We love visiting big cities! There is always so much to see. Also, each city has its own personality. A visit to Chicago has been on my bucket list for a long time and this summer seemed a good time. As we live in the hot and humid south, traveling north also offered a hope of cooler weather.
While most of our travels occur in our teardrop camper, our big city traveling methods are quite different. We don’t like to drive in big cities and parking rates are exorbitant, so we always fly to our destination. Also, we like to stay at a hotel close to most of the places we want to visit and in a safe neighborhood.
Our Chicago Digs
We chose the Ambassador Hotel in the Gold Coast neighborhood for our five-night stay in Chicago because the area is very nice and close to public transportation. The recently remodeled hotel was built in 1926 and was visited by many celebrities over the years. While no longer considered a luxury hotel, it still features luxury linens and a very comfortable bed.
We did a good bit of walking in the area to catch the bus or train and really enjoyed the scenery. The Gold Coast neighborhood was incredible, with gorgeous mansions and lovely landscaping on almost every street. The Original Playboy Mansion was just a few blocks away and we had to check it out. Many celebrities have visited, including Warren Beatty and the Rolling Stones. In the 1970’s, Hefner leased the building to the Art Institute of Chicago at a rate of $10 a year. Currently, condominiums are in the building and the last one was on the market at $3.4 million.
Getting Around in Chicago
The Chicago Transit Authority is an exceptional public transit system that is inexpensive, yet easy to maneuver. From our hotel, it was a three block walk to the 151 bus that goes through the Magnificent Mile all the way to the Art Institute. We also used the trains. The Red Line at Clark/Division was about four blocks from the hotel. One can get a single day pass for unlimited use for busses and trains for only ten dollars a day. There is also a three-day pass for twenty dollars.
We took the Blue Line from the airport to downtown, which was inexpensive and efficient. However, on our return to the airport, we took a Lyft to ensure prompt arrival for our return flight.
Architectural River Cruise
Most noteworthy, Chicago is a city of skyscrapers. So, one of our favorite attractions was the River Cruise on Chicago’s First Lady. Several companies provide cruises, but we took the one by the Chicago Architecture Foundation led by volunteer docents. Jane, our docent, was very knowledgeable! She gave us a lot of background details of the city. Also, she had tons of information about the architecture of the Chicago skyscrapers along the path of the river. I must admit that quite a bit was unfamiliar to me. I love architecture, but am not very knowledgeable. Nonetheless, the tour was amazing. Our tour was in the late afternoon and the weather was perfect.
Below is the Wrigley Building built in 1924.
The tallest building in Chicago is the 110-story, 1,450-foot Willis (formerly Sears) Tower is below. It is the second tallest building in the United States. Immediately in front of it is the Post Modern, 65-story 311 South Wacker Building, measuring 961 feet.
Millennium Park and Cloud Gate
The 24.5 acre public park is dedicated to celebrating the third millennium. It includes Cloud Gate, which is a large sculpture, plus a video display, and an outdoor theater.
Cloud Gate, aka the “Bean”, is a 12-foot, 110-ton highly reflective sculpture made of polished stainless steel. Most noteworthy, it is a major tourist attraction and a primo place for selfies. In the photo below, my big guy is in front of the Bean on the right. If you zoom in on the red circle, you can also see me snapping the shot. The bean is such an interesting sculpture!
The Art Institute of Chicago
The art museum was my most anticipated attraction in Chicago. Yet, it still exceeded expectations. The museum, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. We spent most of a day there and I took tons of pictures, which I will enjoy far into the future.
I was thrilled to see Seurat’s famous Post-Impressionist painting below that utilizes the pointillism technique. The painting is quite large. It was one of the most memorable work from my Art Appreciation class many years ago.
The museum has works by all the greats. I read that it has more Impressionist paintings than anywhere except the Louvre. I loved it! My big guy likes it, but not like I. When he had seen enough, he sat patiently and interacted on social media while I roamed the museum.
Navy Pier
The pier is a popular tourist destination. It is 3,300 feet long and offers beautiful views of the city. Tours by land, water, or air are available. An enormous building houses tons of restaurants, an IMAX theater, a Children’s Museum, a Shakespeare theater, and multiple shops. Outside, there is the large Centinnial Wheel and smaller rides for children.
We rode the wheel and it offered incredible views in a very comfortable, climate-controlled environment.
Lastly, there was a piece of public art made of reflective material similar to the Bean, except it makes you look skinny. Loved it!
