I disappeared again. But for a good reason! Adventures have been had. Not huge adventures, but enjoyable nonetheless. What adventures, you ask? Well, I'll tell you. I have finally taken advantage of my sister's living in Illinois and went out to visit her in mid March. We met in Chicago for the first four days of the trip and then headed down to Carbondale for the remainder. Let me just get a couple things out of the way before I begin. Yes, we went to Chicago in the wintertime. Technically. Even though there was snow on the ground, it was in the 40's while we were there. Quite bearable, especially considering that there weren't too many tourists yet. And no, we had no idea what we were going to do there. Frankly, I didn't really know what there was to do in Chicago. Maybe I don't know enough people who have been there, but I've never heard the Chicago equivalent of "Oh are you going to the Golden Gate Bridge/Alcatraz/Pier 39, etc. when you visit San Francisco?". Except for deep dish pizza, no one really knew what I should experience in Chicago. Thankfully, I've recently gotten to know a couple gentlemen who lived in Chicago for some time. So armed with very little knowledge and too many recommendations, I headed out to the Second City.
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| Looks just like a large, snowy quilt. |
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| A view of Chicago from Millennium Park, near the Pavilion |
The first day I arrived in the late afternoon and met my sister at our hotel. The cab ride in showed me the largest McDonald's I have ever seen! I initially took the two giant, golden arches to be some sort of public art exhibit. That's how big this McD's is. Our hotel was on the Loop and thus, perfectly placed for metro travel. We donned our winter coats and scarves and set out to check out the hood, namely Millennium Park. I'm sure the park is much more stunning in the springtime, but it was good enough to get to see Frank Gehry's Jay Pritzker Pavilion and the Cloud Gate, aka the Bean. We ogled architecture, oohed at the lake in the distance, awed at the massive, non-working fountain that we had to cross a plain of snow to get to, and stumbled upon the Art Institute, where we made the misguided decision to visit it on our last day in Chicago. We finished up our evening eating at the Good Stuff Eatery, where I had a Sunnyside Up burger and Seanse had an Obama burger.
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| Worth it crossing the snow to get to |
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| This is the city for art nouveau! |
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| Andersonville |
The next day, we took the L out to Andersonville, the Swedish neighborhood in Chicago. Or it used to be. Much like Ballard here in Seattle, very little of the Swedish roots remain. Antique stores apparently took the place over. But what antiques! Pictures of gorgeous mid-century furniture probably took up more space on my phone than pictures of Andersonville itself. We were visiting on a Sunday and sadly were too late to the one Swedish restaurant, so we opted for an Irish pub. If you can't get Grandma's food, might as well get Grandpa's.
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| Just one of the many awesome antique stores in Andersonville. This one clearly wanted to be Canadian |
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A little home in Chicago!
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| The L making its rounds, behind it the gleaming Trump tower |
Monday we took some of the recommendations of my native Chicagoan and went out to Wicker Park to visit a couple of bookstores. This was probably a bad decision on my part. One, because the last thing I need is to buy more books, and two, when you live a mere 3 hours away from Powell's City of Books, all other bookstores just pale in comparison. Bookstores are, of course, always magical, but as I now know, not necessary on short trips. We headed back to the Loop to take a better peek at the amazing buildings, the Trump Tower, the Chicago Tribune, and the Corn Cobs. We tried to follow the river down to the lake, but that would just be too easy, now wouldn't it? That evening we went out to Lincoln Park to get the best deep dish pizza in Chicago at Pequod's. Miguel, my Chicagoan in Seattle, tried to relate what this experience would be like for me. I didn't fully understand until I tried it myself. The "caramelized" crust is what made it. I could try and explain it here, but I know words would fail.
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| More amazing architecture, again, looming Trump tower |
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| The Corn Cobs! |
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| The Bean! Or Cloud Gate. Whatever. |
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This is a city Target. Yes, this is a Target.
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| A monkey and a puppy in Seurat's Sunday in the Park |
Our final day in Chicago we went to the Art Institute as planned, thinking a mere 3 hours would be enough time to see it all. Fools! After exploring the miniatures in the basements and the world art on the first floor, we felt like we were making good time. The second floor however, is home to the largest collection of Impressionist paintings outside of France. Needless to say, we didn't make it to the third floor. Opting not to rush, we enjoyed looking through all the pre-Modern art and decided we would make another trip, starting next time from the top. Picasso was just put on hold for a bit.
With our Chicago adventures at an end, Seanse and I headed to the train that would take us south, where more adventures awaited! Stay tuned...
