…Knowledgeable tour guide was a must!
Long time readers (both of you) will know that I prefer the Sutter Buttes to the TransAmerica Pyramid; the Carrizo Plain to Golden Gate Park. Fewer people. Less traffic. Yes, and a little cheaper. A trip to San Francisco, my nearest big metro area, is palatable because the bucolic Sac/San Juaquin Delta is nearby, as are the cathedral-like coast redwoods. I know I can escape to the Marin Headlands if I need to.
With that in my DNA, I approached a week’s visit to Chicago with some trepidation. As luck would have it, we hooked in with an outstanding tour guide ~ DePaul student and granddaughter Grace Powers ~ for an outstanding taste of this midwestern mega-city. Where do I start?
Open Space? Our digs at Villa d’Citta https://www.villadcitta.com on North Halsted in Lincoln Park (a lovely boutique mansion) were only blocks away from the Chicago City Zoo…
…the Lake Michigan waterfront….
…and this grand fountain in Grant Park.
Mid-October weather was perfect for strolling, site-seeing, and stopping for the occasional bite to eat…
…like this Chicago Dog at Harry Caray’s joint on the Navy Pier. (Enjoyed, also, the major league memorabilia. Could have spent hours!)
Evening strolls in the Lincoln Park area near DePaul reminded me of my old digs on Eighth Street in Chico. Vintage homes. Shaded by mature broadleaf trees, such as feeling of warmth and neighborhood.
Architecture? Growing up in Chico, when the University planned and built seven-story Butte Hall, it was considered a skyscraper. So much so that the Fire Department found themselves searching for a ladder truck with a longer ladder. Turns out, ‘they ain’t seen nothin’.’
Our riverboat tour near the Lake Michigan shoreline highlighted the design eras and the extent of architectural evolution…
…from the art deco opera house…
…to this mid-century modern example…
…to a post-modern curved glass structure that reflects all the styles along the waterfront.
I didn’t take notes, but the masterpiece below was the first major building designed by a female architect. Visionary! How I wish I'd written down her name.
This project’s success opened the doors for other women to break into a male-dominated field and enhance the city’s skyline with a new kind of grace and strength.
Art? Fifty-plus years ago, I took an art appreciation class at Chico State to fulfill a humanities requirement. Although my grandfather dabbled in oils ~ I have one of his hanging right beside me as I write ~ I wasn’t much interested in what the prof shared with students on slide after innumerable slide. Little did I know that at the Chicago Institute of Arts, I’d see a two dozen or more of those classic works up close, very real and very touching. Here’s Rembrandt…
Frank Lloyd Wright. (Brother Tim has a desk he created from similar design that I’ve helped him move twice, Tim tells me.)
And this: Van Gogh’s self-portrait which I have renamed two old guys with beards.
We marveled at the collection at the Chicago Institute of Art, wondering how so many masterpieces could end up under the same roof with that roof not being atop the Louvre in Paris.
Theatre? An unexpected treat was the opportunity to attend the world premiere of “Leroy and Lucy” at the famed Steppenwolf Theatre on Halsted Ave. Steppenwolf started decades ago by a group of then recent high school graduates intent on continuing their theatre work. Over the interceding years, the list of Steppenwolf alums reads like a who’s who of Broadway, screen and television.
Curated for over three years, this show depicts the dreams and demons visited upon perhaps the father of all the Blues.
Rather than to give anything away, know that as we rose to over a much deserved standing O to the players, I said to Gracie: “I’ve got to see that again!” I'm certain we'll see this work in venues across the
Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen intoned that Chicago is “my kind of town,” ~ recall Sinatra’s classic version ~ and we can see why. The song writing duo certainly captured my kind of razzmatazz and it has all that jazz. Not sure if Chicago will be calling me home quite soon enough, but we were more than delighted with the art, the culture, the people too, people who, smile at you.
Once of the smilin’-est ones? Granddaughter Grace. Thanks for introducing your Bumpa to some culture Gracie! As you might imagine, I can always use more culture.
© 2024
Church of the Open Road Press
We had a lifelong Chicagoan give us the grand tour. Deep dish pizza as well as many museums, including the Natural History and Art. It's a lovely city that I'd love to visit again. We even swam in Lake Michigan.
ReplyDelete