St. Charles

Dad grew up in Glen Ellyn and his family was always talking about places like Geneva and Batavia and Elgin. I suppose they were the end of the commuter and trolley lines. And the Fox River sort of marked (sort of still does) the western edge of Chicago and the beginning of the prairies.

We left Madison in the morning, but our flight didn't leave O'Hare until late afternoon, so we had some time to explore. I had always wanted to see this string of towns along the river, so we left the Tollway in Elgin and worked our way south.

We stopped and walked a little along the river in downtown St. Charles. The river was running pretty full (not that I have much idea of what normal looks like). The bridge is nicely framed by the Hotel Baker on the west and the Art Deco (1940 Moderne?) Municipal Building on the east bank.

It wasn't part of the plan, but we stopped again south of town at Mt. St. Mary Park and wandered through the outdoor sculptures. I would have liked more time to explore Geneva and Batavia, but we needed to get back to the airport and weren't sure how bad traffic might be.

Art Institute

Our first day in Chicago was crystal clear and was mainly spent outdoors, looking up at the buildings. But our second was gray and we spent the middle of the day at the Art Institute of Chicago, catching up on our art and winding up with sore ankles. It's amazing how much more tiring it can be to wander museums than to walk all day outside. We need to figure out how to do this in smaller doses.

The big exhibit was built around Van Gogh's bedroom - three versions of which were on display, including the one that actually lives in Chicago. But there was also other stuff by Van Gogh and a lot of material to provide context.

Of course, there was plenty of other material to look at, from Seurat to O'Keefe.

Chicago

Willis (Sears) Tower  1970

More buildings, ranging from less than 20 floors to more than 100.  And from the 19th century to the 21st.

The Rookery 1888

Aon Center 1973

Aqua  2009

Merchandise Mart 1933

333 Wacker  1983

Marina City  1964

Lake Point Tower 1968

300 North LaSalle  20

Trump Tower

The Trump Tower would be hard to miss, but given this year's attention on its namesake, it was particularly difficult to ignore. I sort of like the building, but it was hard for me to separate its personality from that of the Donald's. For example, I don't think any other building we saw in Chicago had its name in a bigger font.

The 98-story building includes both hotel and condos. It was completed in 2009. It stands out in part because it rises so high above the Michigan Avenue Bridge and because it's lined up with the entrance to the Chicago River.

Wrigley Building

Every big city has skyscrapers, but somehow Chicago shows them off better than most. I have no idea whether it's their density, their average height, their architectural diversity, or that they rise from an utterly flat landscape. Whatever the reason, the next few posts will be focused on buildings. Mainly pictures, since it takes more time and energy to actually write about them, let alone to do the appropriate homework.

The Wrigley Building was built in the early 1920s. It, along with the Tribune Building, mark Michigan Avenue, just north of the bridge over the Chicago River. The looming Trump Tower (next post) is a bit of a distraction, but it also provides a nice counterpoint to the older, more ornate buildings.

Chicago River

The Chicago River winds through the canyons of downtown Chicago, with the city's spectacular skyscrapers rising practically from the water's edge. We took advantage of the wonderful day to take one of the architecture-inspired boat tours. The most highly acclaimed one - run by the Chicago Architecture Foundation - wasn't quite open for the season, but a similar offering by Shoreline Sightseeing was still a lot of fun.

I took an awful lot of photos of skyscrapers of different vintages, all rising into a bright blue sky. But I think I'll save some of those for a different post.

As interesting and appropriate as the architecture tour was, I would have enjoyed a river tour built more around the early history of the city. Before there was a city, there were spits and marshes at the mouth of the Chicago River. Before it was replumbed, the Chicago River flowed into Lake Michigan, as opposed to flowing west towards the Mississippi. Before there were skyscrapers, there were feedlots and slaughter houses. I read Cronon's history of Chicago a couple of years ago and would have loved to hear more about the city's origins, since I've already forgotten most of what I read.

Millennium Park

From the big silver coffee bean, we headed past the big lawn and pavilion and across Columbus Drive on the BP Bridge to Maggie Daley Park (not sure if it's technically part of Millennium Park or not).

A beautiful early spring day brought out the crowds - I guess it helped that it may have been spring break for the kids, too. The skating ribbon and ice rink were closed for the season, but the playground was in full tilt - absolutely packed.

Cloud Gate

I was captivated by "The Bean" when we visited Chicago in 2010 and I still love it. Something about its simplicity, its scale, and the way the curves juxtapose the straight lines of the buildings along Michigan Avenue. And of course, it's sort of like a giant selfie magnet, which we gave into along with everyone else. I actually visited twice, once early in the morning, and again, with Michele, after our breakfast at Wildberry Pancakes. What a perfect day for it.

Here's my post from five years ago:
Millennium Park: July 2010

Chicago

We had three days in Chicago. We'd gotten a pretty good deal on a nice corner room on a low floor at the Loews, just south of the river, from which we could see the NBC Tower and a number of other landmarks, including the Trump Tower (which probably deserves its own post).

I'll follow with a whole bunch of entries - including a lot of pictures of tall buildings.

We had dinner with M's old SF State friend Don Mon at Tanta, at the Purple Pig off Michigan, and at the Eleven City Diner on South Wabash, which we had discovered five years ago. We had breakfasts at Wildberry across from Millennium Park, Yolk, and Tempo Cafe. We were never hungry.