There's a lot to like about Chicago being named as Vogue.com's "Destination of the Month," but it won't silence critics who think it's skewed to East Coast readers. more ›

If the new marketing campaign from the Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau doesn't sound that original, that's because it isn't. more ›

With ComEd still picking up the pieces from last night's storm, and more bad weather predicted in the forecast, maybe it's time to take a summer trip abroad. more ›

Provided the NFL actually takes the field in 2011, the Bears will be traveling a great distance for one of their regular season road games. Real football — not that silly soccer — will hit London as the Bears play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers across the pond in Jolly Old England. The two teams will face off in famed Wembley Stadium. more ›

With all the talks of trades, exports and deals surrounding Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to Washington, DC and Chicago, I'd like to humbly offer a suggestion for what is apparently a much needed commodity in China: a real Chicago-style hot dog. more ›

So it's been snowing steadily all day. And while it's pretty (and welcome, in some places), it could wreak just the slightest bit of havoc with the evening commute. Glad we work from home right now. more ›

Today is storytime, boys and girls. Art recounts the time he had a chance encounter with Elizabeth Taylor. more ›

Back in July, we got the exciting news that the Guide Michelin, the most prestigious guidebook in the food world, was coming to Chicago. Chicago was going to be their third city in the United States, after New York and San Francisco, and every high-end restaurant owner in Chicago started scrambling to make sure that they made the list. Michelin reviewers had been eating all over Chicago for two years, taking their anonymous notes, and while some restaurant owners told us, off the record, that they spotted the Michelin reviewers, most of the restaurant world held its breath. more ›

The Chicago area has a winter weather advisory for this evening, as we're expecting anywhere from one to four inches of snow and/or freezing rain. But that could serve as a prelude to a bigger storm later in the week. For those of you dreaming of a White Christmas, be careful what you wish for. more ›

Ahmed Mohammed Nasser al Soofi and Hezam al Musri, the two men arrested Monday in Amsterdam for having "suspicious items" in their luggage on a flight from O'Hare, will not be charged with plotting a future terror attack, sources close to the FBI investigation told the Associated Press yesterday. The FBI investigation into the two men found that they do not know each other, the suspicious items found in al Soofi's luggage were not being used for a "dry bomb run," and that al Soofi's and al Musri's change of flight plans to catch direct flights from Chicago to Amsterdam was coincidental. more ›

For travelers the world over, the Michelin Guides often serve as an ultimate decoder for unfamiliar cities. For chefs, earning a star from the Michelin Guide, while not on the level of a Beard Award, is still such a significant accomplishment that many of them list the recognition in their résumés. more ›

This nice little video takes us around the world in 80 days seconds. They skip Chicago, though. more ›

In a new report that surprises no one, Chicago has the highest gas prices in the nation. With the national average coming in at around $2.92 per gallon, the average price here in Chicago is $3.22 per gallon. The results of the new Lundberg survey come just ahead of the typical seasonal rise in prices heading in to the summer. But there may be some relief ahead. Even as gas prices have increased and BP still toils with the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the United States' crude oil supply has increased and the price per barrel has dropped, indicating a drop of gasoline prices may be on the way. more ›

Encouraged by President Obama’s lift last month on allowing family visits to Cuba, the Chicago-based Orbitz Worldwide is launching a campaign this week to reverse a law that prohibits most other U.S. citizens and legal residents from traveling to the island. more ›

In case you haven't heard (and as we mentioned in our inaugural podcast earlier today), the long-awaited Chicago episode of "No Reservations" airs 9 p.m. tonight on Travel Channel. This means that, in addition to seeing the already obnoxious lines at Hot Doug's grow even longer by lunchtime tomorrow, the BOURDAIN Midas touch could also convince some folk to get off their duffs and actually head out south for a mother-in-law at Fat Johnnie's, smoked chub at Calumet Fisheries, or the best chili in the city at Ramova Grill (the full rundown of what made the cut during filming is here). more ›

After an icy day and foggy night that saw hundreds of flights canceled, the transportation mess is slowly beginning to untangle itself this morning. Both O'Hare and Midway have seen some cancellations this morning, mainly stemming from "out of position" aircraft due to yesterday's extensive cancellations. Still, both airports were reporting few delays. Be sure to call ahead to your airline to check the status of your flight before heading out this morning. Not that you'd do much better driving today with all the flooding. more ›

