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Published: November 17th 2023
The Cloud Gate Sculpture
Some refer to it as "the bean." ChicagoDowntown Chicago may surprise you as much as it did us as it is an architectural wonder on one of our five Great Lakes. The confluence of Lake Michigan and the Chicago River ensures this world class city as an important cargo route. These waterways are surrounded by modern skyscrapers, well planned boardwalks and parks which lend this city to be extremely attractive and walkable. The public transportation makes it easy to visit from many of the suburbs. Nearby Union Station has amazing architecture, excellent signage as well several shops, restaurants, and vending machines.
Chicago is known as “The Windy City” and many think it is due to the wicked cold winds coming off Lake Michigan…. There are some summer days that feel cold, but winter can be unbearable with the changing microclimates. In reality --it was named the Windy City in the 1800’s for two reasons. First it was in reference to a tornado that blew through the area and also for local politicians who were known to be full of hot air. We are not sure much has changed on the latter as Illinois has had four previous governors end up doing some time in federal prison. With
that said, we are told and have read the current governor is doing some good things and has balanced the budget.
When Dave was offered the opportunity to work near Chicago we jumped at the chance because it was one of the few American cities that we had not spent much time in. We both grew up in Ohio, but never spent much time here. We were happy to be back in the Midwest so we could reconnect with friends and family. As most of our cities across America the traffic and road construction can cause a good man to drink. Many major thoroughfares have been completely ripped up and reconstructed. That’s the good news…the bad news is that it will take many years to complete. Dave is grateful that his commute to work is easy and he does not have to deal with driving on major highways at about 20 miles per hour.
As we wandered the downtown area pleasantly surprised by the cleanliness of the city streets, we embraced the artsy sculptures scattered around to decorate this concrete jungle. The scenic Chicago Riverwalk, the iconic Navy Pier, the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, and the famous Millennium Park
#12 Ayo Dosunmu
The Chicago Bulls are perfect for those who want a full day to explore or those who want to grab some food from one of the many food trucks and hang out in a park or along the water to enjoy the concert venues, the fountains, restaurants, pubs, and museums. Yes, don’t forget the museums.
We are always excited when our good friend and travel partner Brendan comes to visit. We enjoyed getting caught up while riding the Ferris wheel, exploring the Navy pier and walking the boardwalk on a sunny afternoon.
Chicago Architectural Boat Cruise Chicago has become rather chic and well known in the architectural arena. Everyone we talked to suggested we take the architectural boat cruise while we were in town. Good friends who have family in Chicago cautioned us on which one to take so we’ve included the link. It is possible that all of them are good but they were right…. This was a great trip.
https://www.cruisechicago.com Our guide was extraordinary and by the end of the tour felt like we had a graduate course in architecture on a level where we could understand and keep up. She pointed out the various styles of
architecture as we cruised the Chicago River to include Neo Classic, Baroque, Modernism, Post Modernism, Art Deco, Contemporary and Constructuralism – certainly we’ve forgotten a few. The details of time periods and style were described in magnificent details. We learned about adaptative reuse and acoustic glass. We will leave you to research those or take the trip and learn as we did. The architecture of Chicago was presented wonderfully. Historically, architecture has been a male dominated field, but the women architects of Chicago have become world renown. Keep an eye out for Jeanne Gang, Carol Ross Barney and a few others!
The Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright played a prominent role in architecture in and around Chicago as well as nearby Wisconsin. If you love Frank Lloyd Wright, this area will allow you to many of his designs. We’ve seen some of his major works in Pennsylvania, so we wanted to see how the ones here compared. We went to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Oak Park home and studio as well as the Laurent House. The Oak Park neighborhood is filled with multiple Wright properties, and you can do an independent walking tour. Wright lived and
Toronzo Cannon
Amazing Blues Musician had offices in his Oak Park residence starting in 1989. Frank is accredited for creating the first American style of architecture and it is referred to as "Praire Style." Wright wanted people to become one with nature so he used windows to provide openness and allowed one to commune with nature while inside. Frank Lloyd Wright went to great lengths to make structures functional. His creations met ADA standards even before they were created. Wright works from 1899 to 1910 emphasized horizontal lines with long, low open floor plans. His goal was to blend in with nature.
