Hey Chicago and New York: Get away to Mexico City this Memorial Day for cheap

by Grant Martin on

People often don’t think about traveling over the holidays before it’s too late and ticket prices have gone through the roof. Good thing you’ve got me around. Just be glad you don’t know me personally, I’m always pestering people to buy tickets and they hate me for it.

Anyway, we’ve been looking for good tickets to buy for my girlfriend and I over Memorial Day, and blogger Jeremy (aka, Yaro, aka SATIJ) stumbled on a great fare to Mexico City over that weekend. For a paltry 280$, you can get yourself into the cultural and economic center of our neighbors to the south from either Chicago or New York, leaving Friday or Saturday and returning on Tuesday, the day after the holiday.

Oh but it gets better. If you want to book today or tomorrow, there’s also a 50$ off rebate that you can use with Northwest. So your ticket price drops to 230$.

Use a month long search on the NWA website to find your tickets out of Chicago or New York. You’ll also find that the fare is good for multiple weekends in April and May as well.

Mexico City to big and dirty and scary for you? It’s actually not as bad as it used to be. Take a gander through their wikitravel page and I think you’ll be impressed at what you see. And if you need any personal advice, ask Yaro for some tips and he’ll hook you up. Ask him about his nicknames while you’re at it.

I’ll see you in Mexico City. Just don’t forget your passport.

Google Maps Street View catches what looks like a drug deal in Chicago

by Justin Glow on

That pesky Google van with the camera is up to its old shenanigans again! This time, it snapped what looks like a drug deal in progress on the streets of south Chicago. Of course, it could be something completely innocent; handing money through a car window isn’t illegal. Maybe the gentleman’s grandmother was headed to the grocery store and he wanted her to pick-up some milk and eggs for him? Or maybe he was buying the car. Remember, all suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

[Via NOTCOT]

Chicago plans to build new airport

by Grant Martin on

It looks like authorities are slowly getting the green light to start building Chicago‘s third airport. Dubbed the South Suburban Airport, the site has been under development for over forty years now, but the city just submitted new plans for a runway that should start moving things further along.

The city has also started usurping land around Will County, to the obvious chagrin of the locals. They say that this new airport will alleviate much of the traffic that O’hare airport, the oft despised hub of United and American Airlines, has been subject to over the last half century. While Midway can do much of this, apparently their runways aren’t large enough to accommodate all sorts of aircraft, namely those used frequently in international legs.

As far as location, Will County is a pretty far hike from the city center. If you remember your El cartography, O’hare and Midway are both positioned on the blue and orange lines respectively, making transfers from the city out to the airports relatively painless. The South Suburban would be even farther away than the Gary Airport (in Indiana), so you would have to budget more time and effort to get out there. It’s kind of like the Dulles of Washington DC.

To connect the terminals to the city, a high speed rail service is thus part of the construct.

Planning still seems to be in its early stages, but you can read a ton of info on the Master Plan website. You’ll find that their “Project Implementation” link is broken; maybe even they admit that construction is still a ways off.

You can read more about the proposed site and opposition at the wikipedia page, or read the airport website here.

The American Girls Revue shows to end after a decade run

by Jamie Rhein on

When my daughter was 3 1/2 she received her first American Girl doll— Bitty Baby, the Asian version. Then came outfits with their accessories. Then came the Just Like You American Girl doll version, the kind where you choose your hair color, eye color and skin tone–Asian. Then when she was nine, we folded and bought Josephina, the Hispanic version. My daughter never asked for anything. It was me. I was hooked. For a brief while, I was the kid who could afford (barely) a bit of the fantasy that American Girl sent my way with each new catalog and as long as my daughter liked her dolls. . .and there was a birthday or Santa Claus.

Alas, childhood is short. My daughter’s interest in her dolls stopped at about age 11. No point in spending the money on those ever so clever outfits with accessories to match even if Josephina’s led us through watered down Hispanic culture of yesteryear through the books that matched the outfits and accessories, and I never got around to buying the Chinese New Year outfit for Just Like You Asian girl. By the time I found out about an American Girl store had opened in Manhattan, my daughter was into the eye rolling phase.

Although Asian girl and Josephina are perched high on a shelf in her bedroom, darling Bitty Baby is in the basement in a box with all her clothes–carefully packed but moved over to make room for other phases in life. The American Girl company is also making room for other things.

The live shows, The American Girls Revue that started in the Chicago store and then was added to the Los Angeles and Manhattan locations are stopping. The L.A. version will close on April 1. The NYC and Chicago versions will close September 1. There’s still some time to see the characters the dolls represent sing, dance and act out aspects of the lives from history the dolls represent. The stores are staying open, and I’m sure out there there are mothers and grandmothers pouring through catalogs savoring those days of childhood. [via Chicago Tribune]

Chicago’s thoughtful guide for folks who have disabilities

by Jamie Rhein on

Over this past year, each time I’ve gone to the Columbus Zoo, I’ve looked at the hopefully temporary location of handicapped parking and thought, “This is not very handicapped friendly.” It’s too far from the main gate. By the time a person hoofs it to the main gate, it’s been a hike already. The main gate, to be fair, is going to be located elsewhere once the water park is finished, and the details for connecting the zoo to the new water park are completed. I’m assuming the gate will once more be closer to the parking lot. In the meantime, there’s a bit of a long walk. Possibly, the walk seems long because before the renovations started, handicapped parking was right at the gate.

For anyone who has a disability, or who travels with people who have disabilities–where accessibility to attractions is a concern, Chicago has developed a guide to help folks find the easy places to visit. “Easy Access Chicago” highlights all those spots that are handicapped accessible and provides details about visiting those places.

As people get older, but still have a desire to get out and enjoy travel, this type of guide is a great idea. I hope other cities follow suit if they haven’t already. It seems this guide would be useful for folks packing a stroller as well. You can download the guide at http://easyaccesschicago.org/ or call 1-800-226-6632 to order one. The guide is free.