Visitors to Chicago may pack live music, diverse restaurants and varied shopping experiences into a single weekend, but visitors to Tinley Park, 25 miles southwest, know there are certain advantages to spending a few days in the ‘burbs. A weekend in Tinley Park is lively and entertaining - but more convenient and less expensive.
Each weekend, every age and taste will find a cross-section of music at venues within walking distance of each other. Julie Dekker, Vogt Visual Art Center Gallery Director, said, “Once you’re inside, you forget you’re in this little neighborhood.” Music aficionados stroll the well-lit, well-populated downtown and, in less than a mile, enjoy country groups, jazz and cabaret singers, modern Millennium bands, Frank Sinatra and Rat Pack-inspired performances, rockabilly artists, classic rock entertainers and DJs pumping out Latin dance music and Top 40 hits.
Foodies can spend a week in Tinley and not visit every restaurant. Epicureans looking for the unusual find destination restaurants delivering French-influenced Vietnamese, Latin cuisine going far beyond Mexico and just-caught seafood from around the globe. Celebrated establishments serve northern, southern and modern Italian fare. Diners find pizza, burgers, steaks, wraps, sushi and hibachi. There are European bakeries, breakfast diners, homemade ice cream, and shops providing sandwiches and difficult-to-find gourmet ingredients.
Dekker points out Tinley is a shopper’s paradise. “There are major shopping destinations along Harlem, particularly just south of I-80, featuring national high-quality stores and little shops throughout the Village. Shoppers can find clothing, gifts, antiques, retro items, furniture, electronics - anything you want can be purchased here.”
Visitors spend less in Tinley. Hotel prices can be 35% less expensive than Chicago’s, parking is free on the street, in public lots and at all hotels including the Convention Center, and meals are reasonable. Visitors can ride Metra’s Rock Island or make an easy drive; Tinley Park is perfectly located within minutes of I-57, I-80, I-294 and I-355.
“Every weekend, there is something new to eat, a new performer to hear.” Dekker smiles, “Tinley gives visitors a great experience, every time.”
