Visitors to Chicago are likely to make places like Grant Park, the Magnificent Mile and other landmarks the highlights of their trip. There are lesser known activities that can make for a more extraordinary travel experience, though. Many people who have visited Chicago have pictures of their day at Navy Pier or an art museum. Those with photos of their visit to Billy Goat Tavern, Resurrection Cemetery or the Biograph Theater are not as common.
At the Billy Goat Tavern you can relive TV history and touch on a Chicago Cubs curse at the same time. Saturday Night Live based its old "Olympia Restaurant" skit on the tavern. In addition, rumor has it that the Cubs' notorious losing streak of over 100 years came about because they refused to allow the billy goat owned by the tavern into Wrigley Field.
Billy Goat Tavern Original
430 N. Michigan Ave at Lower Level
Chicago, IL 60611
312-222-1525
billygoattavern.com
For those whose tastes run more to ghost stories, consider a quest for Resurrection Mary. The legend of Resurrection Mary dates back to the 1930's. She is said to be a ghost in a white dress reportedly found near Resurrection Cemetery. Many people have told stories of picking her up as a hitchhiker and then having her vanish. Visiting the area near the burial ground--perhaps even making a trip inside--is an unusual Chicago activity, although technically the cemetery's address is in nearby Justice, Illinois.
Resurrection Catholic Cemetery & Mausoleums
7201 Archer Ave.
Justice, IL 60458
708-458-4770
catholiccemeterieschicago.org
Chicago served as one of the primary centers of gangster activity in the Prohibition era. Al Capone and others fought over territory with each other and with the police. Chicago also provided the scene of the death of the notorious John Dillinger. The FBI shot him down outside the Biograph Theater--known today as the Victory Gardens Biograph Theater--and rumors circulate of Dillinger haunting the general area.
The Victory Gardens Biograph Theater
2433 North Lincoln Avenue
Chicago,IL 60614
773-348-4123
victorygardens.org
