Day 3: Sunday, July 28th, 2013
It's a beautiful day to wake up in Chicago, and Aunt Anita and I are ready tour an entire city in one day. Will it be the detailed, landmark intensive tour that it should be? Probably not. But as this is a road trip and not a destination specific trip, a taste is all I really have time for- no time to stop and sit down for the whole meal.
After breakfast in the hotel lobby, we decide our best course of action to see the most of the city in the shortest amount of time is to hop on one of those obnoxious double-decker bus tours. The tours that when you live in the city you can't help but think, "Will this bus just move already!" But when you're a tourist think that $40 for a three-day hop-on, hop-off with neighborhood specific buses sounds great because it's a whole lot less than taxi fare for three days, or for that matter a rental car.
So, leaving our hotel we walked two blocks down to Millennium Park. Instead of jumping on the bus we decided to indulge ourselves and check it out. If you've been to Chicago, and more importantly to Millennium Park, then you know how cool it is. It's a perfect use of green space in the middle of the city and definitely gives a great big nod to the arts in Chicago.
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| Here's a map of Millennium Park, so that you can take a walk with me... |
Aunt Anita and I entered the park at McDonald's Cycle Center (top left corner of the park). From there we first stopped at the Jay Pritzker Pavillion and the Great Lawn, where that night the wonderful Chaka Khan would be entertaining the good people of Chicago. As it is a public park, and has many entrances/exits most of the concerts are free.
The sarcastic side of me says that it looks like an unpeeled banana. However, it really looks like a flower with open petals. More importantly, the "petals" ensure that the theater has great acoustics, and that web in the foreground has speakers throughout the intersections, making ever seat in the house a good one.
Next up on the tour is Cloud Gate, or more commonly the bean. No trip to Chicago is complete without a visit to the bean. It's just a sculpture, but it reflects the city and gives every tourist a really great picture to take home.
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| The Chicago Skyline and Me! |
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| The Western Trail Road Trip Queens (AKA: Aunt Anita and I) |
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| The dizzying effects of the bean! |
Next up on the tour of Millennium Park is the Crown Fountain. This is not your typical fountain. It not only spouts water, but also is a light installation/multimedia presentation. The artist also wanted the fountains to look like 50 feet tall versions of the surrounding skyscrapers.
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| The artist uses faces from random people around Chicago. |
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| Alternating between the pictures of people are tranquil waterfall scenes. |
Last stop in Millennium Park is Wrigley Square and the Millennium Park Monument, which unfortunately seems tame after seeing the other sculptures.
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| Yup, see, kind of boring in comparison. |
And now for some abstract art for your personal enjoyment. There's no commentary on the following, they speak for themselves.
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| That is a real person, she's not normally part of the sculpture. |
Okay, now it's time to hop on the bus. Prepare for the world-wind tour of Chicago!
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| The Wave Building... |
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| Corn husk-looking apartment building: the bottom half is parking! |
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| the Chicago Theater... |
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| The "L" |
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| Getting set up for Lollapalooza! |
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| And there goes Buckingham Fountain... |
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| the Wrigley building... |
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| me, with the Chicago Tribune building... |
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| tour boats on the Chicago River... |
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| the Art Institute of Chicago... |
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| the building with the most square feet (the biggest building) in the world... |
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| the Flamingo... |
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| the Picasso... |
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| And my homage to my alma mater... Go Explorers! |
Well, we saw a lot more, but in the interest of being able to upload this post with all of these pictures, I'm cutting it short. Don't want the site to crash.
After an adventurous morning seeing all of the sites from the top of a tour bus, Aunt Anita and I were more than ready for some lunch. Now, I'm a big believer that when you go someplace you have to try the local cuisine. When in Philly, everyone needs to get a cheesesteak. So, it was only appropriate that when in Chicago, you gotta get some deep dish. According to the concierge at the hotel that morning, every Chicagoan has their favorite place (just like the great cheesesteak debate in Philly- Pat's, Geno's, Jim's), and she recommended Lou Malnati's.
