Welcome to March, Chicago!

BEST DATE NEWS

March 7, 2024: Best Date News Volume #65

Good morning and welcome to another edition of Best Date News, Chicago’s most fun and interesting Thursday newsletter.

In today’s newsletter, we dive into seven ways to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in Chicago, the best things happening in March, Chicago’s March free museum days, Phase 2 of construction beginning on the Kennedy Expressway, Chicago restaurant closings, CHIditarod highlights and more!

March 7: National Holidays

• National Cereal Day

• National Be Heard Day

• National Flapjack Day

• National Sock Monkey Day

• National Unique Names Day

Sponsored by our friends at Chicago Artisan Market

Chicago Artisan Market

• Weekend Date Idea: The Chicago Artisan Market is back for a one-day Spring Forward event this weekend! This market brings together 100+ of the best local artisans from Chicago, and the Midwest, all under one roof. It’s one of our favorite date ideas for couples!

• The market will take place at Morgan MFG. in Fulton Market this Sunday, March 10 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. You can eat and drink while you shop indoors, you can bring your dog and there is even some free parking.

• Tickets are either one for $8 or four for $20, which is super affordable. Plus if you turn it into a double date, it becomes an even better deal!

Chicago News

• St. Patrick’s Day: We are inching closer to St. Patrick’s Day in Chicago, one of the city’s most fun days of the year! St. Patrick’s Day falls on Sunday, March 17 this year, but the green river dyeing festivities, 2024 Chicago St. Patrick’s Day Parade and most of the big parties will take place on Saturday, March 16. Check up our official roundup of seven ways to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in Chicago.

• March Lineup: And while St. Patrick’s Day in Chicago is amazing, it’s not the only fun thing happening this month! March in Chicago is incredibly underrated! It finally starts to warm up, we transition into spring and the days get longer. We put together a list of the eight days in March you need to know!

• Free Museum Days: Something not mentioned in the March lineup that we would be remiss if we didn’t mention are the free Chicago museum days this month! Make sure to check out the list of 25 opportunities to visit the city’s best museum for free in March.

• Construction: “I’m back.” While Chicagoans were elated to read that in Michael Jordan’s legendary two-word press release this week in 1995, this March announcement isn’t going to be as thrilling. The Illinois Department of Transportation just announced that Phase 2 of construction on the Kennedy Expressway is set to begin next week. See what it means for your commute.

• Restaurant Closings: The first couple months of the year are usually the most difficult for restaurants in Chicago. This year has proven that to hold true as we’ve already seen plenty of big name spots close in 2024, and unfortunately there are more on the way. Here are six spots that either recently closed or will be closing a location soon.

Just for Fun

• Best Cocktail Bars: Chicago’s restaurant scene gets a ton of attention, and rightfully so, but did you that Chicago also has some of the best cocktail bars out of any city in the country? Check out Infatuation’s new list of The Best Cocktail Bars in Chicago.

• Freaky Friday: Lindsey Lohan just confirmed this week that a Freaky Friday sequel is in the works. You may recall that the original just celebrated its 20th anniversary last year. Get all the details.

• CHIditarod: One of Chicago’s absolute coolest fundraisers took place last weekend. CHIditarod is a team shopping cart race that raises money for charity. One team even turned their shopping cart into an airplane and cruised it along the streets of Chicago.

Poll Question of the Week

Last Newsletter's Poll Results

Poll Results: Last newsletter we asked you if you would want your birthday to fall on Leap Day (Feb. 29), and 97% of you said that you wouldn’t. That has to be our most lopsided poll ever. Help us come up with better polls!

If you have a poll idea for us to use, simply reply to this email with your idea for a chance to be featured in an upcoming newsletter!

Today's Sunset in Chicago

The sun will set in Chicago this evening at 5:48pm. Which means the sun sets today eight minutes later than it did last week.

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