Directions to NMH and links to map

I know many of you plan on visiting Stefan at some point in the next three weeks, so I thought I would post some directions online.

Stefan is at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, in the Feinberg Pavillion, located at 251 E Huron Street in Chicago. If you prefer to map your directions with a preferred mapping program (MapQuest, Google Maps, Yahoo! maps, etc), please do.

I'm providing general driving directions with specific downtown directions to the garage and up to his room. I am also giving directions in both female and male vocabulary. (Confused? Read through the directions below and see if you can tell the difference... Still confused after you read them? Then you may want to consider taking a taxi to the hospital.)

For the ladies:
Driving Directions: I'm assuming you'll be taking 90 or 94. (290 directions are slightly different.) Take 90/94 East, towards downtown. Take the East Ohio St exit. Here's where computer maps will steer you differently... most will take you straight to Michigan Avenue - lots of lights and too many people. To avoid a lot of traffic and headaches... After taking the exit, Turn LEFT on N Orleans St - immediately as Ohio St comes to a stoplight just after going over the bridge. It's the VERY 1st light you come to after taking the E Ohio exit. Turn left (go North) on Orleans for TWO blocks. You need to turn RIGHT (go East) on E Erie St. You will continue East on Erie for a total of 11 blocks. Once you cross Michigan Ave, 9 blocks from Orleans, (trust me, you'll know when you get there), you'll want to continue on Erie for two more streets: cross St. Clair Street and then turn LEFT (north) on Fairbanks Ct. **Ignore the signs for NMH Parking that you'll see at the stop on St.Clair.** On Fairbanks, go one block north and turn LEFT (West) on E Huron St. (Love those one way streets downtown...!) In the middle of the block, turn RIGHT into the parking garage.
Garage and Hospital building directions: Turn left to go up on the first up ramp. When you circle up in search of a parking spot, you should be circling the south side of the garage; you should be passing the "H" elevators in the southeast corner of the garage on each floor. That is the elevator you want to walk to, so park close to any "H" elevators. TAKE your parking ticket WITH you so you can have it validated. Take the elevator down to the 2nd floor, where the pedestrian bridge is. Cross the bridge. If you took the correct elevator, when you enter the building across Huron, you'll be in the northwest corner of the Feinberg Pavillion. (If you didn't take the correct elevator, you'll be in the Galter Pavillion, just west of where you need to be. Walk east to the Feinberg Pavillion.) A short walk in, you'll see an information desk. Stop there, have your parking validated, and ask for guest passes to 1505. Continue left/east into the building; you'll come across an elevator lobby (just after the men's restroom) on the left. (If you're by escalators then you're on the wrong side - go back the other side.) Take the elevator (any one) up to the 15th floor. Exit the elevator lobby on 15 and turn left, passing the women's restrooms. You'll see a waiting room to the left of the entry doors. PLEASE BE SURE YOU DO NOT PUSH ON THE ENTRY DOORS - YOU WILL SET OFF THE ALARM! Use the plate on the wall to open the first set of doors. Enter the hallway. WAIT until the first set of doors has closed before pressing the plate to open the next set of doors. Walk thru the 2nd doors, turn left and immediately turn right (just follow the hall). Stefan's room is on the northwest corner of the Feinberg Pavillion, second from the end. Room 1505. If you've paid attention here, you will not get lost. Guaranteed. Knock on the door before entering. Wash your hands upon entering the room (sink in on the left). Enjoy your visit!

For the men:
Driving: You know where you're going, so why are you reading this? ...Okay, okay. Fine, I'll tell you... Take 90/94 and get off on the East Ohio Street exit.
Turn left on N Orleans St.
Turn right on E Erie St.
Go till you hit N Fairbanks Ct and turn left.
Turn left on E Huron St.
Turn right into the parking garage on the north side of Huron, across from the hospital.
Park. Take the elevator to the 2nd floor to get to the pedestrian bridge.
Go back to the car to get your parking ticket, since you forgot it.
Back to the elevator; 2nd floor; cross the bridge.
Get your ticket validated and get guest passes at the desk.
Follow your wife now. She knows how to get Stefan's room from here.
And if you would have listened to your wife in the first place, you wouldn't have missed the turn at Orleans, which means you probably went all the way to Michigan Ave to turn north. You would have missed a bunch of traffic and a bunch of stoplights. You would have been at the hospital fifteen minutes sooner. But that's okay, because you knew where you were going. Yeah, right.

My point? Women may talk a lot (okay, I may talk a lot) and we give really long driving directions... But people (ie, other women) who follow those directions don't get lost. Try it.
You just might like driving someplace without "taking the scenic route." ;>)

Here is a link to the Northwestern Campus map:
http://www.northwestern.edu/visiting/maps/chicago/webviewable/

The parent page, http://www.northwestern.edu/visiting/maps/, has links where you can download pdf printable maps.

If you're taking 290... Take 290 East. Before you get "into" downtown... Take 90/94 WEST, for a short ride. Take the E Ohio St exit. Follow directions above from that point... Turn LEFT on Orleans, and so forth.

http://www.transitchicago.com/maps/maps/F2002D.html
If you'd like to see a map of downtown, the CTA map is a good one to look at. You can see all the street names, and if you follow the directions the bus routes go, you can figure out the one ways. You can see 290 and 90/94, and you can visually follow the directions from your exit.
My drive into downtown today was different from my "normal" route... I followed 290 to Congress (90/94 was too congested to take up to Ohio). From there, I followed Wacker Drive (for added excitement, I took Lower Wacker Drive). I followed that to Michigan Avenue, crossed the river on the lower level of Michigan, turned left on Grand, right on Rush, up three streets to turn left on Erie, crossed Michigan, went to Fairbanks and went the rest of the way to the garage. All in all, not a bad trip - didn't stop once on Lower Wacker, and there is even less traffic there than on Orleans. I wouldn't make that trip at night, but at 11am, it was fine. Stefciu had fun, because we were constantly in a tunnel or under a bridge - it was a different trip from the backseat for him too!

Whichever way you choose to go, good luck getting there. Good luck finding a parking spot without driving all the way up to level 9 (level 10 is rooftop parking). And enjoy your visit.
--SMK