by Mauverneen
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Looking into the city
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Although I grew up about 40 miles southwest of a world class
travel destination - that great big wonderful windy city of
Chicago, I tend to take it for granted. And
like most people around here, I don’t get there often enough. A fact that hits
home whenever I
do get there. ‘Why
don’t I come here more often?’ is what I ask myself every time!
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Iconic guardians of the Art Institute
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Chicago is a city of contrasts – the old and the new, the
North Shore with the South Side,
Grant Park and
Buckingham Fountain with
Millennium Park and
Crown fountain, Trump Tower and
Marina Towers, The
Water Tower and
Willis (Sears) Tower.
Ethnic
neighborhoods that are small cities in themselves.
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Very clever planters!
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When I do get downtown I am always impressed. There is an
energy, an excitement, a vibrancy that you can feel!
I become the ultimate tourist, impressed by
the wonderful architecture, gazing upward in awe at the height of the
buildings, mesmerized by the beauty of the lakefront and the views from the
tops of some of the tallest buildings in the world.
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| Looking up at the Hancock |
I love being a tourist here! There are restaurants and museums
and shows and shopping galore and although
State Street isn’t quite that Great Street
anymore, there is the Magnificent Mile - and magnificent it is! I have to
confess to missing the old
State
Street, where Marshall Fields and Carson Pirie
Scott had floors of merchandise and bargain basements and shoe stores like
Bakers and
Chandlers
always seemed to call my name. But shopping on
Michigan Avenue? Oooh la la!
High end department stores and specialty
stores entice. I walk down
Michigan
Avenue, keeping pace with the people who live and
work there, seemingly always hurrying to their next appointment. But I’m on my
own time and I pause to admire an interesting store window, take photos of the
buildings or just do some people watching.
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"I saw a man who danced with his wife" - right on Michigan Ave!
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The
Chicago museums are world class – and although I haven’t seen them all, I always enjoy
being introduced to a new one.
The
Adler Planetarium,
the
Shedd Aquarium, and the
Field Museum are literally within steps of each other, the
Museum of Science and Industry is just a short jog
south, and the
Art Institute is a prominent fixture on
Michigan Avenue, right next door to the wonderful
‘
Bean’.
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Having fun at Cloud Gate - aka 'The Bean'
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You can walk the lakefront from the Planetarium to Navy Pier and
beyond, enjoying wonderful skyline views of the city and the blue waters of
Lake Michigan. In summer, as the lake breeze cools your
face and tussles your hair, it’s impossible not to daydream as you pass the yachts
and sailboats anchored at the docks.
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I think I get it
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Navy Pier has become a destination in itself, with it’s
restaurants, shops, and 150 foot high Ferris Wheel.
It has performance stages, a Shakespeare
Theatre, an exhibition hall that houses art exhibits and seasonal events like
the spring Flower Show and the Winter Wonderfest.
You can book a dinner cruise or a boat tour, watch
a fireworks display during the summer months, or if you’re lucky, catch the
Tall Ships when they sail into town.
The
Chicago Children’s Museum is located on the pier and there is even a permanent,
free display of 150 stained glass windows (
The Smith Museum) on the main level - a
ll by prominent designers and almost all were originally housed in Chicago buildings. Truly something for everyone!
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| Navy Pier |
I’d be hard pressed to name my favorite thing to do in
Chicago - I love
everything about it. And I am making a resolution right now to get there more often.
It really is my kind of town!
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| Chicago at night |
As always, words and photos are my own, and require permission to reprint.
However, feel free to share the blog in it's entirety. In fact, I encourage it!
Found your blog from the Writing Travellers group on LinkedIn. I'm from KS and just visited Chicago for the first time last month. I absolutely loved it! We stayed downtown and pretty much walked everywhere (and rented bicycles one day, too). We also took one of the river/lake cruises. It was so much fun and I would love to go back again someday. So much to see and do. And I also saw those clever planters and took a picture of them myself! :)
ReplyDeleteMaureen,
ReplyDeleteLoved my tour of Chicago, have never been but you make me want to go! Your words made me think of similar ones I've voiced about NYC. A Long Island native, I've only visited the city a hand full of times, a shame.
~Phyllis~