Farewell Dear Friend We had previously mentioned that being back in the Midwest allowed us to be closer to family and friends. Chuck Metz, one of our closest friends and best man in our wedding, passed away in August and we were able to see him before his passing. We lost a great man and an even greater friend. He will be missed greatly….
Ohio State Game For years we’ve wanted to attend an Ohio State football game with all of Dave’s siblings. Living here allowed us to drive to Columbus for this event. Sadly, Dave’s brother Bob couldn’t
attend.
A note from Merry Jo: For 30+ years Dave has talked about the feeling you get attending an Ohio State game and band practice. I was certain all this enthusiasm was due to being a proud graduate of The Ohio State University. I assumed I would not “get the feeling” as I had not attended the school and would not have those college memories to draw on. Even today I am certain what I felt is not what Dave feels… all the love and pride. I get it now!
I can tell you I was emotional -- and blown away as we sat in the auditorium watching the band prepare for the game. I felt encouraged by the talent and dedication of these fine young people and it brought tears to my eyes. The enormous pride was felt around the room by all. – graduates as well as non.
Band practice on a Saturday morning before the game is a must do experience. I understand it is more difficult to make the Ohio State marching band than it is to make the football team. They are called “Skull Sessions” and allow the chance to listen to
the band get ready for the game.
The game itself was just as amazing in the horseshoe. With 105,000 of our closest friends, we watched the band march in to perform. They were amazing. As we watched the football team take formation a sense of pride abounds. This is an experience not to be missed. The pride permeates everyone in the stands. Bravo to Ohio State and the experience they have created.
The Chicago Bulls As you may have read in our previous, we attended many baseball games, but we also had the opportunity to see a Chicago Bulls game, courtesy of Dave’s college buddy Dale. His grandson Ayo Dosunmu plays for the Bulls and we were treated to a great contest, where the home team rallied from 15 points down in the closing minutes to force an overtime period where they won it in the last few seconds. Very exciting!
On our last weekend in town, we ventured downtown one last time with intent to visit celebrated hotel lobbies. We can tell you that the Ambassador Hotel has a very plain, unimaginative lobby not worth the visit. However, the Drake Hotel and the Palmer House
have wonderful lobbies….and the Bloody Marys are quite tasty as well. While this may seem like a little off-beat, it is really a treat to take in the architecture, whilst sipping a beverage enjoying good conversation.
The Blues No visit to Chicago is complete without listening to Blues Music. We headed out to the Kingston Mines Blue Club to listen to Toronzo Cannon who is one of our favorites. We had not seen him perform since we were on the Legendary Blues Cruise a few years back. Toronzo is like fine wine as he is aging well and his music is beyond compare. Kingston Mines is located in Lincoln Park and it is the oldest, continuously operated blues club in the city of Chicago.
Oh... and don't forget The Chicago Art Museum!
Quaint Illinois towns…. We lived near Naperville, which is a well-manicured upscale community west of Chicago. They have a lovely riverwalk, with parks, shops, and restaurants. We enjoyed living near this neighborhood. We will say our experience at Gordon Ramsey’s restaurant was disappointing, very disappointing. One of three signature restaurants bearing his name, our meal was rather pedestrian. We had hoped for so
Chuck Metz
He will always be "the best man." much more. Gordon would have thrown a fit to be served the meal we ate.
Nearby Aurora is a little edgier than Naperville and some people talk down about it but Aurora has a lot to offer. They have a well-known theater for performances, a nice farmers market and an older but nice downtown area.
Two other comments about cites we visited this summer:
Our trip to Davenport, Iowa was interesting. It is a city on the Mississippi River with great potential, but we suspect it would take a great deal of money to restore and refresh it. It has pockets of beauty put in its current stated is rather faded and dumpy.
Peoria was a pleasant surprise as the downtown area was clean and attractive with green spaces, a waterfront music venue, and the courthouse square has beautiful memorials from past wars.
Our impressions of these two towns before arriving was wrong. We thought we would find Peoria rather dumpy and Davenport lovely and well planned. From our perspective, each town was the opposite of what we expected.
Overall, we really enjoyed our time in the Windy City, but would caution people not
to visit too late or too early in the year, as it gets quite cold…..and windy!
Please look at our two previous blogs from the area: Illinois Covered Bridges, Presidential Museums, small towns and Star Trek The Summer of Baseball
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Joanne DeVoe
non-member comment
Love Chicago
Thanks for a great snapshot of a wonderful city - brings back wonderful memories.