free shit to do in chicago this week?

[mark414]

i'm going to be spending a couple days down in chicago this week with a pal o'mine and we're looking for things to keep us occupied during the day...unfortunately, we are two broke motherfuckers (though our travel down there is free, thus the trip)

so what's going on in chicago for free/cheap during the week? museums, etc. etc. etc. anything like that?

most anything works, and all tips help.

thanks in advance

[mark414]

1. anyone?

bueller...bueller...bueller...

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

2. Pick up a TimeOut...you dont need to buy it, but they usually have

tons of free shit to do...or check out their webstite http://www.timeout.com

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

3. go to the haymarket martyrs memorial

lots of labor history there.
and emma goldman, bill heywood, voltairine de cleyre and lucy parsons are buried close by
the main one's in waldheim cemetary, but there was another memorial unveiled recently

[grace0418]

4. Go here:

http://www.timeout.com/chicago/index.jsp

Or pick up a Reader, but TimeOut is more comprehensive.

I'd offer more specifics but I'm tired and blanking out on anything to do. I think we're all just coming out of hibernation and can't remember what it's like to want to go out and do anything. :) The Lincoln Park Zoo is free, and it's supposed to be gorgeous weather, especially on Tuesday. The various museums near downtown usually have one free day per week (at least they used to) but I think it depends on the museum. TimeOut or Chicago Reader can probably help you there. And there's Millennium Park, which will probably look a little bedraggled at the moment with everything thawing out, but it's still pretty cool.

Sorry I'm not more helpful. It's late and I'm spacy. You picked a good week though, it's finally getting warmer!

[grace0418]

5. Chicago Architecture Foundation does great tours. I think they're pretty inexpensive...

http://www.architecture.org/tours.aspx

[grace0418]

6. I found some more info...

Art Institute is free after 5 pm on Thursday, Chicago History Museum is free on Monday, the other big attractions have discount days but they are not a set day every week.

The Cultural Center has all kinds of free cultural performances
http://www.cityofchicago.org/Tourism/CulturalCenter/

The Chicago Greeter service is free, you must sign up before you get here except for the instagreeter service that they run from the Cultural Center
http://www.chicagogreeter.com/
http://www.chicagogreeter.com/Instagreeter.html

Here's a link with some more ideas
http://www.choosechicago.com/free.html

also, check out metromix.com

[momophile]

7. art institute has free hours thursday nights

free from 5pm to 8pm

[KitchenWitch]

8. A walk around Wrigleyville is fun!

If you like baseball that is.

Too bad it is still Spring Training. I would love to go to a Cubbies game.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

9. picasso's 'old man with guitar' is on display at ne of the bigger museums

cant remeber which, but worth seeing up close

[barb162]

10. go to Lincoln Park Zoo and take a walk through Grant Park

especially this, check all the photos there
http://www.lynnbecker.com/repeat/Gehry/gehry.htm
and go to the Natural History Museum

[Lex]

11. Go to your library and get a Chicago travel book like "Access Chicago"

and there will be tons of information on free stuff to do in it. With directions, times, etc.

That's what I do when I travel.

[orleans]

12. you've got to see the LEGS in grant park

"Recently unveiled in Chicago's Grant Park, Magdalena Abakanowicz's permanent installation, Agora, features 106 headless cast-iron figures, each 9 feet tall and weighing 1,500 pounds. Named for the marketplaces often used for political and public assembly in ancient Greece, the $3.5-million project is a gift from the artist and the Polish ministry of culture, installed under the auspices of the city of Chicago, which is the sister city of Warsaw.

"With Chicago's skyscrapers looming in the background, the work is located on the northeast corner of Michigan Avenue and Roosevelt Road, a site chosen by mayor Richard Daley. in a press release, Abakanowicz refers to the work as a meditation on the human condition and as a metaphor for the gathering of ideas in a public forum. She likens the figures to tree trunks and stresses the work's analogy to living systems. Viewers may walk among the towering sculptures, no two of which are exactly alike. The hollowed-out torsos with elongated legs face in different directions, each in a stance of walking forward with enormous strides."

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1248/is_2_95/ai_n17216593

[izzybeans]

13. The Chicago Reader is another free publication with loads of suggestions.

[mark414]

14. thanks everyone...it didn't exactly turn out as planned, but...

if you want to read about it go here:

http://oilpaintedeyes.livejournal.com/136500.html

it was quite fun