come on, babe, we're gonna take the L... and all that jazz

I have finished editing, thumbnailing, and web-ready-ing my digital photos from my extended weekend trip to Chicago, and will put them all in context once I have time to do a writeup. In the meantime, feel free to browse the pics here. They're in chronological order.

Edited 4/10/07 to add:
Note: All links open in a new window; most of them link to Wikipedia articles. Click images for a larger version. Bold links are also images.

My "weekend" began Thursday night, when I flew from CLE to MDW an hour late thanks to our recent lake-effect storm. Not only was our plane late coming in, but we had to wait a good 30+ minutes after boarding to be de-iced. We took off at the time we were due to land in Chicago, but after that my deliciously-affordable Southwest flight was quick and uneventful. There was not a flake of snow (or any other precipitation) in Chicago the entire weekend. Hurrah!

Appropriately, my first encounter whilst traveling alone in Teh Big City™ [sic] was, upon boarding the L, some random guy striking up a conversation with me. This is not to be presumptuous, but he was being way too friendly and talkative for a resident of the third largest city in the U.S., so I figured he wasn't quite all there or was out for money, or both. Let's just say I would've felt safer had I not been wheeling around a suitcase, and I'll leave it at that. I was smart to have memorized my route from Midway to the Fairfield Inn, so at least I didn't need to whip out a map during my journey.

The hotel was nice, clean, not too cramped, and offered a moderately extensive continental breakfast including Belgian wafflemakers. My room's windows were at a slight angle, so I was afforded a view down East Ontario (at left). Note how few cars and people there are. I expected downtown to be crawling with humanity à la New York City, but it was not; as such, I would likely not make the 6-block trek from the L to the hotel on foot alone with a suitcase again. Here is a similar view, during daylight.

Directly across from my room was, I think, 233 East Ontario. There was a nice reflection of my hotel, and the dirt on my window combined with the angle of the sun produced an interesting watery effect.

The Inn of Chicago was viewable from my room as well, and I liked some of the detail in the architecture:


Google Earth was invaluable in helping me plan my Friday, and I'm glad I had my laptop and internet access in my hotel room. It not only shows streets with satellite imagery and 3-D buildings, but the train system as well. On my way to Buckingham Fountain at Grant Park, I passed the Harold Washington Library (right). Also see a close-up of the roof. I'd be interested to know what that building is in the background there; it's attached to the Manhattan Building.

Grant Park is home to a statue of Abraham Lincoln, while Lincoln Park to the north is home to a statue of Ulysses S. Grant. Fun. At right is Mr. Lincoln with Two Prudential Plaza at his side.

From a bridge in Grant Park, I could see (from left to right) the Smurfit-Stone Building (hereafter referred to as the "Diamond Building"), Two Prudential Plaza, and Aon Center. Beneath the bridge was the picturesque track of the Metra regional rail line.

It was around this time that Stu called me to see how things were going, and he, thankfully, mentioned that what appeared as a blue rail line on Google Earth was not the Blue Line of the L, but rather the Metra, which is not run by CTA and hence I could not use my multi-day Visitor Pass. I planned to go to the Museum of Science and Industry, and the Metra was the most direct rail route. The wind was quite brisk, so we didn't talk long, as my hands were freezing. I did pause to get a shot of this cool lamp structure though.

Grant Park is also famous for Buckingham Fountain, which is seen in the opening credits of Married... with Children. Unfortunately, it was down for maintenance, so I didn't get to see it in action.

More great views from Grant Park included:


The Diamond Building (you'll be seeing a lot of this one)



Aon Center (also Two Prudential Plaza on the left)



The Monroe Building (upper building detail -- I love the striped stone, the spiral pillasters, and various other architectural features I don't know the names of)



Boulevard Towers North (a seemingly simple design, yet with many interesting features upon closer inspection)

That's all for now. Next up, Art Institute and Millennium Park.

Edited 4/12/07 to add:

The Art Institute of Chicago is adjacent to Grant Park. As chance would have it, I couldn't go in the first entrance I came to, so I had to walk literally all the way around to the other side, but along the way I did get to observe this bronze sculpture (left). At right is my attempt at being artistic with a camera, viewing the Aon Center through the "eye" of the sculpture. I cleverly made sure not to write down the names of anything I took pictures of, to ensure that writing this blog post would take as long as possible. [/sarcasm] Some works I have found on the Art Institute's website, but not this one.

