Tours in Oak Park

The future has arrived and it's gliding in at a comfortable 6.5 mph. Introducing the Segway, a brand-new transportation device that was publicly released in 2002. Streets, sidewalks, and sidewalk cafes will soon be blessed with the presence of these two-wheel wonders, forever altering human life. Picture this: you need a wide-brimmed western hat to wear to Cowboy Formal 2009: Git Yer Grind On, but your calves hurt from morning calisthenics. Hopeless? Not with a Segway.

With a ticket to the opening weekend, you'll get first access to The Sinkhole, the newest hauntsperience provided by Chronicles of the Cursed. This panic-fueled jamboree is the demented brain-baby of Nightmares Inc., a production company responsible for the Dream Reapers haunted house in Melrose Park, one of the top haunted houses in Illinois. Journey into Chicago's most offensive pothole and traverse through the underground gauntlet of nightmarish sewer-beings who don’t fight crime and enjoy pizza.

Chicago Hauntings' "ghost bus" whisks passengers away on interactive trips to the second city's spookiest locales. Founder Ursula Bielski and her crew of paranormal researchers split their signature tours between historical yarns on the bus and time exploring supernaturally active sites on foot. The rotating itinerary of stops includes the site of the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre, the location of the Fort Dearborn Massacre, and the spot where Resurrection Mary met her fateful end.

Along with her primary routes, Ursula leads specialty tours including daytime trips based on The Devil in the White City, Erik Larson's bestseller about serial killer H. H. Holmes, and strolls down one Chinatown block where every building is allegedly haunted. She also hosts private tours, pub crawls, and kid-friendly excursions during which youngsters hear toned-down tales and learn about ghost-hunting equipment more advanced than their dog Sherlock.

The Chicago branch of Gray Line's global sightseeing operation organizes a wide variety of tours and excursions throughout the Windy City, from architectural tours that send passengers coasting on the river and lake for sun-drenched educational cruises to shopping odysseys at Chicago Premium Outlets, where travelers can zip through more than 100 stores and restaurants after being shuttled to the retail utopia. Blues outings treat music lovers to raw licks, soul food, and real tears at celebrated concert venues such as Buddy Guy's Legends and Rosa's Lounge.

Gray Line's cherry-red trolleys transport visitors and residents alike to famous Chicago sites. Just north of the river, the vehicles idle before the Wrigley Building's sparkling white terra cotta façade, which in the 1920s stood as the first major skyscraper outside of The Loop. From there, the trolley may motor north to the John Hancock Center, where elevators to its observatory sweep guests 96 floors in 39 seconds. The trolley could also steer south to the Willis Tower, which lost its maiden name of Sears after being charmed by a passing cumulus cloud.

Before becoming a health coach, Jessica Marie was in the same boat as most office workers—plagued by exhaustion, persistent aches, and a poor diet. After studying at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and transitioning to holistic living, she and athletic husband Joe founded CHEW, short for Complete Health Education and Wellness. The duo transforms lifestyles without asking clients to count calories or burn their stock of Twinkies in a backyard bonfire. Instead, they expound moderation and balance of two food groups: primary—the actual food you consume—and secondary—other forms of nourishment, including relationships, spirituality, career, and physical activity.

Using this unique approach, Jessica Marie designs three-month programs that begin with reworking diets to achieve individual goals. Her plans often incorporate in-home coaching, healthy-food walking tours, or extra services, such as one-on-one grocery shopping and revamping favorite entree and Play-Doh recipes with nutritious ingredients. She transitions health from home to workplace with workshops that teach coworkers how to eat for energy or craft nutritious appetizers.

Six Taste co-owner Jeff Okita succinctly described his TripAdvisor Top 10 Pick tours to the Daily Trojan in 2011, calling them "a way for people to connect to different communities through an accessible medium, which is food." During four-hour excursions, in-the-know guides walk with fellow explorers through iconic Los Angeles–area neighborhoods—including Little Tokyo and the heart of downtown—stopping into gems to sample the eatery's cuisine and learn about the area. This cultural education is paramount for Jeff, who told the Christian Science Monitor in 2010 that "we choose the restaurants based on their story and what they add to the understanding of a neighborhood, its people and its history."

Guides currently lead more than 15 tours a week through eight different neighborhoods, with most tours meeting between 9:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. In addition to the regularly scheduled excursions, the staff also leads specialty outings that focus on more adventurous cuisines, including intensely spicy dishes in Thai Town and lost seafood recipes in Atlantis.