Plan to stay in Chicago for a few days after Web Content 2007 or arrive early and spend the weekend trying to see the more than 2000 special events planned while you are in town. Chicago is famous for blues and jazz, baseball and hotdogs, deep-dish pizza, modern architecture, and fireworks. It’s downright American. So enjoy your summer and spend some time seeing something besides the glow of your MacBook Pro Intel Core 2 Duo Notebook.

To help you map out all that fun, log on to metromix.com, the Chicago Tribune’s internet entertainment guide. There you can search more than 9000 restaurants and 4000 bars and clubs—not to mention theaters, museums, music venues and festivals. Or if that seems a bit overwhelming, search by category and date to trim your options down to more like 1056 things to do while you are in town. Or how about if we just tell you some of the stuff that pops up.

First, about those fireworks. Look out your window toward the lake every Wednesday at 9:30pm and Saturday at 10:15pm and you’ll see an explosive display set off from Navy Pier just past the 150-foot-high Ferris wheel. Fireworks only last about 10 minutes, but they’re free. And if you head over to the Pier you can enjoy every kind of food and drink imaginable, ride that Ferris wheel, visit the Children’s Museum, or see a play at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater. From there, miles of the Lake Michigan shoreline are waiting for you to walk, jog, bike, or just frolic. The beach is clean and not too crowded on a weekday. Bike rentals are available.

If you land in town the weekend before Web Content 2007, the Cubs are playing at Wrigley Field on both afternoons. Check out the roster, schedule, and ticket availability at the official Cubs web site. Also good to visit weekends or any time is the Lincoln Park Zoo. It’s not just for kids. It’s free (lot parking is 12 bucks, but you won’t have a car anyway), and it’s near the shoreline. This zoo has paths leading through several outdoor exhibits and into the protection of barns, a reptile house, and a lion house in case it rains.

We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the shopping in downtown Chicago. It’s er . . . magnificent. More than a mile of the finest designer and specialty shop line the streets just blocks from the conference venue. Shopping is so big here, four themed seasonal festivals are built around it. While you are in town Gardens of the Magnificent Mile gives you a chance to explore dramatic gardens and displays that flow along the shopping paradise.

If that all sounds a bit too nice, there’s always Body Slices at the Museum of Science and Industry, an exhibit of “anatomical selections prepared in the 1930’s and 40’s as teaching tools for medical students.” Combine that with CSI: The Experience also at the Museum, and you are set for some freaky fun. Other museums in the city, such as the Field Museum of Natural History and the John G Shedd Aquarium (both on the same grounds), are loaded with special exhibits, including the highly recommended Lizards and Komodo Dragon exhibit at the Shedd.

But maybe you just want to enjoy a show after the conference winds down. The Blue Man Group is always in town at the Briar Street Theater. There is also a Movies in the Parks film series. Event dates aren’t public yet, so bookmark the Chicago Parks District to see what’s going on the week you are in town. Buddy Guy’s Legends , the most famous blues bar in the country is in Chicago and just a cab’s ride away. Legend’s is the sort of place Mick Jagger and John Mayer have been known to drop in for a late-night session. The area around the place is admittedly “gritty.” But if you don’t mind, they won’t mind your khaki pants. Blues are presented seven nights a week. Grown ups only please.

And near by the conference is the Grant Park Sprit of Music (and Dance) Festival, the nations only free outdoor classical music series. It continues for 11 weeks at Millennium Park. So if you can’t seem to fit it in on this visit, you can always come back. No smoking allowed in the music pavilion, but you are encouraged to bring a picnic.

And did we forget to mention Jerry Springer, Chicago’s own? Check out Jerry Springer, the Opera at Bailiwick Arts Center. Oh, and opera, and the arts, and . . .just log on and find out for yourself.