In July, Bob and I took a trip to Chicago. It was my first trip to the Second City. We had some time-consuming family obligations but also managed a few days of sightseeing.
Some of the highlights:
– Chi-Town Pizza in our Gold Coast neighborhood was a great find at 3:00 a.m. Watching the drunk clubbers while we downed our slices was almost as good as the pizza.
-Millenium Park, specifically the Cloud Gate, aka The Bean. And the animated fountains.
– Coming home each night to our lovely, quiet apartment at The Flemish House on Cedar Street.
-Eavesdropping on some very, very gay boys on the El one night when we had to pack in like sardines. “Honey you KNOW I love people of ALL kinds but THIS is riDICulous!”
-Seeing my first giant Rothko at the Art Institute of Chicago:
-Seeing Bob’s favorite view of the city at night, from Adler Planetarium.
-The surprise of finding such a lovely, quiet place as Ogden Slip.
-My martini at the Chicago Firehouse restaurant. Best ever.
-Our walk down the Oak Street Beach, and back through our neighborhood on Astor Street. Quiet streets and exquisite mansions. Fabulous.
-Sitting on a bench at the end of Navy Pier in the late afternoon sunshine. Perfect temperature, perfect one-beer buzz, great company.
Big cities are amazing. They are full of man-made marvels. And much noise. I’m happy to visit. I’m also very happy to come home.
