Day trip in Chicago

DBReed

I'm planning a day trip to Chicago tomorrow. The only thing I have on my agenda so far is to visit the Museum of Science and Industry. Other than that, I'm not sure what else I can do. Will the museum alone be enough for one day?

Just to give you an idea of how much time I have, I get in on the train around 9:30 AM and leave around 8 PM. Give me your travel tips!

Neaden

I would say Science and Industry would be a bit light on its own for the whole day. Besides that what are you interested in? The field Museum, The Shedd aquarium, and the Art Institute are all great and worth seeing.
Edit: Also how comfortable are you with public transportaiton/do you have a smartphone? There are apps to track the trains and buses. The L is easier to navigate then the buses but obviously don't go as many places.

DBReed

There's so much to do there that I feel a little overwhelmed. I guess I just want to see as many of the main attractions as I can in one day. The aquarium sounds good.

Neaden

The aquarium is also close to the Field Museum and Navy Pier. There are also architecture boat tours of the City, I think they should have started up by now. I did it once and it was pretty cool if you are interested in the history of all of the buildings.

Bagginses

Go to all the art deco buildings and pretend to be Batman.

Ketar

The one problem with the Museum of Science and Industry is that it's somewhat far from anything else worthwhile. There's quite a bit to do in the Museum campus area - the Shedd acquarium, the planetarium or the Field Museum, the Art Institute, Millenium Park and the bean and the Petrillo Band Shell... but that's all about 7 miles north of the Museum of Science and Industry. The MSI isn't close to either of the 2 el lines that run south that way, so you'd either need to take a bus from downtown, or a cab. I guess there's also the Metra electric line, which does stop fairly close to the museum.

Ideally for a single day I'd say stick to the Museum campus/Michigan Ave area. Assuming your train comes into either Union Station or Ogilvie, you could also visit the Sears Tower (Willis Tower, meh) right near there on your way to Michigan Ave. Architectural boat cruise on the Chicago River is also a pretty great idea, and it should be a nice time to do it if tomorrow is anything like today weather-wise.

MushroomStick

Unless there have been extensive changes within the last two years or so, the Adler Planetarium is the most boring place on earth. The Field, the Shedd Aquarium, and the Art Institute are pretty great though. Last time I made the rounds, the Art Institute was open a lot later than the other museums, so maybe factor that into your itinerary if you so desire.

Ketar

The Art Institute is only open until 5:00, unfortunately. Thursday is their late night where the museum stays open until 8.

Forbe!

The MSI is a nice place to go to, but if all you have is a day, I would much rather check out the Field/Shedd/AI. However the MSI recently redid a large portion of their exhibits which were severely outdated.

If you're into physical activities, there is a really sweet bike tour of the city I've taken before done by Bobby's Bike Hike, they offer a few different tours (one for bakeries for instance,or an architectural tour, or a night time tour), maybe worth checking out.