Alexander Hamilton and the American Revolution

HAMILTON: The Exhibition will premiere in #Chicago on April 6, 2019. Created by Hamilton musical creator Lin-Manuel Miranda and producer Jeffrey Seller, this 360-degree, immersive exhibit is designed to take visitors deeper into the life and times of Alexander Hamilton, while at the same time chronicling the American Revolution and the creation of the United States of America. 

The exhibit will feature an audio tour narrated by Miranda. With a dynamic, interactive mix of in-depth scenography, lighting, sound, multimedia and music, Hamilton: The Exhibition will give visitors an experiential journey from Hamilton’s childhood in St. Croix to his untimely death in Weehawken, New Jersey. 

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A holiday tradition not to be missed

HAILED as a “venerable holiday tradition” performed with “an exultant spirit that came from the heart” by The Chicago Tribune, The Apollo Chorus' rendition of Händel’s Messiah has been performed every December since 1879—a track record unmatched by other choral organizations.

One of the most renowned musical organizations in the nation, The Apollo Chorus of Chicago, celebrates the 139th anniversary of its annual presentation of Händel’s Messiah with two performances on Saturday, December 15 at 7:00 p.m. and Sunday, December 16 at 2:00 p.m. at the Harris Theater for Music & Dance, 205 E. Randolph Dr., #Chicago.



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Conde Nast unveils Readers Choice winners

THE winners of Condé Nast Traveler 31st annual Readers' Choice Awards have been unveiled, ranking the best hotels, resorts, cities, islands, airlines, airports, and cruise lines in the world. The Readers' Choice Awards are the longest-running and most prestigious recognition of excellence in the travel industry. A recording-breaking number of responses from nearly half a million readers who rated their travel experiences to provide a full snapshot of where and how we travel today.

The 2018 results are all about comfort. Readers stayed closer to home than ever before, pushing more cities like Chicago, Charleston, and Nashville to the top of our lists. They favored the Caribbean and domestic islands in the southeast, like Hilton Head, Amelia, and Kiawah. The properties that impressed them most were smaller and less flashy than in years past, and our small-cruise-ship list is longer than it's ever been, suggesting that the right kind of less is more. The world has changed in ways no one could have predicted, and so it stands to reason that how we get away from it all would, too.

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A new kind of food festival… Chicago-Style

FOOD BOWL will celebrate the chefs, restaurateurs, mixologists, innovators, entrepreneurs, critics, and connoisseurs who put #Chicago at the forefront of the nation's food and drink scene. The festival will showcase the distinct tastes and flavors of Chicago's diverse neighborhoods from August 8th - 26th. 

Throughout the three-week festival, FOOD BOWL will collaborate with chefs and restaurants around Chicago to offer 100+ events, in just as many locations. Expertly curated events include, but are not limited to, specialty classes, test kitchens, panels and talks, pop-up bars, and neighborhood tours.

The festival will conclude with a three-day Night Market held at The Lakefront Green at Theatre on the Lake. The street food market will feature 30+ of Chicago's essential restaurants. During these three days, over 30,000 guests will discover new restaurants, dine on unique dishes, connect with Chicago's most talented chefs, and experience Chicago like they never have before.

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Make a splash!

RAGING Waves, Illinois' largest #waterpark with 58 acres of slides, a lazy river, wave pool and more, will unveil Quokka-Nut Island and Wild Wallabies in 2018, marking the waterpark's largest expansion to date. Located southwest of Chicago, Raging Waves will open for the summer on May 26. Raging Waves features a wave pool, multiple kiddie areas, private cabanas, a quarter-mile long lazy river, and 26 water slides including the award winning Wonambi slide. Ranked one of the top new water rides in 2016, Wonambi is a must-experience this summer at Raging Waves.

Quokka-Nut Island is the newest addition for Raging Waves littlest mates (ages 2-5). Located within Kiddiebunga Bay, Quokka-Nut Island will include four new kiddie slides and a zero-depth pool which more than doubles the size of the existing kiddie pools. Additional interactive play features will include a coconut rain curtain, palm tree sprayers and a large octopus that spouts water.

Guests can embrace their competitive spirit as they race one another down the Wild Wallabies. The two new slides add more than 600 feet of twists, turns and thrills to Illinois' largest waterpark for guests over 42 inches.

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Record numbers blow into the windy city in 2017

VISITORS to the city of #Chicago in 2017 reached 55.2 million – a new record and 2.5 percent increase over the previous year. The increase of 1.4 million reaches the Mayor’s ambitious goal of 55 million visitors annually – two years early.

2017 marked another major increase in leisure visitors to the city as Chicago hotels reported an overall annual increase of 6.3 percent. This increase of the leisure segment was particularly strong in the key summer months as hotels reported an increase of 7.4 percent during the four-month period June through September – more than double the growth of the previous summer. Overall, Chicago hotel demand in terms of rooms occupied grew 3.3 percent in 2017.

