Take a hike, Ike North Siders seeking weekend fun in the western ’burbs can skip the Eisenhower crawl for a relatively painless surface-street drive that also bypasses the roughest West Side neighborhoods. Simply head west on Irving Park Road about 6.5 miles past Western Avenue, take a slight left onto West Forest Preserve Avenue and, about 1.5 miles later, take a hard left onto North Cumberland Avenue, a.k.a. IL-171. Continue south a couple of miles to Kiddieland and Maywood Park Racetrack. Brookfield Zoo lies about five miles farther south on the same road. On the way back, head east to Harlem Avenue and take it north through the bungalows of Berwyn, the historic homes of Oak Park and the Italian-dining strip that starts near Diversey Avenue. No Ike: What’s not to like? —Frank Sennett

Glass menagerie World-class wines are almost never offered by the glass. But for one reason or another (a tasting earlier that day; a VIP asked for a sip), a restaurant might have such a wine open. So when perusing the by-the-glass list, ask, “Is there anything else being poured by the glass tonight?” If there is, order it—it’ll be far better than any other single-serving pour. —David Tamarkin

Helluva Guy It happens every January during Mr. Guy’s residency: Buddy Guy’s Legends (754 S Wabash Ave, 312-427-0333) teems with folks who think they can dance while Buddy shreds his Fender Stratocaster. Instead of searching in vain for a chair (you’re looking to get footloose, remember?), seek out the duct-tape line that snakes around the room; find some elbow room right behind it and once the beefy security clears out the tape-marked path (for the servers), you’ll have plenty of room to shake your wang dang doodle. —Tim McCormick

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