Yes, Chicago winters are brutal. Skyscrapers stand like gritted teeth along the shore of Lake Michigan, enduring daily highs that barely scrape zero.

But come spring, the city blooms, throws off its mean streak and welcomes visitors to its great art, amazing architecture, fabulous food and phenomenal music.

Chicago turns 170 years old this month. The city's feisty mayor, Richard M. Daley, has just won a sixth term. The state's high-profile U.S. senator, Barack Obama, is running for president, and the city is waging a $30 million campaign to host the 2016 Olympic Games. Chicago has a long and colorful history, and the energy on the street suggests this year is no exception.

FOR THE KIDS: ACTIVE YOUNG ONES LOVE CHICAGO, TOO

ACTIVE ACTIVITIES

At the Grant Park miniature golf course at 352 East Monroe St., near Millennium Park, adults can play 18 holes for $9 and children play for $6.

And at nearby Millennium Square, at McDonald's Cycle Center, singles and families can rent bicycles by the hour starting at $9 or by the day starting at $34 to pedal along the glorious lakefront or on the city's wide network of bike paths.

AT THE SHEDD

Are there dragons in Chicago? Yes, the Shedd Aquarium's Komodo dragon, Faust, is the star of its exhibit "Lizards and the Komodo King" through summer 2008. Faust is about 8 feet long and weighs 130 pounds. His family tree extends back 100 million years, (perhaps because Komodos aren't fussy about what they eat: hooves, horns, bones and hide are equally delicious to Faust). Life underwater sums up the Shedd, which shelters around 8,000 fish, and in the Oceanarium, the world's largest self-contained pool for sea mammals, you can listen to whales' and dolphins' underwater calls. Hours: daily, in summer 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Thursdays 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.); in winter, Mondays to Fridays 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., weekends 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. www.sheddaquarium.org.

IN THE FIELD

Part of Chicago's Museum Campus, the Field Museum educates and entertains all ages with exhibits about nature and culture, prehistoric to present. One of its most popular attractions is Sue, the world's largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton. Check out the Field Museum's interactive online exhibit "Chocolate," which covers the history of the bean from the ancient Mayan civilization 1,500 years ago to present-day treats at fieldmuseum.org/chocholate. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily except Christmas, www.fieldmuseum.org.

You don't have to be a blues fan to visit Chicago, but if piano summits and boogie-woogie stomps start your motors, there's no cooler place to be than Grant Park in June for the 24th Annual Chicago Blues Festival. In the heart of the city, fronting Lake Michigan, on six stages, the festival pays tribute to blues icons living and dead who've helped make Chicago the blues capital of the world. This year's festival highlights Big Jay McNeely, a man known for wild stage antics and incredible stamina despite his approaching 80th birthday. Family friends and former bandmates will pay special tribute to Howlin' Wolf, who would have celebrated his 97th birthday June 10.

And it's all free. Outside the park, Chicago's blues and jazz scene is in clubs all over town.

24th Chicago Blues Festival, 11 a.m. to 9.30 p.m., June 7-10, Grant Park. Information/schedule of performers: www.chicagobluesfestival.com.

WRIGHT TRAIL: VISUALIZE A SUBURB FULL OF HOUSES DESIGNED BY FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT

Escape the bustle of downtown Chicago and visit Oak Park, nine miles west of the city center, and trace the development of Frank Lloyd Wright's Prairie House Style from its early days while taking a tour of Wright's home and studio. Twenty-five of the architect's buildings survive within a few blocks in Oak Park. The houses are named for their initial owners. Some are private homes, viewable only from the sidewalk. Fans can pick up a map and cassette at Wright's studio for listening on an easy walk of the neighborhood. Frank Lloyd Wright studio tours are daily, www.oprf.com/flw.

ART INSPIRED: DON'T MISS ART INSTITUTE'S SPECIAL EVENTS

Spend a morning at the Art Institute of Chicago, which is about eight museums in one. Currently, "Cezanne to Picasso: Ambroise Vollard, Patron of the Avante-Garde" highlights the relationship between artists and their shrewd art dealer Ambroise Vollard, through May 12.

