Other towns nearby which are especially interesting include Riverside (winding streets, interesting home architecture), Oak Park (many Frank Lloyd Wright and other interesting homes), Evanston (home of Northwestern University) and the North Shore in general (take a drive up Sheridan Road after you do the Outer Drive northbound trip in Chicago).

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The Hyde Park area (used to be an independent town a hundred or so years ago) is an urban village with the University of Chicago as a hub and, incidentally, near Obamaville. Especially see the Rockefeller Chapel, a lovely Gothic building with a magnificent organ and a bell tower that has free summer concerts. On their website you can check out events held there, too.

Hyde Park has a number of bookstores - the most interesting to me are the Seminary Coop Bookstore at 5757 South University (new books and other locations) and Powell & O’Gara’s, 1501 East 57th Street (used books to get lost in).

www.rockefeller.uchicago.edu
www.semcoop.booksense.com
www.powellschicago.com

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If you're visiting Chicago, please don't waste your time with this tourist trap! It's just a corporate-designed mall with no soul. Instead, see some of Chicago's neighborhoods, where the REAL Chicago lives. Head to Pilsen to see the Mexican Fine Arts Museum, to have some real Mexican food, to enjoy a cup of icy fresh mango spears from a pushcart. Head up to Devon Avenue, a crazy bazaar packed with sari shops, Orthodox Jewish delicatessans, and the best Indian food in the city. Try Andersonville, which used to be the Swedish neighborhood and is now Swedish and Arabic and full of wonderful boutiques and shops, not to mention great Swedish food. Wander around the botanic garden and greenhouse in Lincoln Park. Go to the zoo and rent a bike - take a leisurely ride on the many miles of bike paths along Lake Michigan.

Take one of the tours run by the Chicago Architecture Foundation. You'll be able to go inside some of our greatest buildings. Or take their river tour by boat.

Avoid Navy Pier and Millennium Park. They have nothing to do with the real Chicago!

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