• Take a hot-air balloon ride over the Midwest’s largest city. Remembering the uncertain weather along Lake Michigan, be prepared to see your first flight date rescheduled.

• Enter one of the area’s paddle races, the Mid-American Canoe & Kayak Race on the Fox River or the Chicago River Flatwater Classic.

• Pursue rock climbing indoors at Vertical Endeavors Chicago.

• Go ice skating in Chicago at the Michigan Avenue rink at Millennium Park. Warm up with hot chocolate or more at the Park Grill. Alternatively, skate on the Navy Pier during the LaSalle Bank Winter WonderFest.

• Hear blues in the city that calls itself Blues Capital of the World. Choose the House of Blues, or a smaller trendy spot, or seek out something grittier, such as the legendary B.L.U.E.S., on North Halsted.

• Join hundreds of others in the annual Chicago Polar Plunge — in March into Lake Michigan. You can plunge as much or as little of yourself as you wish; the goal is raising funds for Special Olympics Chicago.

• Cycle in the city. For a map of bike paths, see www.cityofchicago.org/Transportation/bikemap/keymap.html

• Compete in the Chicago Marathon. Or, compete in the Chicago Speed Skating Classic, which is open to skaters of all ages and skill levels.

• Run in the LifeStart Wacky 5K Run, presented by Niketown Chicago to celebrate National Snack Food Month. A central feature is a post-race, indoor snack food buffet — all any runner can eat or carry away, healthy or not.

• Attend a baseball game (two teams to choose from, the Cubs or White Sox), a basketball game or other professional sport, depending on your schedule.

• Canoe or kayak on the Chicago River. Rent a boat in Clark Park. Choose a moonlight dinner journey, which involves paddling to a disembarkation point for a riverside dinner, followed by the return journey under the moon.

• Take a sightseeing or dinner cruise from Chicago’s Navy Pier. Or, make that cruise an architecture boat tour aboard Chicago’s First Lady with a Chicago Architecture Foundation guide pointing out more than 50 of the city’s important buildings.

• Come to Chicago for theater. It is the home to the well-known Second City, Lookingglass and Steppenwolf theater companies, among other options.

• Zero in on architecture, a key attraction in the Windy City. Take a self-guided Early Skyscrapers Tour to learn how builders developed the first tall buildings and see examples of their work. See www.ci.chi.il.us/Landmarks/Tours/Skyscrapers.html for details. Keep to the theme and add a Planned Towns Tour (www.ci.chi.il.us/Landmarks/Tours/SubdivPlanTowns.html), to see examples of several large blocks of the city that were developed by a single architect, creating many towns, in effect.

• Step out for some late-night jazz at the Green Mill Jazz Club. If your schedule permits, come to town for the Winter Delights Jazz Fair.

• Attend the annual (summertime) Taste of Chicago eating extravaganza held in Grant Park. There is live music to go with food samples from several dozen restaurants.

• Go swimming at Chicago’s downtown beaches (make that a summer event).

• Arrange to be squired in the city for a few hours by a Chicago resident who volunteers to be available at no cost through the Chicago Greeter program. Register for your greeter at www.chicagogreeter.com at least two weeks before arrival. This allows you to be matched with a host based on language and special interests.

• Shop Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, i.e., North Michigan Avenue, one of the world’s ritziest shopping streets.

• Explore an early version of a model town, the Pullman Historic District on the South Side, created in the late 1800s to house workers for the Pullman Palace Car Company.

• Take the free Saturday afternoon Loop Tour Train, a unique way to sightsee in the historic downtown Loop. Chicago Architecture Foundation docents narrate the tour, providing history plus information on the city’s architecture and elevated trains.

For more information, consult Chicago Office of Tourism at www.cityofchicago.org
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