The Art Institute building and architectural detail:



I was surprised at how much of the museum was naturally-lit via windows and skylights. It was a nice change of pace from the typical, spotlights-in-the-darkness art museum. I presume the glass blocks UV rays or some such.

Despite being an artist and having a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, art museums generally are not at the top of my list when it comes to vacations. But the Art Institute of Chicago came highly recommended, and I was amazed at just how extensive their collections are. Room after room after room of every medium, style, culture, and time. I have no idea how much I saw, but I know there were many exhibits I passed up due to time constraints.

I will also say that works I would generally not be interested in, such as those of Picasso and Chagall, seem a lot less pointless in person. Being able to see them at their original size, at varying distances, even being able to see the artist's brushstrokes, allows me to appreciate them as works of art, as a fellow artist, even if I don't understand the point or subject matter.

In that regard, I'm not a big fan of Frank Lloyd Wright, but I did enjoy this leaded glass piece (left), simply labeled Triptych Window. In some ways it reminds me of the work of Piet Mondrian (which likewise can be both a good and a bad thing).

The painting in the background there caught my eye with its bold colors and shapes. What struck me upon entering the room, however, was how the sculpture in the foreground (Horse) seemed as if it had just jumped out of the painting. As its own piece, Horse is not really my style, but against the backdrop of the painting (whose name I could not find online), I can appreciate it.

Perhaps because of my interest in Ancient Rome, I'm a sucker for anything made of marble, no matter what time period. At right is Bust of a Youth [pause for giggles], which I thought had neat curls and textures in the hair. This was also a good lesson in observing the full frame when taking a picture, as there was a glaring EXIT sign on the kid's face, reflecting off the glass case. I removed it with Photoshop, but I sure wish I had noticed it before taking the picture.

At left is another piece I cannot find the name of online. I know the museum called it a Realist painting (I would've said Romantic, but whatever). If any of you know what this is, let me know so I can properly attribute it.


The Interior of the Palm House on the Pfaueninsel Near Potsdam, oil painting by German artist Carl Blechen. I love the portrayal of light and shadows in this one. I subconsciously kept looking to the right to look for the window letting the sunshine in.


Hopefully I don't need to explain what's fun about this piece. I couldn't help but smile upon walking into the room and seeing this painting. The bold colors, the smooth, cool shading, the pure variety of expressions and emotions exhibited. Every time I look at it, I see another person and wonder what their story is.


Continuing the jazz theme, I also liked Jazz Bowl, which was actually made for a pottery studio in Rocky River. Also see here for a close-up of the other side.


American Gothic, hopefully, needs no introduction. The Art Institute of Chicago has the original. Pardon my awful picture of it; this, along with Hopper's Nighthawks and Seurat's A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte were quite popular and crowded with people. I didn't even bother trying to snap a pic of the latter two, so you'll just have to settle for the much better renditions found on the 'net.

I couldn't view La Grand Jatte without thinking of the Columbus Topiary Garden or hearing Bernadette Peters belt out "Sunday in the Park with Geooooorge!!"

I enjoyed a brief lunch in the museum's cafe of a fresh turkey pesto sandwich and Naked Juice before venturing back outside.

See? I told you the Diamond Building would pop up again. The pipework you see toward the bottom of the picture is the top of the metal rods that act as a visual canopy over the lawn in front of the Pritzker Pavilion of Millennium Park. This was my next stop after the art museum. This rather extensive swath of Grant Park was redeveloped in the early part of this decade to include a large, tinfoilesque band shell designed by that postmodernist Man's-Contempt-for-Nature architect Frank Gehry. Clevelanders may be familiar with his work at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University. While I find the Lewis Building atrociously out of place in University Circle (just look at this picture; context, anyone??), the band shell in Millennium Park seems less offensive, perhaps because downtown Chicago is such an eclectic mix of architecture to begin with.

More Millennium Park views:





A winding walkway, skinned in the same silver shingles as the band shell, leaps over Columbus Drive to Grant Park:





This is the only picture with the Sears Tower you will find here. Enjoy it. Aside from its notoriety for being the tallest building in the U.S., I don't really think much of the Sears Tower; I happen to believe it's rather bland and unattractive. On the right side is the more-appealing Willoughby Tower.

Also in Millennium Park is the Cloud Gate sculpture, quickly becoming one of the most-photographed objects in the city. See if you can find my reflection in the various pictures below. Look for the guy with the dark blue coat and khaki cargo pants. Good luck.


Hey look, the Diamond Building!


