[Road Trip] Places to go in the Midwest/ Upper Midwest?

I live in Chicago. It's the only place worth visiting in the Midwest. Seriously, there's nothing else here.

 

i just drove cross country from NY to CA. Chicago is an awesome city to visit.

Cleveland is alot smaller than I imagined but not as ghetto as I have heard. Iowa and Nebraska are giant fields of grass and full of people from Napoleon Dynamite. You have to hate yourself to want to live in those states.

Northern Colorado was pretty awesome too but that is probably too far west for you.

 

White Castle

 

Steer clear of Detroit. And Cleveland.

Agreed on Chicago. Drive through other cities, but I wouldn't waste too much time looking for interesting things that aren't there.

 

I can't tell you exactly what it is that people love about Madison, but people sure do love Madison.

(Wisconsin can sure sneak up on you with how long it takes to drive through. Ugh.)

Depending how much time you've got, I think the Great River Road going up northeastern Iowa is kind of pretty. At least it blows some holes in the "Iowa is completely flat" idea.

I think Minneapolis is a pretty sweet city (especially at this time of year when the weather's just beauuuuuuutiful) but I don't know exactly what you'd do as a tourist unless you dig on the Mall of America. It's not real stressful to drive around compared to some other cities, which is nice. The lakes are obviously pretty, but I'm not sure if you'd make a detour just for that. Otherwise, it's got what other cities have - cool museums both art and science, couple of zoos, different vibes in different neighborhoods. The sculpture garden is pretty neat. Nicollet Mall is nice to walk down during the day.

Oh, and the state fair starts August 27!

 

I liked the Sudan mine in upper Minnesota. They've turned it into a wild physics laboratory and the tour is cool.

You have to see some of the shipping on the lakes. They can use larger craft than ocean-going vessels.

I liked seeing Bob Dylan's home town, and the nearby strip mines, but it's not for everybody.

I think parts of Michegan, in the north part of the "mitt" are just gorgeous. little places like Alpena.

Iowa City, Iowa is cute and a great place to get a burger.

Agree with those recommending Chicago, and think about the architectural river boat tour
... but get some local rural flavor too, if you get the chance.

 

Don't waste precious moments of your life driving around the middle of America. Dip into your savings and take a trip to Europe... or atleast hit up southeast Canada.

 

Are you sure you don't want to go to the D? (NSFW)

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/aktLRiWXfqg&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/aktLRiWXfqg&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

 

Downtown Chicago is pretty good but I'd stay away from the South Side.

 

http://www.thehouseontherock.com/

Trust me GO. You can thank me later. It is easily one of the coolest places I have ever been.

 

That's not true. The South Side is just (overwhelmingly) the black side of town (upper, middle, and lower class).

 

I can only think of 3 things that would interest a tourist that is in the South Side: US Cellular Field (White Sox), the University of Chicago, and the Museum of Science and Industry. Most of the area is residential, and many areas simply aren't safe. It is not well suited for tourists. Downtown is much better for that.

 

Fair enough, but there's more to see than just downtown. Lots of the neighborhoods on the North side have tons more to do (and way better restaurants/night life) than downtown. What part of town do you live in?

 

I live near the University of Chicago, which is where I work.

 

Sweet, any chance you can get me a "visitor pass" for the Reg (or any library on campus)? I've been looking for a place to study for the LSAT on the weekends, and most public libraries are closed on Sundays. Clutchfans helping Clutchfans??

 

Places to see in Cincinnati

1. Fountain Square - if only to stand and sing the WKRP in Cincinnati theme song

2. Union Terminal - very cool building that now houses the Children's Museum and the Cincinnati History Museum as well as Omnimax (not sure what's there right now, but it's something fun to do)

3. Mt. Adams - Drinks, shopping, Art Museum, Botanical Gardens, Planetarium and the Playhouse in the Park... it's an area that you can make a day of

Those are the highlights downtown... there are some other things, but if you are only going to be here a day or two those should entertain you!

Holla if you are looking for a tour guide. I can't promise I will be available, but I will try to help a fellow Clutchfan!

 

Sorry, can't help you there. I find it strange that Chicago residents can't get visitor access but outsiders can.

http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/using/access/public.html

 

Chicago is great. Check out Millenium Park and Wrigleyville but there are a lot of other places to see. Milwaukee has a great museum on the waterfront and is only abit more than an hour north of Chicago. Madison is a very nice town, very similar to Austin. Door County north of Green Bay is very beautiful along with the Upper Pennisula of Michigan.

Minneapolis-St. Paul is very nice this time of year with a lot to see and do. There is the Mall of America of course but there are many other things like the Walker Art Musueum, Minnesota Institute of Art, Guthrie Theatre. If you were a fan of Purple Rain you can check out First Avenue Nightclub where it was filmed. There is a lot of natural beauty here too with the Mississippi River, this is the only part of the river in a gorge, Minnehaha Falls (unfortunately they aren't flowing right now since we've had a drought but they might when you get here), and the Chain of Lakes.

North from the Twin Cities the St. Croix river valley is also very beautiful and would recommend checking out Taylor's Falls. North from there is Lake Superior which is spectacular. The North Shore has rugged cliffs with lots of waterfalls while on the South Shore there is Bayfield Peninsula with the Apostle Islands. There are sea caves along there that you can kayak into.

North of Lake Superior in Minnesota is the Boundary Waters Canoe Area / Voyageurs National Park which is also spectacular with lots of lakes and wildlife but be warned right now there are tons of mosquitos and black flies.

One thing I would recommend you do on your trip is for either the outbound or return drive follow the Mississippi as there is a lot to see along there. Otherwise driving inland through the Midwest can get pretty dull.

If you are sure you are heading up to Minnesota or Wisconsin feel free to drop me a line about any place in particular you are planning on seeing. Let me know if you make it up to the Twin Cities and I would be happy to show a Clutchfan around.

 

If you like wheat then KS is awesome. But if you are more of a corn, soybean and a little sorghum girl, then IA is the place to be.

Seriously though, what kind of interests do you have? Baseball, racing, fishing, camping, etc?