Lincoln Park
We spent most of a day at Lincoln Park. We visited the zoo, the Conservatory, and the Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool. All were amazing and totally free! Parking is very expensive, but the bus stops right where you need it.
The Zoo
The zoo, founded in 1868, is one of the oldest zoos in North America. It was a hot day and we did not want to do a lot of walking, so we did not spend a lot of time in the zoo. Not having to pay an admission price, a rarity for zoos these days, made it easy to do this. Surprisingly, I had an amazing time, up close and personal, with the polar bears. The habitat features a pool with a clear partition between the bears and visitors. One bear really put on a show!
I was standing next to the glass and it was exhilarating to see the bear swim by so close. He did this multiple times and the crowd loved it! What an experience!
The Conservatory
In addition to being free, docents are on site at the conservatory on weekends. They provide lots of great information about the tropical plants housed in the Victorian Era glass house, built in the late 1880s. Norman, the docent for our tour, was great. He explained how the different plants are propagated. Some are manually manipulated at great effort by Conservatory staff. It appears that a lot of work is required to sustain this beautiful Conservatory.
The Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool
The Lily Pool was also free with a docent available for tours on the weekend. Jean was our docent and she added so much to our appreciation of the Lily Pool. It is an example of Prarie School landscape architecture. Originally built in 1889, it was restored in 1997. It was so beautiful and peaceful!
Chicago Water Tower
The Water Tower was built in 1869 and is one of the few buildings to survive the fire of 1871.
I first saw the tower in a Thomas Kincaid impressionistic painting. I loved the painting but did not buy it initially. About lusting over it for about a year, I was ready to buy, but it was sold out. Kincaid later did another version of the Water Tower. I did not like it as much, but purchased it anyway. I was so happy to be able to see the real thing in Chicago. My painting is below, followed by the actual building.
John Hancock Signature Room
We had cocktails in the Signature Room on the 95th floor of the John Hancock Building. The drinks were especially good and the views incredible.
A Free Concert
We attended an amazing performance by Lynne Jordan and the Shivers in the Summer Concert Series at the Plaza. They were outstanding and the concert was free!
Other Stops
Buckingham Fountain is one of the largest fountains in the world. Beginning at 8pm, a show begins with music and fountain activity. We were there for this show. However, it was not yet dark and the lights were not on. We wanted to see the 9 pm show with the lights, but were exhausted.
I dipped my toes into Lake Michigan, the first Great Lake I have ever witnessed in person. This was at the Oak Street Beach and the water was pretty cold.
We also visited the iconic Palmer House Lobby. It was Chicago’s first hotel with operating elevators and electric lightbulbs and telephones in the guest rooms. It was impressive.
Lastly, we visited the Three Arts Club building, a historic landmark near our hotel. It was built in 1914 to provide a safe and supportive residence for young women studying the arts. The Byzantine style entrance contains mosaics representing music, drama, and painting . Currently, RH Modern, a furniture chain, is in the enormous building. We loved looking at the room displays. An upscale restaurant, Three Arts, is also in the atrium inside.
Chicago Food
Deep dish pizza was high on our list and two chains are highly-rated, Lou Malnati’s and Giordano’s. We tried and liked both, but preferred Lou’s.
Chicago style hot dogs were also high on my husband’s list. His favorite was the traditional, but with Italian sausage. It is traditionally served on a poppy seed bun with mustard, kosher pickle spear, chopped onion, pickle relish, Roma tomatoes, celery salt, and sports peppers. However, no catsup! He tried it at Downtown Dogs and loved it. I had the same except with a beef frank.
We had macaroons and cookies at Sugar Bliss, which is inside the Palmer House Hotel. It had many macaroon flavors just like you would see in Paris. One flavor, Rose, tasted like a rose smells, but in a good way. Just thinking about them is giving me cravings.
Garrett’s Popcorn is a Chicago staple, so we tried the Garrett mix. It is a delicious blend of very cheesy and caramel popcorn. It sounds awful, but is surprisingly delicious.
The Weather
We hoped to escape the sweltering weather of the south and were graced with three perfect days. It was the kind of weather where it is so glorious to be outside. But, our last two days were unseasonably hot and humid—even hotter than Alabama. Therefore, we visited Lincoln Park and the art museum on those days and it made our days a little easier.
Chicago Wrap-Up
We loved our time in Chicago. It is a very dynamic, friendly city with so such to see and do. Seeing the Seurat painting and the Water Tower was very special to me. Though we did not do everything on my list, we hit the high points.
If you like visiting big cities too, this link is to a post about our trip to Los Angeles earlier this year.
Safe Travels!
