If the weather is good, you might spend an afternoon down in Hyde Park,which has the University of Chicago, Museum of Science and Industry (www.msichicago.org)(former Beaux Arts Building from the Columbian Exposition), and other remnants of the Exposition, such as Jackson Park. Plus, there are a few Frank Lloyd Wright homes.

A popular Chicago book recently was "Devil in the White City," by Erik Larson. It's about the making of the Columbian Exposition of 1892-3, but also sets the stage for understanding Chicago of that period, and it's still a decent guide to the Hyde Park landscape (at least the Exposition parts). Devil reads like a novel, but it's actually sort of imaginative non-fiction. CAF also runs an Exposition tour.

As an aside on Oak Park (where I'm originally from), the Green Line does run through some dicier West Side neighborhoods, although they're a lot less dicey than, say, 10 or 20 years ago. Still, it's a regular commuter route for people on the West Side and in Oak Park, who take it daily without any problems. Metra is quite comfortable, too. Both will take you right to Harlem Avenue, from which it is an easy and interesting walk to the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio. One benefit of taking the Green Line on the el is that if you want, you can get off at the Garfield Park stop and visit the beautiful Garfield Park Conservatory (http://www.garfield-conservatory.org/), built under Jens Jensen's direction in 1906-7.

-Hayden