Underneath




An end view of "the Bean"

I told you I was a sucker for anything remotely Roman-looking, right? Well, the Millennium Monument in Wrigley Square is no exception. Unfortunately, the fountain was not operating. Speaking of fountains, I neglected to go see the Crown Fountain. Oh well.



My last picture with the Diamond Building, I swear.

I then took the Metra train south to the Museum of Science and Industry. I didn't know this until just now, but the museum structure is the only in-place surviving building from the 1893 World's Fair.


A train engine at the MSI.

My favorite part of the museum, and my main purpose in going there, was the giant model train display set up to resemble downtown Chicago:








As the train leaves Chicago, it travels behind a large mountain...


...to Seattle!




An old streetcar

I sort of breezed through the rest of the museum, as it seemed somewhat kid-oriented and there wasn't anything that particularly interested me. I wanted to make sure I got back to the hotel in time to rest a bit and grab dinner before the show that night. As mentioned earlier, I didn't realize the Metra is separate from the L and only runs at scheduled times. I had to wait 45 minutes for my train back up to the Loop. Had I known, I would've spent more time at the museum; I was pretty tired of playing Yahtzee on my phone by then.

After spending way more time than necessary checking the AAA TourBook and flying around Google Earth (which, by the way, shows restaurants as well), I finally decided I didn't have time to go to a sit-down restaurant. Nor was I sure if cargo pants with a nice sweater counted as "dressy casual" (which half the restaurants in the TourBook seemed to be), nor did I want to walk in and find out there's an hour wait, nor did I want to call Tom and Kristy for advice since I figured they were busy, you know, preparing for a wedding or something.

I thought it would be smart to find a place near the theater, so I would have a better concept of how much time I had before the show. I ultimately went to the Corner Bakery Cafe, which was basically a slightly-less-tasty Panera Bread. I had another Italian-themed sandwich, much like my lunch, then walked down the street to the Oriental Theatre.

I planned my L stop so that I would walk by the Chicago Theatre on the way to the show.


The Wicked marquee looks cool with all the green lights. This was one of the highlights of the trip. I saw Wicked in Toronto two years ago, but we sat in the upper balcony at quite a distance. I looked into getting orchestra seats this time, but Ticketmaster kept giving me row D, three seats from the left and wouldn't let me choose anything else in that section. Then I realized that the "loge" is what they call the front rows of the balcony and costs the same as the orchestra. My seat was dead center in the third row of the loge. Score!

The show was, frankly, awesome. I enjoyed every minute of it. I actually preferred this cast to what we saw in Toronto, although I may have liked Stephanie J. Block's Elphaba better than Dee Roscioli (which is not to slight Roscioli's performance, which was great). Erin Mackey simply sparkled as Glinda, literally and figuratively. Her perkiness drove the part rather than being grating, and at times I swore I was hearing Kristin Chenoweth from the original cast recording. I also appreciated that the songs were taken at the proper tempo, whereas in Toronto they seemed to be taken at 78 rpm.

I also preferred Rondi Reed as Madame Morrible to Carol Kane, even though I adored Ms. Kane in The Princess Bride. Interestingly, Fiyero was played by the same actor we saw in Toronto two years ago, Derrick Williams, and I thought he was much improved. I didn't feel there was a weak link in this cast, and it was a very enjoyable evening. A family at the L station afterward couldn't stop talking about it, and even noted that their young children stayed awake the whole time. They could see that I was sort of listening in, and we swapped stories about what shows we'd seen recently.

Shhh... contraband photos! No photography allowed in the theater! I took these with my cell phone before I was asked to turn my phone off.





Only one day left to write about: the wedding! Coming soon...

Edited 4/13/07 to add:

I forgot to mention that the Metra ends at Millennium Park, and I only should have had to walk one block north and two blocks west to get back to the L, yet I somehow managed to miss this. Instead, I found myself walking north along Michigan Avenue, somehow expecting to find the street I wanted. My handy pocket map wasn't much help since I couldn't tell which L station was which, so I decided to just take Michigan all the way back to the hotel.

I had planned to walk a bit of the Magnificent Mile anyway just to look around, and as it turned out I did literally walk a mile. Thankfully, despite the cold temperature, it wasn't that bad with the sun out. However, I was too annoyed with all the walking and the long wait for the Metra and neglected to take any pictures during this part of the hike. I and my feet were rather tired after this, hence the brief rest back at the hotel and fast-casual dinner.

