Chicago, May 2015
Denise and I explore America's Second City.
Click on the map above to see a larger version. (Google Maps)
We spent eight days exploring Chicago, focusing mainly on its magnificent museums and architecture. We visited the Chicago Art Institute, the Field Museum (twice), the Shedd Aquarium (though I took no pictures there), and would have loved to have gone to the Chicago History Museum, but we ran out of time. We took three guided tours through the Chicago Architecture Foundation: the Must-See Architecture Tour, the River Cruise Tour, and the Historic Skyscrapers Tour, all of which we can highly recommend, and we took a guided tour of Frank Lloyd Wright's home in Oak Park and a self-guided tour of several of the homes he designed in the surrounding neighborhood.
We also caught up with an old friend in Oak Park who kindly played tour guide, and met for the first time a 2nd cousin of Denise's who joined us for the Must-See Architecture Tour and showed us some of her favorite sites downtown where she once worked.
On this trip we tryed airbnb to reduce costs: we rented a condominium rather than staying at a hotel which allowed us to prepare meals and do laundry at home. Our condominium was in the Near South Side about two miles south of the center of the Loop and a mile from the Field Museum and Shedd Aquarium, reasonable walking distances. And when we couldn't or wouldn't walk there was always excellent public transportation or Uber, so we didn't have the hassle of a rental car.
We had a great visit in Chicago despite the crazy spring weather that varied from 82 degrees and humid to 50 degrees and dry, from mild and clear to rain. It was all a great adventure.
Our Digs While in Chicago: We rented a condominium for our stay so we would have a "home" to come back to each evening and where we could prepare our meals when we wanted rather than dining out three meals a day. This was also a big time and money saver.
The Field Musuem: The Chicago Field Museum is almost worth a trip to Chicago by itself. Its natural history exhibits are extraordinary. We made two day-long visits during our stay.
The Chicago Art Institute: The Chicago Art Institute is the most amazing fine art museum we'd ever seen, and it too is almost worth a trip to Chicago by itself. We spent an entire day there being overwhelmed, and a bit lost, within its maze of galleries.
Chicago Must-See Architecture Tour (Chicago Architecture Foundation): This was a 90 minute walking tour of Chicago's most famous buildings that had us getting on and off the 'L'-line trains (and giving us a chance to see how the system worked). The day began very cold and overcast, clearing in the late afternoon. Denise's cousin joined us for the tour and later gave us a brief tour of her favorite architecture of Chicago.
Chicago Architecture River Cruise (Chicago Architecture Foundation): We took a 90 minute river cruise of Chicago that included some Chicago history, but mostly focused on the city's spectacular architecture along the Chicago River. Though several early skyscapers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries could be seen around the Michigan Ave Bridge and at the confluence of the North and South Branches of the Chicago River, most prominent were the post-modern skyscrapers of the late 20th, early 21st-centuries. Also, notably, unlike our previous tour, this day was mild and clear. The tour began at the Michigan Ave bridge, traveled up the North Branch of the Chicago River, down the South Branch, and headed out into Chicago Harbor before returning to the dock.
Historic Skyscrapers Tour (Chicago Architecture Foundation): This was a two-hour walking tour of the historic skyscrapers of Chicago and their development in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) Sky Deck & The Ledge Experience: The Willis Tower is 1,451 ft (measured to the roof) and 108 stories tall. On the 103rd floor is the Skydeck where visitors have unobstructed views in all directions. It is also the location of the "The Ledge", four glass boxes that project 4.3 ft from the building at a height of 1,353 ft. Denise and I tested our fear of heights by stepping into one.
Oak Park and Frank Lloyd Wright: We met an old friend to take a Frank Lloyd Wright architectural walking tour in Oak Park, a western suburb of Chicago. Oak Park is famous for having the largest number of Frank Lloyd Wright designed homes in the world, including Wright's first home and studio that he built while still working for the firm of Adler & Sullivan.
The end of our adventure: We hope you enjoyed the pictures of our all too brief visit to Chicago. The museums were second to none and the architecture was magnificent. We will return again to see what we didn't have time to see the first time around and to revisit our favorite sites.
