Go Chicago Card Sale

If you're planning to visit downtown Chicago in the next few weeks, here's your chance to save some extra money!

For a limited time, the Go Chicago card is on sale - offering you an extra 10% off the price of admission to more than 30 fun Chicago attractions including the Field Museum, the Hancock Observatory, Navy Pier, boat tours and many more!

Save 10% instantly on 3, 5, and 7 day cards! Offer valid from 9/9/09 through 9/17/09.

It's official: The Willis Tower

Today, the city of Chicago was re-introduced to an old friend - albeit by a new name. The building once known as the Sears Tower has been renamed the Willis Tower, as described in this MSNBC article.

I know that I'm not the only one in Chicago who thinks this is silly (the most politically correct word I can think of). It's been the Sears Tower for 35 years... I simply refuse to call it the Willis Tower. I can't bring myself to do it.

I wish I had known about http://www.itsthesearstower.com/ before today... I definitely would have signed that petition.

It looks like we're too late, but the Sears Tower is still cool in my book. I'm hoping to check out their new "Ledge" attraction sometime soon.

Sears Tower: "The Ledge"

I just saw a news article saying that the Sears Tower will open it's glass-bottom "Ledge" tomorrow. I had heard about this a while back and I'm actually pretty excited about the idea.

Personally, I think the Sears Tower is one of the coolest downtown attractions that Chicago has to offer. Not only is it one of the tallest buildings in the world, but it has a wonderful restaurant at the top and a cool view of the southern part of the city. I like the views from the Hancock center a bit more (it's closer to the lake), but seeing the Loop from 100+ stories up can't be beat.

Speaking of the Sears Tower... does anyone like it's new name(The Willis Tower)? Honestly, I think it's ridiculous. Everyone knows it as the Sears Tower, and I'm going to refuse to use its new name as long as possible.

2009 Taste of Chicago?

Is it just me, or has there been little advertising for the 2009 Taste of Chicago?

I haven't spent too much time downtown to comment on visual ads, but in terms of TV and Radio advertising I have seen virtually nothing mentioned about the Taste. In fact, I had forgotten about it until the ABC7 news mentioned it last night.

I hope the Taste of Chicago will be a success this year... anyone planning on going?

Do the Olympics really cost $500 million?

I just saw this article, which says Mayor Daley has guaranteed the city of Chicago will foot the $500+ million bill for the Olympics... assuming of course that Chicago wins our bid for the games.

Now, on the one hand I totally support the idea. Hear me out on this one: if Chicago wants the Olympics (an idea I actually like) we're obviously going to have to pay for something. I don't claim to know anything about the city budget, but it seems to me that the Olympics could make a lot of money for the city. Thus, in theory that $500 million might be a good investment.

On the other hand, $500 million is a shitload of money. I don't even know if that's a realistic estimate, or what exactly that pays for. Does the US government, the state of IL, or the international Olympic committee help us out?

Obviously, that $500 million dollars could pay for a lot of things in Chicago: fixing potholes, fixing/updating public transportation, buying corrupt politicians (joking...).

So what do you think about Chicago spending $500 million dollars on the Olympics?