Edited 4/14/07 to add:

"Mr. & Mrs. Schutze" (as they were once referred; thanks, Anne :) ) arrived Friday night, and we met up for breakfast on Saturday morning. The charter bus to transport us to the wedding wasn't arriving until 4:00, but we weren't particularly motived to do anything specific in the meantime. We sat in the hotel and caught up on olden times (Schutze was my second roommate in college, and his wife also went to Bowling Green), then walked Michigan Avenue for a bit and had lunch at the Tuscany Cafe in the North Bridge vertical mall. The food was fresh, portions lunchable, and the prices surprisingly reasonable, especially considering we were in an upscale downtown shopping center.

Between Schutze's cold/sinus issues and my aching feet from Friday's walkathon, we were all pretty tired and returned to our respective hotel rooms to take our respective naps. Around 4:00, the charter bus arrived to transport friends and family from the Fairfield Inn to Unity Temple in the western 'burb and Frank Lloyd Wright haven of Oak Park. At right is the front of the sanctuary. Yeah, I'd say that's Frank Lloyd Wright there.


A skylight in Unity Temple



The constant squares and right angles don't seem so bad when they're overdone to the point of ridiculous consistency. I still wouldn't say it's my bag, but it grew on me after a while.


No, that's not communion wine; that's a bottle of sake, purchased naught but hours before (or after?) Tom proposed to Kristy during their vacation in Japan last year, and the wedding included a sake ceremony. Sybil and Ruby, their dachshunds, served as ringbearers, with the rings held in pouches in their little doggie kimonos. When everyone clapped at the end, the dogs barked on cue.

The ceremony was both appropriate and meaningful. And by that I mean Tom and Kristy truly made it their own, borrowing wedding customs from various traditions and cultures. The readings included excerpts from Robert Fulghum's Uh-Oh and the court decision of Goodridge v. Department of Public Health. Music included iPod-driven tracks by Sufjan Stevens and Bright Eyes. The wedding was small and intimate, with about 25 people. The reception was held at an excellent Japanese restaurant. So like I said, all very appropriate. I'm glad I was able to be there for it.

As you can see, my picture-taking pretty much stopped there, and I didn't even take any at the reception. I'm not exactly sure why.

After the wedding, the shuttle took us to the reception at Kamehachi, cleverly located just down the street from the hotel. We had a room to ourselves, a slide show in which I appeared (picture of Tom and me at high school graduation), touching toasts and speeches from family and Best People, a very unique cake designed by Kristy (although I can't recall what it was in reference to, sorry), and an abundance of green tea and liquor. I ordered the Chicken Katsu: chicken breast, bread crumb battered and deep-fried, with awesome sweet barbecue sauce.

All the table settings included a pair of chopsticks, but Kristy's grandmother wisely asked for a fork right away. I wish I had too, but I was foolish enough to attempt to learn to use them properly (plus, I was too lazy to get up and find a waiter after I'd already eaten half the meal). The Chicken Katsu was delicious, but unfortunately the last few pieces were cold by the time I was done screwing around with the chopsticks. I also noted that Grandma, Mrs. Schutze and I seemed to be the only ones in attendance to whom the chopsticks posed any difficulty. Oh well.

Sunday proved rather uneventful. I got up, packed, and made it to the airport in plenty of time. I think I counted only 30 people on my flight, so I had an entire row to myself. The flight is only an hour, and goes very quick. We even arrived a little early. I was pleased to see there was still plenty of baseball-canceling snow to be found in Cleveland. [/sarcasm]

All in all it was a good weekend and a nice little getaway. I'm glad I took the extra day off to tour the city. Hopefully I'll be able to visit again and stay with TomAndKristy, both to save on the expense of a hotel and so they can show me the real draw of Chicago rather than just the touristy stuff I saw.

Incidentally, preparing my photos and writing this extensive blog post has inspired me to create "Cleveland Day." My fascination with skyscraper architecture led me to thinking about Cleveland's skyline, and I realized how many of these buildings I'd never seen up close; I don't even have any pictures of them. I've never been to the Great Lakes Science Center or ridden the Waterfront Line or taken the rapid to Shaker Square. Should we be fortunate enough to be granted a temperate, sunny Saturday this spring or summer, that'll be Cleveland Day. I'm going to take the rapid to Terminal Tower, walk around downtown, take pictures, all that good stuff. I want to become more familiar with our regional hub.

And at some point, I'd like to drive the Cleveland Memorial Shoreway at night again, which is undoubtedly the coolest view one will get of Cleveland. That's when it really hits me that this is a city.

Is it inappropriate for me to end a post about Chicago by waxing wistful about Cleveland?