Lincoln Park Conservatory
Just beyond the zoo's northeast border is a lovely botanical garden housed in a soaring glass-domed structure. Inside are four great halls filled with thousands of plants. If you're visiting Chicago in the wintertime, I can't think of a better prescription for mood elevation than the conservatory's lush haven of greenery. The Palm House features giant palms and rubber trees (including a 50-ft. fiddle-leaf rubber tree dating from 1891), the Fernery nurtures plants that grow close to the forest floor, and the Tropical House is a shiny symphony of flowering trees, vines, and bamboo. The fourth environment is the Show House, where seasonal flower shows are held.Even better than the plants inside, however, might be what lies outside the front doors. The expansive lawn with its French garden and lovely fountain on the conservatory's south side is one of the best places in town for an informal picnic (especially nice if you're visiting the zoo and want to avoid the congestion at its food concession venues).The Lincoln Park Conservatory has a sister facility on the city's West Side, in Garfield Park, that is much more remarkable. In fact, the 2-acre Garfield Park Conservatory, 300 N. Central Park Ave. (tel. 312/746-5100), designed by the great landscape architect Jens Jensen in 1907, is one of the largest gardens under glass in the world. It's open 365 days a year from 9am to 5pm. Unfortunately, a rather blighted neighborhood with a high crime rate surrounds the conservatory. If you want to see it, I recommend driving rather than public transportation.Allow a half-hour for the Lincoln Park Conservatory.

Mystic Blue Cruises
A more casual alternative to fancy dinner cruises, this is promoted as more of a "fun" ship (that means DJs at night, although you'll have to put up with some kind of "live entertainment" no matter when you sail). Daily lunch and dinner excursions are available, as well as midnight voyages on weekends. The same company offers more formal (and expensive) cruises aboard the Odyssey, and motorboat rides on the 70-passenger Seadog, if you really want to feel the water in your face.

National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum
This museum houses one of the most stirring art collections anywhere -- and the only one of its kind in the world -- telling the story of the men who fought in Vietnam. Since the war, many of the veterans made art as personal therapy, never expecting to show it to anyone; but in 1981, a small group of them began showing their works together in Chicago and in touring exhibitions. The collection has grown to more than 700 paintings, drawings, photographs, and sculptures from all over the country and other countries, including Vietnam. Titles such as We Regret to Inform You, Blood Spots on a Rice Paddy, and The Wound should give you an idea of the power of the images in this unique legacy to the war. Housed in a former warehouse in the Prairie Avenue district south of the Loop, the museum is modern and well organized. An installation suspended from the ceiling, Above & Beyond, comprises more than 58,000 dog tags with the names of the men and women who died in the war -- it creates an emotional effect similar to that of the Wall in Washington, D.C. The complex also houses a small theater, a cafe open for breakfast and lunch, a gift shop, and an outdoor plaza with a flagpole that has deliberately been left leaning because that's how veterans saw them in combat. Allow 1 hour.

Best Western Hawthorne Terrace Hotel
'From: Lake Shore Drive. Exit Belmont Avenue (west), proceed on Belmont ' mile to Broadway Avenue and turn right (north), take Broadway ' mile to the Best Western Hawthorne Terrace Hotel on the left. 'From: Interstate 90/94. Exit Addison Street (east), proceed on Addison 4 miles to Broadway Avenue, turn right (south) onto Broadway and proceed ' mile Best Western Hawthorne Terrace Hotel on the ...

Embassy Suites Hotel Chicago-Downtown
Located in the heart of Chicago, in the trendy River North district, the Embassy Suites is within walking distance of shopping, restaurants, art galleries, museums, night clubs and famous architecture. It is a short taxi or trolley ride to the Shedd Aquarium, Adler Planetarium and Art Institute. Michigan Avenue shopping: World class shops, boutiques and event stores are within a five minute walk. Restaurants: the Hard Rock Cafe, Planet Hollywood, the Rainforest Cafe, Spaggo's, Pizzeria ...

City Suites Hotel Chicago
Located in the Historic Clark/Belmont area offering a beautiful 1920's Art Deco setting. Steps away from Chicago's best dining, theatres, baseball and ...