Midwest travel: Jeff Mauro joining Ideal Home Show
Chicago
Bring it home
The city's only home show, the three-day Ideal Home Show Chicago, is moving to a new location this year. Get to Navy Pier to connect with 200 local and regional vendors who offer advice and inspiration for remodeling and renovating your home. Special guests include Chip Wade, of HGTV's upcoming show, "Elbow Room," and Chicago's Jeff Mauro, better known as The Food Network's Sandwich King. Noon to 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 29; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 30; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 31, at Navy Pier's Festival Hall B, 600 E. Grand Ave., Chicago. Tickets are $10 at the door; $7 when purchased online; seniors 65 and older are $7 at the door with valid ID; children 12 and younger get in free. Get $2 discount for Navy Pier parking. idealhomeshowchicago.com
Hungary cinema
Super Awesome Night presents a one-night experiential dinner where visitors will be transported to The Grand Budapest Hotel, featuring a five-course menu inspired by and set to Wes Anderson's film. The dinner-and-a-movie event promises to whisk you to 1930s Europe as you check in at the concierge desk of the Grand Budapest Hotel lobby, step into the red elevator and enter the dining hall, where the five-course fete will be timed to different parts of the film. Wine pairings will be served throughout the dinner. 7 to 10 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 11, at Morgan's on Fulton, 950 W. Fulton Market, Chicago. Tickets are $110. superawesomenight.com
Get rewired
If you find yourself downtown on a Friday, enjoy your lunch along with a free concert party. Wired Fridays warms it up this winter and spring on the first and third Friday of the month with nationally renowned DJs and up-and-coming club stars spinning deep house, Latin and steppin' music and injecting some life into the winter chill. Noon to 1 p.m. on the first and third Fridays, now through March 18 at Randolph Square at the Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington, Chicago. Free. For a schedule, see chicagoculturalcenter.org.
Midwest
Take a little tripski
Winter has arrived, and so has Learn to Ski and Snowboard Month at the Mountain Top at Grand Geneva Resort & Spa in Lake Geneva. The facility offers three chairlifts, 18 runs and an all-new terrain park. There are a variety of classes to help skiers and boarders get started or refine their skills, with classes for children as young as three to first-time adult students and intermediate skiers who want to sharpen racing techniques. Bring the non-skiers/boarders to enjoy ice skating and sledding, bonfires and hot cocoa. Weekend lessons, times and rates vary at Grand Geneva Resort & Spa, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. (800) 558-3417 or grandgeneva.com
Cold beer, warm town
Downtown Oconomowoc Wisconsin, between Madison and Milwaukee, hosts Chill Fest, including a hockey tournament, ice fishing clinic and ice carvers chiseling frozen blocks into works of art. Sneak into the warming tent and local shops to shake the cold and sample chili at 20 locations in the annual chili cook-off. This is Wisconsin, so, yes, there's a beer tent. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 30, in Downtown Oconomowoc, 133 E. Wisconsin Ave., Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. (262) 567-5755 or downtownoconomowoc.org
Worth the Trip
Get outdoors this Valentine's Day to celebrate love and adventure in one of the loveliest places in the country. The Hilton Sedona Resort at Bell Rock is located along the Red Rock Scenic Byway, near the city's famous red rock formations. The newly renovated resort offers amenities, including three heated pools, spa, adjacent golf course, redesigned guest rooms and suites with fireplaces. The Sedona Adventurer package offers a savings of up to 25 percent and includes accommodations in a newly renovated suite for two; a hiking book featuring Sedona's top 10 hikes; a Red Rock Day Pass, required for parking in National Forest lands around Sedona; a daypack with water bottle and energy bars; breakfast for two each morning; and a complimentary bottle of wine, and artisan cheese and bread plate for guests checking-in Feb. 11-15. The Sedona Adventurer package starts at $279 per night over Valentine's Day weekend. The package requires a two-night minimum stay and is valid for stays now through December 31, 2016. Request rate code P9 when making reservations at hiltonsedonaresort.com.