Today I have a guest post from Amanda, one half the blogging duo at Married with Miles.

Chances are, with the large corporations and the local convention business, if you travel for work, you will have opportunity to spend some time in Chicago. It’s also a great city to visit with your family.

We recommend a day trip to Chicago’s neighbor to the near west, Oak Park, Illinois. Many visitors find themselves in Oak Park to explore the Frank Lloyd Wright sites of his home and studio or Unity Temple.  Each of these are early examples of Wright’s work, but essential for the Wright tourist.

However, there’s more to Oak Park than these anchor sites and it also happens to be where Married with Miles calls home.

The main attractions for most of the tourists we see in our city are the Frank Lloyd Wright home and studio and his Unity Temple. Wright’s philosophy on architecture seems very relevant to many people now concerned with the environment and merging design with the natural world. I also recommend the book Loving Frank for background on him and a sensational true story set in this very town.

But what else is there to do to make this side trip from exciting Chicago worthwhile?

First, getting here from downtown Chicago is a breeze via either the blue line or the green line. The best way to get to the heart of Oak Park, Lake Street, and the Wright sites, is via the Green Line. Stop at either Oak Park Avenue or Harlem. Oak Park’s business and shopping districts will be along the way to the Oak Park Visitor’s Bureau or to the Home/Studio itself to buy tickets.

The best place to stop to eat is our new Marion Street Cheese Market for artisanal cheeses and meats, a great beer list, and a full menu of small plates with big taste. Take a seat at the bar for some good conversation and enjoy the beautifully designed restaurant space where every detail of the (green, environmentally-concerned) design, down to the plates and the tiles on the floor is impeccably chosen.

Along Marion Street are some boutiques for browsing and unique gift-buying from several locally owned boutiques (mostly home and gift-oriented). If you walk all the way east to Oak Park Avenue, you’ll find another cluster of great shops: Magic Tree Children’s Bookstore, Gepetto’s Toy Box full of imported, handcrafted toys, and Fly Bird for more unique design items for your home. You won’t find a Restoration Hardware or a Pottery Barn, but instead a growing locally-owned economy with laid-back shopping experience.

If you found yourself in Oak Park as a side trip to enjoy more history and architecture, note that it’s also the birthplace of Earnest Hemingway and you can also visit his childhood home.  We also have a beautiful main library that’s a treat to you if you’re interested in public space or books.

This is also a city of parks and on the corner of Lake and Oak Park is Scoville Park, a great place to relax in the outdoors before heading back to the bustle of Chicago.

Rob and Amanda stay connected despite work travel through their blog, Married, with Miles.  It allows them to see more of the world together and write about it.

Photo credits:  amanda.rea.also @flickr (Unity Temple) (Cheese Market) – all photos used with permission

Traveling and eating well do not often go hand in hand.  Business trips often require grabbing something quick at the airport or room service.

We know we should eat well and healthy, but we go back to that same old chain restaurant for the same old food because it’s simple and we don’t have to think about the decision.

A new site, GoodFoodNearYou, promises to do the research and deliver you information to make a healthy meal choice.  You can search the database by airport, university or attraction, or dig a little deeper with the advanced search option.  If you’re in the dark about what healthy choices are nearby, you can bring up a full listing of nearby choices.  If you know you a healthy choice offered at one of the chains, you can search that way as well.  Eat the same old thing, or try something new, the choice is yours.

How helpful is it?

I tried to look what was near by home airport, but it wasn’t one of the ones listed.  I checked a few other airports that I’m familiar with, and found the choices the same old stuff with nothing to compel me to try anything different.

GoodFoodNearYou acknowledges that it’s going to take awhile for the database to grow, and as it does we should see more local favorites and neighborhood dining included.

If you’re a fast food patron, you may find the site and its free mobile application helpful in making a healthier choice.

For right now, though, I’ll pass.  I’ll give it a try again when more choices are included.  Eating healthier at places I don’t patronize isn’t much help to me.

How about you?  Do you find this application helpful in eating healthier?

Photo credit:  SXC

Miami Beach is known as much for the hip celebrities that visit as well as for the actual beach.  But a trip to Miami probably will feature at least a stop off in the area.

There’s more to Miami Beach than just the beach!

Lincoln Road is a popular area of Miami Beach, and is a hip, creative, pedestrian-only shopping area that features specialty shops and restaurants tucked in between some of the large national retail chains stores.  Although it likes to bill itself as more than just touristy, as I looked around I couldn’t identify anyone who wasn’t one.

Lincoln Road, Miami Beach

You’ll find lots of outdoor dining spots with the inevitable umbrella covered tables, but you’ll also find sofas and easy chairs put out for a more relaxed environment for cocktails.  It’s almost like having cocktails in your living room — except for the chair-side service and expensive bar tab.

On the cocktail front, however, I found most to be a little overpriced ($13 was a common price for a drink), especially considering that many of the bars offered little in the way of ambiance and the service was largely indifferent.  I think these are definitely “tourist” prices rather than “local” prices, especially when a half block off the main street prices dropped by about a third.

For dinner, I’d definitely recommend stepping away from the main street.  A block or so off of Lincoln Avenue you’ll find El Rancho Grande (1626 Pennsylvania Avenue), a charming Mexican restaurant.  This is not a typical Mexican restaurant — you’ll find strong Cuban influence, as well as other flavors and seasonings from the Caribbean.  Service is excellent!  Dinner for two, including a couple of beers, will run around $50.  Still a bit on the high side for Mexican food, but a bargain compared to the rest of the neighborhood.

If you’re 21 years old with a body to die for, you’ll probably be willing to spend the higher prices of Lincoln Road simply for the opportunity to see and be seen.  But if you looking for a better experience, at a more reasonable price, get off the beaten path.

Ok, quick like a bunny…it’s time to think about yourself, noone else just vous. Time for a little feng shui of the mind, soul and body. Here is my list of spring things you need to do: (If there are things you’d rather see on the list, please feel free to add!)

Go shopping
Watch Food Network for 12 hours straight
You must get a manicure
You really must get a pedicure
Change your hairstyle or find a new salon
Endure/enjoy a department store make-over
Learn how to cook something you’ve never cooked before; better yet, start a cooking club
Buy a really expensive bottle of wine
Go to a 4 star restaurant or stay in a 5 star hotel for the week-end, just to get away
Send flowers to yourself
Overhaul your make-up case
Overhaul your work wardrobe
Toss any and all sweat pants
Learn a new language
Clean out your closet; if you haven’t worn something in a year, toss it
Find the music you like, not your husband’s
Find a book that’s not on Oprah’s list
Ride your bike
Volunteer in your community
Get a complete medical check-up
Teach your dog to hug you
Visit a spa and get a facial; better yet a massage.

Go shopping!
Tops2Bottoms
Blogdorf Goodman
DailyCandy
eBeautyDaily

Have a fabulous Easter or Passover! (or any other holiday that you celebrate at this time of year.)