The institute houses a fabulous collection of Old and New World treasures: paintings, sculpture, photography, armor, textiles, Buddhist artifacts, even an exhibition of architectural plans submitted for skyscrapers that didn't get built in the 20th century, rendering a glimpse of the ideas and excitement that flowed during the postwar era. Hours: 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily (Thursday 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.), www.artic.edu/aic.

SHOPPING: WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T FORGET CREDIT CARDS

Chicago takes its shopping seriously, competing with New York and with an eye to attracting Canadian and European visitors. Nowhere is this more evident than swish North Michigan Avenue, or the "Magnificent Mile." Here, "the "world's largest" applies to several stores. Designer shops are ubiquitous, but a big draw for out-of-towners is the elite department stores like Carson Pirie Scott and Marshall Fields (now owned by Macy's), the "Vatican City of Shopping." Combine the mission for off-the-peg and designer clothing with lunch in Marshall Fields' exquisite walnut-paneled restaurant, then check out the beautiful Tiffany glass dome on the top floor. The store's famous outdoor clock has been a city meeting point for more than 100 years. Shop and sightsee at the same time. Generally, Chicago shopping hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

LOOK UP: CRUISING IN A RIVERBOAT MAY BE THE BEST WAY TO SEE SKYSCRAPERS

Chicago architect Daniel Burnham said it best: "Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood." While Honolulu's tallest building, the First Hawaiian Center, is 450 feet, Chicago's Sears Tower, at 1,450 feet, is the third-tallest building in the world after Taipei 101 and Kuala Lumpur's Petronas Buildings. The Chicago Architects Foundation, on Michigan Avenue, has more than 50 tours available, narrated by architecture-savvy guides. One of the loveliest ways to see the city is from a riverboat tour that meanders up the Chicago River banked by beautiful buildings so high they can make your neck ache.

Tours also head out to Navy Pier and onto Lake Michigan for a stunning glimpse of the city skyline. Visit the foundation's bookshop and see architectural models on display.

River tours are $35. CAF, 224 S. Michigan Ave., (312) 922-3432, www.architecture.org. River tours www.shorelinesightseeing.comarchboattours/rivercruise.htm.

ENTER 'CLOUD GATE': MILLENNIUM PARK IS FULL OF OUTDOOR DELIGHTS

Forget about not looking like a tourist and head to Millennium Park on the lakefront. Three fabulous surprises await: British artist Anish Kapoor's stunning "Cloud Gate," aka "The Bean," one of the biggest sculptures in the world, moves tranquilly, reflecting onlookers close up and Chicago's Michigan Avenue behind. Visitors can walk through a deep 12-foot-high arch beneath the sculpture and touch its mirror-like surface.

Nearby is the Crown Fountain, two 50-foot-tall glass blocks that project a slide show of blown-up video images of Chicagoans' faces. Children can paddle in the fountain's reflecting pool. When you've watched enough, turn toward the lake where Frank Gehry's billowing Jay Pritzker Pavilion might be setting up for an evening outdoor concert. Open to the stars, the fixed seating and Great Lawn can accommodate 11,000 for events such as the Grant Park Music Festival, beginning June 13. Concerts are Wednesdays and Fridays at 6.30 p.m., and Saturdays at 7.30 p.m. Information: www.grantparkmusicfestival.com.

IF YOU GO ...

A roundtrip Internet fare from Honolulu to Chicago's O'Hare Airport in May and June costs around $560.

Room and board: Useful info can be found at www.choosechicago.com for hotels, restaurants and attractions. Also check www.concierge.com/destination/chicago for city restaurant reviews.

See the city: Chicago is a city with a defined center. Easy to see on foot, by trolley or Segway tour. See www.chicagotours.us/tours. You also can buy a Chicago Transit Authority visitor pass for up to five days for unlimited rides on buses and trains. Order in advance from www3.yourcta.com. A Chicago CityPass cuts admissions to five attractions in half. Adults $49.50; kids 3-11, $39.50. www.viator.com/tours/Chicago/Chicago-CityPass.

Information: www.cityofchicago.org.

Also: Don't miss the Historic Water Tower, 806 N. Michigan Ave., (312) 742-0808, a cherished landmark for more than a century and one of the last remaining buildings from before the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Today the tower houses City Gallery, Chicago's official photography gallery.

Reach Chris Oliver at coliver@honoluluadvertiser.com.