In case you're out and about this morning, here are some delays to be aware of due to the weather: more ›

As the busiest travel day of the year - Wednesday - approaches, Chicagoans look like they're going to be blessed by two things: good weather and lower gas prices. While Chicago has had the highest average gas price in the nation the last few years, the nation's gas price drop has reached us. So low, in fact, that some stations have regular unleaded actually below the current national average of $1.98. The lower prices come as the price of a barrel of oil has dropped from $147 a barrel in July to under $50 a barrel currently, as close to a silver lining as you'll find in the current economic crisis. Though this paragraph from the AP story certainly got our attention: "Some 'peak oil' adherents view the theory as an incentive to work harder on alternative energy. Others claim it's too late for that, and forecast an apocalyptic future in which industrial society and the global marketplace give way to local micro-economies with backyard farms, abandoned malls and marauding hordes." Um...Happy Holidays, everyone! more ›

“Most of my assignments started in the kitchen. It’s where people like to talk. Then I find out who they really are.” - Penny de los Santos more ›

If we didn't have to work today, we'd be at Pierogi Fest in Whiting, IN right now. All weekend long, 119th Street in downtown Whiting becomes a thoroughfare of music, carnival rides, parades and pierogis. This year's festival promises to bring more of the same babushkas, polkas, parades, lawn mower drill teams, showcasing of dogs and all-around family fun. For those of us having a staycation this summer, this could also fit in the "one-tank trip" rule. more ›

Midway ranked number-one on customer satisfaction for midsize airports in a new survey from J.D. Power and Associates, who apparently took a break from giving awards to every car ever to compile this data. According to the survey, late-arrival rates were the highest since 1996, customers are less satisfied than ever, and fewer people are checking bags. Perhaps even fewer travelers will be checking bags now that American will be charging $15 to do so. more ›

The TSA is rolling out a new security-line system at Midway. Starting today, passengers will sort themselves into three different lanes to go through the security check, based on their experience and efficiency as travelers (and packers). People who know the ropes, like business travelers, will go in the expert lane; people who are inexperienced travelers or who have kids with them go in the novice lane; and anyone who's not sure or is somewhere in between goes in the casual lane. more ›

American canceled 138 flights out of O'Hare today and as many as 850 flights nationally, stranding passengers and making everyone extremely grumpy. more ›

ATA filed for bankruptcy yesterday and completely shut down all operations at 4am today, leaving around 10,000 passengers SOL and laying off more than 2,000 employees. more ›

The Arthur Heurtley house -- just down the street from Wright's own home and studio in suburban Oak Park -- certainly fit the bill when it on the market last year, but the $2.5 million sale price was a slightly out of our budget, even if it was a relative bargain compared to the initial $5.75 million listing price. more ›

The art of the postcard is a delicate thing. How does one evoke the entirety of a place, a mood, and the very essence of travel into a tiny block of text with a picture on the front? From the "thinking of you" sentimental to the "wish you were here" silliness, most often they miss the point. We come away happy for sharing, but ultimately lost on the breadth of travel in the brevity of a postcard. more ›

Esquire Magazine's "Best Sandwiches in America" article is a must-read, if only for us because it gives us a checklist of places to hunt down the next time we're on vacation (btw, Katz's pastrami on rye is really all that). Although we have to question the inclusion of the McRib sandwich, we have no qualms with seeing Chick-Fil-A make an appearance on the list. more ›

Haha, just kidding, you can't. Midway is completely closed until at least 4pm, and delays at O'Hare are currently averaging over 2 hours and more than 300 flights have been canceled. more ›

Illinois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias announced yesterday that the state is getting out of the loan business. On Monday, Sangamon County Circuit Court Judge Patrick J. Londrigan signed the foreclosure order on the Abraham Lincoln Hotel and Convention Center, the first step in removing ownership from the politically connected powerbroker Bill Cellini. Although the owners quickly fell behind on payments, the loan was restructured in 1990, ensuring that the owners didn't have to repay the loan as long as the hotel didn't turn a profit. As a result, only two payments have been made on the loan in the last ten years. more ›

Planning on flying to New York on the cheap this year? You won't be going easy, going ATA (or Southwest). The low-cost carrier will no longer be flying to New York. more ›