This will be, I promise, my final post about our trip last week to Chicago. I recognize the fact that there is only so much that people want to hear about somebody else's vacation.
The main point of the trip was, of course, to see "Hamilton", but we were going to have two days to spend in this city, and we wanted to make the most of it. Marilyn had visited Chicago many times as a business traveler years ago, but for me, this would be my first trip to the Windy City. What to do? We consulted with my pal and University of Chicago alum Fred Egler, and we googled "things to do in Chicago" and the results were almost exactly the same:
- Stay at a nice hotel in The Loop. The Kimpton Allego fit the bill nicely. Thanks, Fred.
- Visit The Art Institute. Check.
- See Millennium Park. Check.
- Take an Architectural Boat Tour along the Chicago River. Check.
- Visit the Navy Pier. Check.
- Eat at a schlocky, touristy restaurant. Check.
- Have a drink with a famous Chicagoan. We tried but Oprah, Barack and Michelle, Wilbon, and Bill Murray never returned our calls, and John Belushi and Ernie Banks are dead, so I guess we will have to just plan a trip back sometime.
Okay, I kid a bit, but I have to say that we really enjoyed our time in Chicago. It's big. I mean, really big. It made you realize just how small a town, physically, Pittsburgh is. We found it to be a pretty clean town as well, which was nice. People were very friendly, although they had a tendency to tell you that "oh, you walk to there from here", and several times that turned out to be, well, not exactly true. We were struck by how the City has planted flowers along many of the streets, which added a real touch of beauty to the town.
Two things we did not do was (1) have a Chicago style hot dog, and (2) have a Chicago style deep dish pizza. As it turns out, dining was not a priority on this trip, and we actually didn't see any places to avail ourselves of these local delicacies. Oh, well, another reason to go back some day.
Some comments on activities we did do.
The Architectural Boat Tour. When we told people we did this, it got some raised eyebrows, and I admit that it does sound like it could be a snoozer, but it was a really fun and interesting thing to do. When your time in the city is limited, this 90 minute boat ride along the Chicago River gives you an opportunity to really see a lot of the town and its unique buildings. We also had an excellent tour guide on our boat, so that made it even more interesting. We highly recommend it.
The Art Institute. This pops up at the top of all "Things To Do in Chicago" lists on the Google Machine, and Fred told us it was an "absolute must", so off we went. This is an art museum that claims perhaps the largest collection of original paintings from the French Impressionists outside of France, of course. It also features original works of many great American artists as well. It also consists of at least four separate buildings. It's huge. We spent close to two hours there and barely scratched the surface. I don't think that it would be possible to see everything that The Art Institute has to offer unless you sent a solid week there. Here are just a few of the recognizable paintings that we saw, and remember, these are the originals, not reproductions.
Amazing stuff. (And as a former museum docent myself, I did ascertain that you were allowed to photograph these paintings, so long as no flash was used.)
Yes, our little two-plus day trip to Chicago - the train ride, "Hamilton", and the Toddlin' Town itself - turned out to be every bit the adventure that thought it would be. A great addition to our Memory Book.
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