Things to Do in Chalco
Recommended Things to Do by Groupon Customers
Instructors at Omaha Ballroom lead drop-in group dance and fitness courses inside a studio with arched ceilings and a capacity of 100 people. Students partnered with spouses or doppelgangers glide through the steps of the waltz, fox trot, and tango during ballroom classes, or shake and strut to upbeat Latin tempos in salsa classes. Line-dancing and country-two-step classes equip individuals with the tools to impress at the next corporate hoedown, and swing lessons have dancers jitterbugging in either the East or West Coast style. Students can sidestep choreography to strengthen cores during mat Pilates, participate in Zumba’s gut-busting cardio sessions, and practice folding feet into fists in kickboxing classes.
Sempeck's Bowling & Entertainment throws open its doors and beckons fun seekers inside an expansive facility to steer go-karts down an indoor track, bob and weave in a two-story laser-tag arena, and bowl on lanes that transform into cosmic-themed extravaganzas every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night. Inside the fun factory lies a video-game arcade equipped with skee-ball, crane games, and prizes for anyone who can slay the three-headed prize guard. After fierce competitions, high-definition TVs and frosty beverages await players in the Sparetime Sports Bar & Restaurant, an in-house eatery that hosts karaoke every Friday night.
As an HGTV-featured glass artist and author of the short story collection An Extraordinary Life: …Once You Take Out All of the Boring Crap, Kristi Pederson encourages individuals to embrace creativity. Adult and kids' art classes at her studio, Adventure in Art, focus on fun over perfectionism as Kristi teaches beginner-level students to create projects such as fused-glass ornaments and custom jewelry. And during Paint N Pour sessions, adults sip goblets of vino as they fill canvases with color and learn how Leonardo Da Vinci invented red wine by cleaning his brushes in chardonnay.
Amid the lime-green and burnt-orange walls of Creation Station, an encouraging staff inspires visitors to follow their artistic impulses as they use pottery as their canvas. Seven days a week, experienced and casual artists alike can plunge their brushes into a rainbow of paints and let loose on a variety of mugs, figurines, and dishes. Once colorized to the artist’s content, finished bisque pieces visit a fiery kiln, where colors become more vibrant and snowmen melt into carrot-and-coal soup. Revelers can also gather at Creation Station to celebrate special occasions, such as birthdays, or make Christmas ornaments during the winter season.
With a focus on martial arts, the staff at Omaha Blue Waves Martial Arts and Fitness aids its clients in losing weight, honing self-defense skills, and increasing endurance. Students of all ages learn the arts of Tae Kwon Do or challenge themselves during full-body boot camps. Onsite massage services soothe sore muscles after or before workouts.
The beaming vertical letters of "C-H-I-C-A-G-O" ascend six stories high on a sign that seems to be the establishing shot for any movie set in the Windy City. Tourists and natives often stand outside snapping pictures of the marvelous marquee, where the biggest names in music, theater, and comedy are writ large under a miniature replica of Paris' Arc de Triomphe. The Parisian aesthetic continues inside The Chicago Theatre’s grand lobby, which recalls the Royal Chapel at Versailles with its gallery promenades. The staircase ascending to the Grand Balcony resembles that of the Paris Opera House, rounding out a French Baroque architecture that would cause Louis XIV to do a spit-take. Inside the seven-story high 3,600-seat auditorium, terra-cotta tiles, crystal chandeliers, and luxurious drapes give audiences visual overtures before every show.
As vital to Chicago as hot dogs and mustard fire hoses, The Chicago Theatre was America's first munificent movie palace upon its 1921 unveiling, where it was declared "The Wonder Theatre of the World." Beyond its silver screenings, the theater became a beacon for live entertainment, as artists such as John Philip Sousa, Duke Ellington, and Benny Goodman filled its first 40 years with oompah and swing. After a multimillion dollar restoration in 1986, the landmark venue remains the heart of art in the city, attracting the world's most popular entertainers to its stage almost every evening of the year.
