On the road: Suds on at Traverse City Beer Week
Brew skies, nothing but brew skies
Combine the serene beauty of northern Michigan with brewskis and what do you have? Traverse City Beer Week. The town boasts 11 microbreweries, brewpubs and craft brew tap rooms (three of them are new in the past year) with four more scheduled to open this fall. It starts with a craft brewery pub crawl visiting six microbrew venues and can include outdoor adventure, culinary and wine experiences.
Various times and venues Nov. 9-15 around Traverse City, Mich. For updates and details, go to traversecity.com/beerweek.
Chicago
Bœuf bourguignon, baguettes and berets
Have a morning croissant or French toast, don your beret and head into the city for the ninth annual Fall French Market at Lycée Francais de Chicago. The festival offers family activities, French cooking demonstrations by celebrated Chicago chefs and shopping opportunities (hello, holidays). One hundred vendors will offer various French merchandise, wine and food like crepes and bœuf bourguignon, while live music serenades. Kids get their own pavilion of magic and music, too. C'est magnifique!
7 to 10 p.m. Friday, Nov. 8; 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 9; and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 10, at Lycée Francais de Chicago, 613 W. Bittersweet Place, Chicago. Admission is $5. (773) 665-0066 or fallfrenchmarket.com.
Book an 'Extraordinary Day' downtown
Treat yourself or someone else with the new “Extraordinary Day” package at The InterContinental Chicago Magnificent Mile hotel. One of 13 InterContinental Hotels & Resorts throughout North America offering the package, it features unique experiences like a private flight with a local historian to take in Chicago's iconic skyline; a behind-the-scenes look at Wrigley Field; dinner at The Signature Room on the 95th floor of The Hancock building; and listening to blues at Buddy Guy's Legends.
Packages are available year-round and price varies according to activities at the InterContinental Chicago Magnificent Mile, 505 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago. Book at icchicagohotel.com or call (312) 944-4100.
Tiffany treasures
The Driehaus Museum, a refurbished Gilded Age mansion in River North, has unveiled its first exhibit, “Louis Comfort Tiffany: Treasures From the Driehaus Collection,” that will take you to Downton Abbey Chicago-style. See 60 pieces of Tiffany's artwork in a variety of forms such as lamps, vases, stained-glass windows, metalwork and furnishings, displayed in five perfectly restored galleries that formerly were the private living quarters of the mansion's original occupants. Don't miss the museum's gift shop that stocks fine books, vintage jewelry and stationery.
10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, until 8 p.m. on the first and third Tuesdays of the month. Exhibit runs through June 29, 2014, at the Driehaus Museum, 40 E. Erie St., Chicago. Admission is $20 for adults, $12.50 for seniors 65 and older and $10 students with a valid I.D. and children 6-12. For information, call (312) 482-8933 or see driehausmuseum.org.
Midwest
The weekend's all sewn up
There will be some needling going on during the Galena Jo Daviess Quilt and Fiber Arts Show. Authors, artists, speakers, classes and more than 100 quilts will be on display, plus vendors will sell the latest projects, fabrics, notions and equipment. Check the website for details on an ultimate quilting weekend getaway at a Galena B&B, too.
6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Nov. 8, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 9. Additional activities may take place on Sunday, Nov. 10, at Turner Hall, 115 S. Bench St., Galena. Admission for the two-day show is $5. (888) 942-5362 or visitgalena.org.
Fest for train lovers
Train enthusiasts from around the world descend upon Milwaukee every year for Trainfest, one of the premier model railroad shows in the nation. About four football fields of model trains are on display — 60 model railroads, in fact, from Z to G scale. There are seminars and demonstrations for hobbyists, and 100 model train-related manufacturers and dealers. The Kids' Activity Zone has racing trains, a Thomas the Tank Engine inflatable bounce house, acoustic performances by Choo Choo Bob and the Holy Smokestacks Revue, face painting and more. The 42nd annual festival features lots of new manufacturers and hobby shops this year for visitors to browse for tips and techniques.
9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 9-10, at the Wisconsin Expo Center at State Fair Park, West Allis, Wis. Adult admission is $12 (online coupons available); kids (4-12) $5 at the door or free with online coupon; kids 3 and younger get in for free. See trainfest.com for details.