Whether you are here for the concert or visiting family in the area, you won’t be able to help notice that on Saturday we will all be Irish.  In our vibrant neighborhood celebrants start early and go late.  Just about every bar and restaurant in the area will have St. Patrick’s Day specials.  If you would like to see the parade downtown Saturday morning, our sister business, Trader Todd’s, will be running a courtesy shuttle all morning for parade goers.  The parade steps off at 12 noon.  For the full downtown experience go early and watch the Chicago Journeymen Plumbers dye the Chicago river a brilliant emerald green at 10 am.

On major holidays, such as St. Patrick’s day, it’s good to allow a little extra time to get around due to increased traffic and pedestrians. Watch for parking restrictions throughout the city and in our area.  I want to remind our guests that Clark St. will have no parking on Saturday, so please avoid parking on Clark as towing will be enforced.  Be sure to carry your ID with you on Saturday – bars and most restaurants will require them for entry.

And, did you remember to pack something green?  If not, the luck of the Irish is still with you, because I am happy to suggest one of our neighborhood favorites for last minute party wear.  Strange Cargo,  a unique vintage clothing and accessory store, is also Chicago’s premier custom T-shirt shop.  Bring your own idea or pick from the several clever suggestions on display and you can walk out with your own customized green St. Patrick’s T-shirt.  What better souvenir to take home?  Be sure to browse the rest of the store while they are lettering your shirt,  as their website says you can find anything from “Converse Chuck Taylors and Whoopee cushions.”  My husband, a self-proclaimed T-shirt poet, and I just love this store; I hope you will too.

If there is anything we can do to make your St. Patrick’s weekend more special just let us know.  And as my grandmother used to say”May the wind be always at your back, and the sun be always on your face.”

For those of you traveling to the Inn in the coming weeks we look forward to hosting you.  Whether your coming for the first time or you stayed with us before; and whether you coming to cheer on the Cubs or following your team on the road, we want you to feel at home.  During baseball season the Old Chicago Inn has some added amenities for our guests.  We offer free shuttle service to Wrigley Field (in conjunction with our sister business Trader Todd’s).    If you need tickets to a game at Wrigley be sure and check with your innkeeper.  We have ticket packages available to many games this season at reasonable prices.

Every home game your innkeeper David will post the game times in the lobby and the weather forecast for the day.   If you left your umbrella at home, just ask, we have a few extras available for guests to use.   We also have a limited number of stadium blankets for those cold day games early in the season.

If you want to gear up in style we recommend shopping at  Wrigleyville Sports.   Wrigleyville Sports expanded there store at the corner of Sheffield and  Addison, doubling their size over the winter.  They have a great selection of wearables,  accessories and novelties.  We stopped in opening week and bought a cool little camera bag emblazoned with the Cubs logo of course.  The folks at Wrigleyville Sports are helpful and nice.  Be sure and ask David for a coupon good for 10% off merchandise if you plan on shopping there.