wicked is currently playing. One tour will be exploring some of my favorite Sculpture in the Loop. Others explore gardens, cemeteries, churches and there is even a Stained Glass tour.
Finally some tours just sound incredibly fun like Chicago's Haunted Spaces where ghost stories are told. See how cheesecake is made (and grab a free sample) at Eli's Cheesecake Factory. Let improv performers show you their favorite places in the Second City Neighborhood Tour.
Most of these tours are too lengthy and fact filled for small children, but there is a Lego Event led by architects in which everyone can create urbanscapes.
Why should tourists have all the fun? Too many people live around the city and only see Chicago from certain viewpoints: their neighborhood, the building they work in, favorite spots, and tourist traps downtown. Let the Great Chicago Places and Spaces weekend show you the city you never knew.
To find more information and a complete list of tours go to www.cityofchicago.org/specialevents and click on the Great Chicago Places and Spaces icon. If for some reason the weekend of May 19-21 is impossible for you there is a link to a couple of other tours that operate at different times of year, but they aren't free.