Chicago's Weird Side: Strange Things To Do

This museum is dedicated to the history of the leather movement and the BDSM subculture. Reviews say that you do not have to be interested in this lifestyle to enjoy the museum; exhibits are fun and informative enough for a casual visit. Open Thursday through Sunday, but we recommend checking their site for hours.

In inclement weather, Chicagoans have a covered system of underground tunnels and above ground bridges to navigate over 40 city blocks. Eat, drink, shop, and see Chicago all from the inside. Bonus, if you tour the entire system, that’s 5 miles of walking without ever hitting the hotel treadmill. Check out this interactive map for how to access the pedway, or learn about the pedway’s history while participating in a cool walking tour of the entire system with one of the city’s many tour companies, such as Chicago Detours, Chicago Elevated, or Chicago’s Finest Tours.

Large flotation chambers filled with body-temp salted water await you at this unique spa, where you will spend an hour floating in the dark, allowing all your stresses to simply drift away. Each light-and-sound-free chamber is in a private room, and each tank is treated with 800 lbs of epson salt, known for its healing properties. New age, weird, and wonderful!

Every city has a dog poop ordinance that requires dog owners to pick-up after their pooch. Not everyone follows the rules, and sometimes the little brown deposits on the sidewalk can be downright vexing. What’s a citizen to do?

Chicago-based artist Jerzy Kenar decided to make a statement. His Shit Fountain is a huge gleaming pile of doggy poop, sculpted out of bronze and placed on a cement pedestal. His irreverent masterpiece sits on the edge of his gallery’s lot, in a residential area known as Chicago’s East Village. Definitely photo-op worthy.