Saturday

4) 10 a.m. Art History at Home and Abroad

You don’t need us to tell you to go to the Art Institute of Chicago (admission $20 to $25). But while you’re there, here are a few specifically Chicago-centric exhibitions you might otherwise overlook. Through Jan. 6, “Hairy Who? 1966-1969,” features the boldly graphic work of six countercultural South Side-based artists. Then make your way to the quirky Thorne Miniature Rooms, a subterranean collection of 68 dollhouse-scale architectural vignettes from a Gothic church and Tudor great room to a New Mexican dining room in the 1940s. All were designed by Narcissa Niblack Thorne, a Chicago artist and the wife of James Ward Thorne, heir to the Montgomery Ward retail fortune. From Nov. 17 to Jan. 8, several of the rooms are decorated in denominationally appropriate holiday style.

5) 12 p.m. View Points

For a panoramic lunch, dine at Cindy’s, the conservatory-like rooftop restaurant at the Chicago Athletic Association hotel overlooking Millennium Park and Lake Michigan. Share the generous seafood cocktail ($22) and cast-iron chilaquiles ($27) while taking in the views. Then continue north to the Chicago River to stroll on the two-year-old Chicago Riverwalk, a 1.25-mile long, water-level promenade. In fair weather, the kayak launches, picnic lawns and cafes bustle, but even in the off-season, the walkway offers good perspectives on the surrounding landmark high-rises.