Can I compare a Philadelphia pizza to Chicago-style? Not really. Chicago deep dish has a buttery crust and the topping was baked underneath the cheese instead of on top. So the verdict is still out. guess i'll just have to try it again the next time i'm in Chicago!
Next stop on our tornado through Chicago is actually in the neighboring town/suburb of Oak Park. Oak Park is the home of Frank Llyod Wright's first home and studio. Aunt Anita and I spent a lot of time in the car on this trip and to fill the silence we made our time highly educational. For example, I'm going to tell you all a little about the man known as Frank Lloyd Wright (FLW)- the abridged juicy version, or the E! True Hollywood story.
FLW was an architect who was known for founding the prairie style of architecture. The juicy details of his life, however, are with the many women in his life. His first wife was named Catherine (Kitty) and together they had six children. Known for constantly struggling financially due to his expensive tastes, FLW also became known as a "man-about-town." Around the same time FLW designed a house for Edwin Cheney, and fell in love with Cheney's wife Mameh. Mameh was an early feminist and FLW thought Mameh was his intellectual equal. Neither Kitty or Edwin Cheney would grant their spouses a divorce, so Mameh and FLW absconded to Europe, abandoning their families. Together FLW and Mameh spent a year in Europe and during this time Edwin finally granted Mameh a divorce. Upon their return FLW asked his mother to buy him a piece of property for a new home in Wisconsin to be named Taliesin. While FLW was on a job in Chicago, a servant from Barbados set fire to the living quarters of Taliesin and killed seven people win an axe- the dead included Mameh, her two children, and several other workers on the property. Mameh and FLW never married. In 1922, Kitty finally granted FLW a divorce (33 years after they had married). FLW was then required to wait one year before marrying again. Maude "Miriam" Noel became Mrs. FLW #2. However, this marriage only lasted one year due to Maude's morphine addiction. (The nurse in me can see the humor in this.) FLW was then required to wait another year after his divorce from Maude to marry for a third time. While separated, FLW met Olga, and together they had a daughter in 1925. In 1926, FLW and Olga were arrested for violating the Mann Act. In 1927, FLW's divorce from Miriam was finalized and in 1928 FLW married Olga.
So, basically what I learned was that FLW was an architect who "invented" the prairie style, had many mistresses, an arrest record, and three wives. Here are my pictures from the tour of Frank Lloyd Wright's home and studio...
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| the dining room |
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| a mural in the playroom |
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| the playroom |
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| the piano from the playroom hanging over the stairs |
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| a ceiling held up by chains |
Once again, when going a tour of one of the great american architects, it helps to be going on that tour with an architect. Some things pointed out to me included his focus on fireplaces and chimneys as the centerpiece of the home, his personal design of all of the furniture and artwork, and the uniqueness of the stained glass to each project/home.
After finishing the tour of the home and studio, Aunt Anita and I decided to walk around the neighborhood to check out some of his other designs.
Next stop is our next piece of movie trivia. Whose house is this? Name that movie!
SPOILER ALERT!!!!
That's right folks. It's Kevin McAllister's house from the Home Alone series. The movies that made Macauley Culkin famous.
One last stop at Wrigley Field, and it's time to head out of Chicago.
For the rest of the night I just drove into the darkness. To stay awake Aunt Anita played her learn Italian CDs. Which was entertaining in the fact that we didn't have the accompanying book that had the english translations. So, while I now can say phrases such as "Sono muy contento," and I have had conversations with signore Roberto, I have no clue what I am saying. At some point my eyes refused to stay open and it was time to pull off the road. Where did we end up? Grinnell, Iowa. But that, my friends, is a story for another day.
Today's Destinations:
1. Chicago, IL
2. Oak park, IL
3. Winnetka, IL
4. Chicago, IL
5. Grinnell, IO
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