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Top Trumps

TRUMP International Hotel Washington, D.C. and Trump International Hotel & Tower Vancouver have been designated as Forbes Five-Star Hotels. It is unusual for two new hotels to achieve this prestigious recognition just after their first year of operation.

The Hotel Group is honored that these latest properties join the portfolio’s other Forbes Five-Star Hotels — Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago; Trump International Hotel & Tower New York and Trump International Hotel Waikiki.

Forbes Travel Guide, the global authority on luxury travel, sends anonymous professional inspectors around the world to assess hotels, restaurants and spas against up to 800 objective standards focused on service and facilities.

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Chic Chicago Stay

THE Ace Hotel Chicago made its home in Chicago’s West Loop neighborhood in August 2017 within a stoic, industrial concrete and glass building, once home to an Italian-American cheesemaking company and, before that, a pair of mysterious brothers. 

The vision for the hotel is inspired by the ever-evolving design history of the city and the heroes that emerged from it, as well as the idea that they would hand over their public spaces to the city they were built for. The Mies-inspired property has guest rooms with skyline views, event spaces big and small, a restaurant called City Mouse, a top floor bar named Waydown and a café by Stumptown Coffee Roasters — their first outpost in the Midwest.

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From China to Chicago

MIRRORING China’s Past: Emperors And Their Bronzes runs February 25 to May 13 at the Art Institute of Chicago, and will be the first project devoted to an in-depth study of the tradition of collecting ancient bronzes in China. The focus of this exhibition is not only how such works were unearthed in their original context, but also the different ways in which they were collected, classified and conceptualized throughout Chinese history. 

The exhibition features over 160 exquisite objects of diverse forms and materials, including a number of highlights from the Art Institute of Chicago’s strong holdings; the majority are loans from the Palace Museum, Beijing, the Shanghai Museum and important museums and private collections in the United States.

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Dinosaur makeover

THE Field Museum of Natural History, also known as The Field Museum, is a natural history museum in the city of Chicago, and is one of the largest such museums in the world. In celebration of the museum’s 125th anniversary in 2018, SUE the T-rex is getting a makeover, and a touchable cast of the biggest dinosaur ever discovered will join the Museum’s ranks, thanks to a $16.5 million gift from the Kenneth C. Griffin Charitable Fund, one of the largest private contributions ever to a #Chicago museum. 

The museum will introduce the titanosaur cast (the largest dinosaur discovered) which visitors will be able to walk underneath and touch, while making scientific updates to SUE which will include an adjusted posture and the addition of bones more recently discovered as well as her own section in Evolving Planet to put her in historical context. 

SUE will move February 2018 and be ready again by Spring 2019, while the titanosaur will be fully assembled by late Spring 2018.

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Cruise the Chicago River

SET to open in Summer 2018 is the new Odyssey Chicago River Experience. This single-level, glass-enclosed boat will ply the waters of the Chicago River, offering stunning 360-degree views of the surrounding architecture. 

The vessel is available for full and partial charters, accommodating a maximum of 200 guests. Operating year-round, the climate-controlled Odyssey will offer upscale brunch, lunch, dinner and cocktail menus. 

The cruise boards on the north side of the #Chicago River, near NBC Tower.


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Reach for the sky in Chicago

CURRENTLY welcoming 1.7 million visitors annually, Skydeck Chicago is a world-class family attraction. The tour begins with a theater presentation of Reaching for the Sky, a nine-minute movie that tells how the Willis Tower went from dream to putting Chicago on the architectural map. You can also do the challenge of an interactive #Chicago trivia game and snap a selfie with the enormous 103 sculpture and explore the city with interactive touch screens and exhibits.

Reaching the 103rd floor Skydeck Chicago (the highest observation deck in the United States), are the jaw-dropping panoramic views that can span up to four states and nearly 50 miles on a clear day. Then if you dare . . . The Ledge, a first-of-its-kind attraction that extends a glass balcony four feet beyond the building itself to create an unforgettable viewing experience from 1,353 feet up in the air.

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Picture Credit:{Charlotte.Morrall} Me on the Ledge! via photopin

MidWest Rum Fest

RUM, n. Generically, fiery liquors that produce madness in total abstainers. 

Ambrose Bierce

THE third MidWest Rum Fest a.k.a Chicago #Rum #Festival will be held at the Logan Square Auditorium #Chicago, Illinois on April 8. TheRumLab is also responsible for the Taste of Rum Puerto Rico, California Rum Festival and the New York Rum Fest. The event will be divided into two sessions: Spirit Industry and Rum Aficionado Grand Tasting “General Admission”.

The Spirit Industry Session consists of a 1-hour program from 12-1PM to offer industry professionals the opportunity to network with brand representatives, attend training seminars, taste a wide variety of rums and mingle/meet with colleagues.

