Chicago Revisited: Part 1

We took a whirlwind trip to the Windy City for a family wedding. I lived there for more than a decade, but haven't been back since 2000. We crammed as much as we could into the few days we were there. In between get-togethers with family we haven't seen in far too long, we tried to show our daughter the city in which she was born. It was fun to see the city through fresh eyes.

Day 1
The day we arrived, it was overcast and foggy. The building in the center is the Sears Tower. (Sorry, I'm just not going to call it the Willis Tower.) The uppermost 20 floors or so were swallowed up by fog.

The first evening, we had dinner at Greek Islands, a huge restaurant in (of course) Greektown.

The view from Greektown at twilight is spectacular.

The Athenian Candle Company (300 S. Halsted) is 90 years old and still going strong. Here's one of their window displays.

Our room at the La Quinta Hotel and Suites, downtown, had a perfect view into the building across the street. During the day, we could watch meetings in progress and employees noodling around on Facebook. By night, there was an eerie glow.

The whole city is picturesque. No matter where you look, there's an interesting view. Here's a study in windows.

In the background is my old office building, at Canal and Monroe. In the foreground is one of the many bridges that cross the Chicago River. Most are bascule-trunion bridges (both sides lift up, from the middle). When I worked in the loop, I occasionally got stuck on the wrong side of the bridge at lunchtime and had to wait to return to the office. (There aren't many places where "the tall ships made me tardy" is a plausible excuse, but this is one of them.)

And here's that same bridge. I never did get used to crossing these bridges on foot. When a truck or bus crosses the bridge while you're walking on it, the whole thing bounces. Very unnerving! Also, call me paranoid, but I was aware that at any time, a crazy person could throw you over the railing of any of these bridges, right into the Chicago River. (And no, it never happened to me, or anyone I knew. But still.)

The Sears (not Willis) Tower, no longer enshrined in fog. Our hotel was just a few blocks away.

A fun shot of a building peeking out from between two behemoths.

Beds of tulips were everywhere. The poor things looked a little stunned by the 38-degree days we had this week. (We were pretty stunned, ourselves.)

The statue of Ceres, the goddess of grain, perches atop the Board of Exchange. Few people know that the model for this statue was a young woman who later married a Chicago bandleader. The statue has no face, because the sculptor didn't think anyone would be up high enough to see it clearly. This fact has caused me some nightmares, in which a faceless statue is chasing a sculptor through the streets of the Loop, wanting her face....

The "weather bell" on Monroe, about a block south of Dearborn. Sadly, the bell was correct--we had winter weather during our May trip. (Followed by scorching heat. Ah, Chicago in the spring....)

Day 2

On our second day, the fog lifted. We ran to the hotel window, cameras in hand, to document this sliver of blue sky. Just in case it turned out to be the only blue sky we saw on this trip.

Our daughter, in the lobby of our hotel.

The purpose of this trip was to attend a family wedding. Here's the happy couple!

First dance.

Father-daughter dance.

Daughter and her cousin.

The dance floor was packed!

This reception featured an honest-to-goodness bonfire. Huge, glowing, and bright red/yellow. All receptions should have one of these.

Mother and father of the bride.

Crazy woman on the dance floor.

(Note: We didn't take many pictures at the wedding--we were busy enjoying it, and we knew that the professional photographers had it well-covered. But the bride was lovely, the groom was handsome, and the guests were very happy to be there.)

Day 3

More tulips, this time on State Street. The flowers are exactly the same red as the Target logo on the store behind them. 

Chicago has many Art Deco jewels. This decorative brass is on the front of One N. La Salle. We weren't even looking for this; we were just walking back to the hotel from the El. And that's the thing about downtown Chicago: anywhere you look, there's something eye-catching.

Just look at these views of the city from the observation deck at the Sears (not Willis) Tower. The golden hue of the streetlights is thanks to the type of lighting used (sodium vapor). I've read that the city is switching to ceramic metal-halide lights (http://tinyurl.com/a7lhar3). If you can, go see the views from the Sears (not Willis) tower now, before the golden glow is gone.

The Sears (not Willis) Tower now has "sky deck" boxes. These plexiglass boxes extend out from the building. You can step out onto one and look straight downnnnnn.... well, you can if you're not a chicken. One of us (not me) is not a chicken.

Do you remember Mold-a-Rama machines? They're the ancestors of 3-D printing. This one makes models of the Sears Tower. 

Day 4 

Trolley tour of the Loop, sponsored by the Archicenter.

Tulips on Michigan Avenue. That's the Tribune Tower in the background.

City views, from the trolley tour.

This bridge, near Kinzie Street, is no longer in operation. It's cheaper to leave it as is than to dismantle it, so it remains, forever frozen in the upright position. This is the kind of thing that gives me nightmares.

In addition to making the city sparkle, the glass-fronted buildings create some neat reflections.

Central Camera (since 1899!), on Wabash, in the Loop.

We have always liked the signage at the Heart 'O' Chicago Motel.

At Indian Boundary Park.

Our first Chicago apartment. It has weathered well (probably better than we have).

Reunion time: dinner with old friends. The two young people (on the left) have been friends since preschool.

Day 5

Architectural River Tour, sponsored by the Archicenter. Here, we're looking straight up at a bridge as we sail under it. (Did I mention that I never did like the bridges? Driving over, walking across, or sailing beneath, they always give me the willies.)

Another of my old office buildings: the Merchandise Mart. Love it! It's an Art Deco gem, and despite its mammoth size (second largest building in the U.S., exceeded only by the Pentagon--and large enough to merit its own zip code and post office), it's sleek and elegant. At night, there are rows of white and peach-colored lights illuminating the top floors. From this building,  you get an excellent view of the St. Patrick's Day traditional dyeing of the river. And--best of all--from the El platform, you can smell the intoxicating aroma of chocolate, courtesy of the near-west-side Blommer Chocolate Factory. When I worked in the Mart, I went home every day craving brownies.

Part 2 of Chicago Revisited is now posted. Check it out! http://hired-pen-blog.blogspot.com/2013/05/chicago-revisited-part-2.html

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