Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum: 1300 S. Lake Shore Drive; 312-922-7827. Free days: Oct. 6-9; Oct 13, 14, 20, 21, 27 & 28; Nov. 3, 4, 10, 11, 17, 18, 24 & 25

Art Institute of Chicago: 111 S. Michigan Ave.; 312-443-3600. All exhibits free after 5 p.m. Thursdays

Block Museum: 40 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston; 847-491-4000. Free

Lincoln Park Conservatory:2391 N. Stockton Drive. Free

Chicago History Museum: 1601 N. Clark St.; 312-642-4600. Mondays free

Chicago Children’s Museum at Navy Pier: 700 E. Grand Ave.; Thursdays 5-8 p.m.: free; first Monday of every month: free for ages 15 and under

DuSable Museum of African American History:740 E. 56th Pl.; 773-947-0600. Sundays free

Field Museum: 1400 S. Lake Shore Drive; 312-922-9410. Second Monday of every month free; free general admission week: Oct. 26-31

Garfield Park Conservatory: 300 N. Central Park Ave.; 773-638-1766. Sugar from the Sun (permanent exhibit); Free

Instituto Italiano di Cultura: 500 N. Michigan Ave. Suite 1450; 312-822-9545, ext. 198. Free

Loyola University Museum of Art: 820 N. Michigan Ave.; 312-915-7600. Free

McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum: 445 N. Michigan Ave.; free admission through Nov. 9 in honor of the election season; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Thu.-Mon., Wed.

Museum of Contemporary Art: 220 E. Chicago Ave.; 312-280-2660. Tuesdays free

National Museum of Mexican Art: 1852 W. 19th St.; 312-738-1503. Free

Museum of Science and Industry:5700 S. Lake Shore Drive; 773-684-1414. Free general admission Oct. 31 (Halloween), Nov. 27 (Thanksgiving), Dec. 24 (Christmas Eve) and Dec. 31 (New Year’s Eve).

Newberry Library:60 W. Walton St.; 312-255-3700. Free

Shedd Aquarium: 1200 S. Lake Shore Drive; 312-939-2438. October, Mondays and Tuesdays: free general admission; November, Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays: free general admission

Smart Museum of Art: 5550 S. Greenwood Ave.; 773-702-0200. Free

Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum:2430 N. Cannon Drive; 773-755-5100. Thursdays free

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Want to know where to go on vacation in 2009? Then, Lonely Planet’s Best In Travel 2009 is a book you need to read. This book outlines the best places to go and things to do all around the world.  In this book, you will find 850 travel experiences from stargazing in the Carribean to finding a honeymoon location, 30 must go destinations, and 70 experiences on, in, through, and over water.  They even had profiles for all the countries in the world and their thoughts about them.  The fact that Chicago was listed as one of the top 10 cities didn’t sway me at all for liking this book.  :)  However, being familiar with here, they had a couple places I now have to go check out.  It is pretty easy to navigate yourself throught his book.  Each section is listed under Top 10 Countries, Top 10 Regions, and Top 10 Cities.  They even have great sections like Top 10 Places to Steal a Kiss, Most Spine Tingling Commutes, and Best Underground Experiences.  Before you travel next year, make sure you check this book out!

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A Travel Book Mini: A Journey Through Every Country In The World is truly that. This book has 217 maps covering 230 countries. All 888 pages are stocked with wonderful pictures that truly make you want to go out to visit these countries. There is information about each country (like the best time to visit New Zealand is from November to April), places you must see (in Qatar, that would be ancient fort at Al-Zubara), and media information about the places (listen to Dvorak who is from Czech to learn about that country). They also have summary called In A Word (Brrrr! for Greenland), trademarks (Morocco’s trademark is mint tea), and interesting information that would surprise you (For Iraq, the garden of Eden is said to be located here).

If you have kids, they will love this book.  My 4 and 1 year old like to flip through it.  They make up stories about the pictures for us.  This book would also make an excellent geography lesson for us all (but I can definitely see it being used by homeschoolers!).  That being said, this book is great for travelers of any age.

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I read over at USA Today that sometime in 2009 we will be able to carry liquids over 3 oz on planes sometime in the next year.  We would still have to remove our liquids from carry on bags at security checkpoints and put them through the machines separately.  By 2010, we should be able to keep liquids as we go through the checkpoints.

I have a lot of traveling in the last year, and I cannot wait for those changes to happen!

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