The Rum Aficionado Grand Tasting “General Admission” Session is from 1:30 - 5:30 PM and consists of a 4 hour program that offers attendees the opportunity to taste new rums, attend brand seminars, enjoy pleasant music, and witness a mixology/flair show.

The Cover Charge includes: A 2 oz. tasting snifter glass; a tasting punch card to redeem samples (each sample is equivalent to .25oz of neat rum or 1.5 oz cocktail), and some complimentary snacks.

www.midwestrumfest.com

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Virtual Reality Concierge

THE redesign of former Draft FCB corporate office building into a smart, luxury hotel Conrad Chicago, the 20-story luxury hotel located steps from Magnificent Mile, today welcomes guests to a stylish and contemporary escape in the Windy City.

Conrad #Chicago will be the first hotel to offer a complimentary high-tech Conrad 1/3/5 experience with its Virtual Reality Enhanced Concierge. The Conrad Chicago concierge allows the smart luxury traveler to sample Conrad Chicago's specially curated 1/3/5 experiences. The VR Concierge features 360 video and Oculus headsets allowing guests to virtually try unique Chicago experiences such as looking at the city from 1,000 feet above ground from The John Hancock building. Capturing the sights and sounds of the selected activities as if guests were there themselves is just one of the many tech-forward innovations built into the Conrad Chicago experience.

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Picture Credit: By Ivylaw - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=49952518

Up in the air . . . US bound

AIRBERLIN is to launch #UnitedStates west coast flights – to Los Angeles and San Francisco – next spring. Berlin’s largest airline will also be increasing the frequency of its services to New York, Chicago, and Miami.

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Up in the air . . .

AMERICAN AIRLINES customers will get an upgraded travel experience when the carrier introduces the latest addition to its fleet – the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner –- into service from the UK’s Manchester Airport to Chicago. 

The Dreamliner has 28 fully lie-flat business class seats, and an additional 55 main cabin seats with extra legroom. Every seat has a touchscreen monitor loaded with up to 260 movies, 240 TV shows, 13 radio channels, 350 albums, and 20 games.

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A taste of luxury in Cuba

VICTOR – a global on-demand #privatejet charter service recently launched in the US – has started direct flights to #Cuba from major U.S. cities, plus curated itineraries giving access to the luxuries of the formerly forbidden island.

Guests will get experiences such as cigar and rum tastings, a private cocktail reception, concerts with entertainers such as the Buena Vista Social Club, dinners with prominent cultural figures, historians, and other specialists.

Itineraries include accommodation in hotels or up-scale rented homes, and travel in classic American autos.

Victor members in the US can book direct flights to Havana from 19 major US cities, including Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, Dallas, Fort Lauderdale, Houston, Los Angeles, Key West, Miami, New York City, Minneapolis, New Orleans, and Orlando.

Victor, in partnership with Cuba Educational Travel, are able to customize programmes for single travellers, families, or larger groups

Prices for a group of eight travellers flying direct to Havana for a four-night programme begin at $40,000.

www.flyvictor.com

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From snowy Chicago to sunny St. Lucia

WITH visitors arriving at a record pace from the US – showing a year-to-date increase of nine percent over 2014 – Saint Lucia will see additional winter season flights as United Airlines launches a non-stop, weekly service from Chicago in December.

‘The expanded partnership with United signifies the first non-stop regularly scheduled service between the two destinations, making Saint Lucia even more accessible for travellers,’ says Louis Lewis at #SaintLucia Tourist Board. ‘The new flights connect major gateways in the Midwestern United States and provide added convenience for connections with a number of new markets.’

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Your pass to Dallas

DALLAS, Texas, will soon join New York City, San Francisco, Houston, Chicago, and more than half a dozen other tourist destinations as an official CityPASS city. 

The pass is a pre-paid programme that cuts ticket prices at attractions.

Each Dallas CityPASS booklet will save visitors 41 percent off combined admission to the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, Reunion Tower GeO-Deck, a choice between the Dallas Zoo and The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, and a choice between the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum and the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden. 

The pass also saves time, allowing holders to skip most main-entrance ticket lines.

The Dallas CityPASS will retail for $44 (£29.50) for adults, $30 (£20.12) for children aged 3-12.

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Picture Credit: Perot Museum Alamosaurus by Rodney - Flickr: Perot Museum. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons ,Dallas World Aquarium Entranceby Jay R Simonson Jsimo1 - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

America’s top 10 …

AS millions of US travellers anticipate Memorial Day – May 26 – and the start of summer, Travelocity's latest booking data reveals the top 10 Memorial Day destinations of 2014, with New York City in the No. 1 spot for the third year in a row.

The top 10 Memorial Day Destinations are:

New York City

South Florida

Washington, D.C.

Los Angeles

Orlando

Chicago

Boston

San Francisco Bay Area

Seattle

Las Vegas 

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