Jane Addams Hull-House Museum
Three years after the Haymarket Riot, a young woman named Jane Addams bought an old mansion on Halsted Street that had been built in 1856 as a "country home" but was now surrounded by the shanties of the immigrant poor. Here, Addams and her co-worker, Ellen Gates Starr, launched the American settlement-house movement with the establishment of Hull House, an institution that endured on this site in Chicago until 1963. (It continues today as a decentralized social-service agency known as Hull House Association.) In that year, all but two of the settlement's 13 buildings, along with the entire residential neighborhood in its immediate vicinity, were demolished to make room for the new University of Illinois at Chicago campus, which now owns the museum buildings. Of the original settlement, what remain today are the Hull-House Museum, the mansion itself, and the residents' dining hall, snuggled among the ultramodern, poured-concrete buildings of the university campus. Inside are the original furnishings, Jane Addams's office, and numerous settlement maps and photographs. Rotating exhibits re-create the history of the settlement and the work of its residents, showing how Addams was able to help transform the dismal streets around her into stable inner-city environments worth fighting over. Allow a half-hour.

Field Museum of Natural History
Is it any wonder that Steven Spielberg thought the Field Museum of Natural History suitable home turf for the intrepid archaeologist and adventurer hero of his Indiana Jones movies? Spread over the museum's 9 acres of floor space are scores of permanent and temporary exhibitions -- some interactive, but most requiring the old-fashioned skills of observation and imagination. But navigating all the disparate exhibits can be daunting.You'll start out in the grand Stanley Field Hall, which you enter from either the north or south end. Standing proudly at the north side is the largest, most complete Tyrannosaurus rex fossil ever unearthed. Named Sue for the paleontologist who found the dinosaur in 1990 in South Dakota, the specimen was acquired by the museum for a cool $8.4 million following a high-stakes bidding war. The real skull is so heavy that a lighter copy had to be mounted on the skeleton; the actual one is displayed nearby.Families should head downstairs for two of the most popular kid-friendly exhibits. The pieces on display in Inside Ancient Egypt were brought to the museum in the early 1900s, after researchers in Saqqara, Egypt, excavated two of the original chambers from the tomb of Unis-ankh, son of the Fifth Dynasty ruler Pharaoh Unis. This mastaba (tomb) of Unis-ankh now forms the core of a spellbinding exhibit that realistically depicts scenes from Egyptian funeral, religious, and other social practices. Visitors can explore aspects of the day-to-day world of ancient Egypt, viewing 23 actual mummies and realistic burial scenes, a living marsh environment and canal works, the ancient royal barge, a religious shrine, and a reproduction of a typical marketplace of the period. Many of the exhibits allow hands-on interaction, and there are special activities for kids, such as making parchment from living papyrus plants.Next to the Egypt exhibit, you'll find Underground Adventure, a "total immersion environment" populated by giant robotic earwigs, centipedes, wolf spiders, and other subterranean critters. The Disneyesque exhibit is a big hit with kids, but -- annoyingly -- requires an extra admission charge ($7 on top of regular admission for adults, $3 for kids).You might be tempted to skip the "peoples of the world" exhibits, but, trust me -- some are not only mind-opening, but they're also great fun. Traveling the Pacific is hidden up on the second floor, but it's definitely worth a stop. Hundreds of artifacts from the museum's oceanic collection re-create scenes of island life in the South Pacific (there's even a full-scale model of a Maori meeting house). Africa, an assemblage of African artifacts and provocative, interactive multimedia presentations, takes viewers to Senegal, to a Cameroon palace, to the savanna and its wildlife, and on a "virtual" journey aboard a slave ship to the Americas. Native Chicagoans will quickly name two more signature highlights: the taxidermies of Bushman (a legendary lowland gorilla who made international headlines while at the city's Lincoln Park Zoo) and the Man-Eating Lions of Tsavo (the pair of male lions who munched nearly 140 British railway workers constructing a bridge in East Africa in 1898; their story is featured in the film The Ghost and the Darkness).The museum hosts special traveling exhibits (recent blockbusters included shows on Cleopatra and the jewels of Russia), as well as numerous lectures, book signings, multi-ethnic musical and dance performances, storytelling events, and family activity days throughout the year. The Corner Bakery cafe, located just off the main hall, is a cut above the usual museum victuals (to avoid the lunchtime lines, pick up one of the premade salads or sandwiches and head for the cash register). Families also flock to the McDonald's on the lower level. Allow 3 hours.

Polish Museum of America
One million people of Polish ancestry live in Chicago, giving the city the largest Polish population outside of Warsaw. So it's no surprise that Chicago is the site of the Polish Museum of America, located in the neighborhood where many of the first immigrants settled. The museum has one of the most important collections of Polish art and historical materials outside Poland (it is also the largest museum in the United States devoted exclusively to an ethnic group). The museum's programs include rotating exhibitions, films, lectures, and concerts, and a permanent exhibit about Pope John Paul II. There is also a library with a large Polish-language collection, and archives where visitors can research genealogical history (call in advance if you want to look through those records). Allow a half-hour.

The Sutton Place Hotel -- Chicago
Located in the heart of Chicago's Gold Coast neighborhood, The Sutton Place Hotel is an intimate, residential-style hotel. Ideal for business or leisure travel and just minutes from the downtown "Loop" business area, world-class shopping on North Michigan Avenue and Oak Street, and in the center of the city's nightlife, entertainment, and dining ...

Majestic Hotel
The Majestic Hotel affords the tranquility and dignity of a refined English Country estate amidst bustling energetic city life. This 52 Room Hotel has recently been transformed by a 1.5 Million Dollar Interior Renovation, featuring spacious work stations in each guest room with free wireless Internet access.***This a completely non-smoking property. ...

Amalfi Hotel Chicago
Amalfi Hotel located in Chicago's River North features complimentary executive breakfast served each morning, evening cocktail reception in the Amalfi Lounge and high-speed Internet access. Amalfi is the newest luxury hotel to grace the Chicago's River North District. Located within walking distance of The House of Blues, Michigan Avenue, Navy Pier and The Financial Loop District, the hotel features 215 luxury rooms designed with the distinguished traveler in mind. Come and experience ...