Chicago Staycation

For sometime I felt as if Chicago was a forgotten city.  Maybe not to many Americans, but to the international community I always wondered if they knew anything more about what was now my hometown other then Michael Jordan, Oprah, and Barack Obama.  While Chicago is a major American city, it was always my impression that when international visitors thought of a trip to the United States, places like New York, Los Angeles or Miami would be the places they'd like to see.  What's so great about the city of Chicago?

After spending the day running amok in my own backyard with my boyfriend Zach I've come to realize the answer is clear.  Chicago is amazing, diverse, beautiful, and unique location, and I'm lucky to live here.

We kicked the day off by taking the Red Line train from my condo on the northside of the city to the Magnificent Mile.  While the Chicago Transit Authority's operation leaves much to be desired in terms of speed, efficiency, and modern amenity when compared to some of my more recent exploits in Washington DC and Japan, there is a certain grungy charm to it.  The rickety rails screech and wail in protest as the almost antique cars amble along the elevated tracks, slowly snaking it's way through brownstones and landmarks on it's endless north/south trail.  Less then a half hour later we're standing on Michigan Avenue, dodging taxis and pedestrians a like as we gaze skyward at the architectural wonderland around us.  It's funny how you can walk down a street countless times and only when you stop with the specific intent of seeing the beauty in it does it's true nature unfold before you.

  With business men on their way to meetings and women rushing to Gucci creating visual static around us, we simply stood still and took in the scene.

The Intercontinental Hotel on Michigan Avenue is deceptively plain looking.  While it does have the stone facade that sets it apart from the steel and glass that dominates the strip, unlike some of it's fancier brothers it's street level view is rather bland and non-descript.  Only once you throw your eyes up a few stories does the beauty of the building strike you.  A stream of stone carvings circles the building from front to back.  I'm not an expert on the area, but the overall theme of the artwork seemed to be Egyptian or Persian inspired.  Right next door to the Interncontiental is the Tribune building, with it's intricately carved exterior showcasing a bygone era of architecture.

  One of the more interesting details about the Tribune building is that it has pieces of other famous buildings layed into it's base.  You can wander around at your leisure enjoying the architecture while also rubbing pieces of the Taj Mahal, the Alamo, Notre Dame, and the Great Pyramids.  Across the street from these two buildings is the Wrigley building, with it's old time clock face and trademark pedestrian bridge suspended between the two wings of the building.  Flanking the curved and ornate design of the Wrigley Building is the recently finished Trump Tower, a study in modern architecture which contrasts nicely with the older Wrigley building with it's clean lines and smooth surface.

We marched off the Magnificent Mile and slowly made our way down Michigan toward the Loop.

  While it was a Saturday, which meant the usual hustle and bustle of the city's central business district might have been rather tame, Chicago's famous festival schedule for the summer was in full swing.  Hordes of people rushed to and fro, making their way to trains, buses, and taxis as they headed to the culinary celebration that is the Taste of Chicago.  While we planned to at least make a obligatory stop at the Taste, we also wanted to partake in another lesser known festival on the Chicago circuit:  Arabesque.  Chicago hosts one of the only annual festivals to celebrate the Arab community and it's culture.  We headed to Daley Plaza where we met up with two of Zach's friends, Mandy and Sarah.  Together we weaved our way through the tents that were set up, enjoying free trade Palestinian olive oil, looking at hookahs, evaluating paintings of mosques, and enjoying a lunch of chicken shwarma and pistachio ice cream.   We enjoyed an Arab fashion show, standing before the stage in a mix of head scarved women, European tourists, and dreadlocked African immigrants.  Diversity is a asset to Chicago, and it's one of the things I love most about this city.  If only we could get ourselves to start living as neighbors as well as citizen's of the same city.

We headed toward Millenium Park after the festival, bidding farewell to Zach's friends for the remainde of the day.  The quintessential Chicago tourist photo involves snapping a shot of your reflection in the "Bean", which is what we decided to do next.  I remember the uproar in the city when the plans for this piece were first announced, many calling it unneccesary, silly, and ugly.

  With it standing right in front of you, you can't help but disagree.  It's an interesting piece, but the polished silver exterior that reflects the city landscape all around it is an excellent mirror for the residents of this industrial Midwestern city.  The curves of the sculpture play optical games with your eye, elongating objects and twisting vision in fanciful ways.  The outdoor ampitheater is a mind boggling mishmash of silver metal, twisting and turning at angles that defy sensibility.  It's apparently a technique to increase the acoustics of the performance area, and is beautifully striking even without the added effects.  Metal beams criss cross the grassy landscape below, suspending light fixtures and speakers for the masses below.   Just past this area is a man-made stream, where people are invited to remove their shoes and sit on a wooden platform, allowing the slowly rolling water to massage their feet and bring some relief from the constant stream of sunshine. 

We headed past the newly renovated Art Institute and into Grant Park.  Booth after booth of exotic food smells wafted into our nostrils as we strolled by.  Having just eaten at Arabesque, we opted to bypass the crowds inside the event and skirted along the perimeter as we made our way toward Buckingham Fountain.  Flanking the opposite end of the festival, the fountain sat in the foreground of an amazing skyline view, with tall skyscrapers jutting upwards as powerful lines of water mingled geometrically in front of it.

  The breeze picked up particles from the fountain and misted those who walked around it, again providing a nice distraction from the midday sun.  From Grant Park we ended up crossing the street and walking on the lakefront, passing tiny private boats full of the sunbathing elite as the Museum Campus loomed large in front of us.  We walked up the hill toward the Field Museum, whose marble exterior reminds you of some of the federal buildings in Washington DC or Athenian ruins in Greece.  To it's left is the Shedd Aquarium, which sits on a little outcropping of land on Lake Michigan.  Newly renovated and fresh faced, the Aquarium continues the marble theme, stark white contrasting sharply against the blue sky.  As you walk past these two buildings, you can make your way further out on on this penisula toward the Planetarium.   As you reach the building, turn to your left and you're struck by the awesome skyline of Chicago.  The Sears Tower lives up to it's name and towers above the rest, as smaller skyscrapers hug the shoreline, cars race up and down Lake Shore Drive, city dwellers jog past yachts lazily drifting in the harbor.

By this point Zach and I were thoroughly exhausted as the sun started to set and thus decided we should start making our way back toward our hotel for the evening.  From the Museum Campus we caught a water taxi to Navy Pier, which provided the same unique skyline view we had just experienced but from a different perspective, rolling up and down on the waves of Lake Michigan.  We made our way back up Michigan Avenue, passing many of the same buildings we started the day gazing at and checked into our hotel on the Chicago River.

  We took the elevator to our room on the 21st floor and opened the window, and were pleased to find ourselves ready to sleep above the river with the Wrigley Building, Trump Tower, and the Tribune building dominating our window view.

While I didn't have to take a plane, train, or automobile to get here, it doesn't change the fact that I've come to realize what a great city I call home.  Cheers to Chicago!