Chicago is Growing on Us

We got up earlier then normal to arrive at son Rick's by 10:00.  We then headed to Chicago for lunch with DiL Laura and Max, their close friend.  We’re starting to like Chicago more and more, but not enough to live there, at least not in the winter.


We ate at Buca di Beppo, a great Italian restaurant in downtown Chicago.


After a hearty lunch of pasta and pizza we walked a few blocks to Millennium Park.  One of the art objects in the park is the "Bean."  It's big, and it's shiny.


This is us, reflected in its shiny surface.  Notice I'm taking the picture.


This is the view from directly underneath, looking up. You see yourself three times on the various curved surfaces.



The outdoor amphitheater.




This is a unique piece of "street art."  Two walls face each other and have videos of faces.  They change expressions and occasionally "spit" water onto the street.  Water also cascades down the other sides of the walls, and children and adults alike romp around in the water to stay cool.  We've never seen anything like it.




We grabbed a taxi and went to the Adler Planetarium. 


It's one of three museums at the "Museum Campus," the others being the Shedd Aquarium and the Chicago Museum of Natural History.  The fourth museum, the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, is located a short distance from the other three.  The Planetarium is located on a peninsula that juts out into Lake Michigan, so the view of the Chicago skyline is spectacular!  Pardon this rudimentary panorama, we don't have "stitching" software.  But this will give you an idea of how great the view is.

We spent a couple of hours taking in the exhibits, but we didn't have time to watch any of the shows.  We took another taxi back to where our car was parked. 

Chicago started out as Ft Dearborn in 1803.  Downtown at Michigan and Wacker there are some bronze markers in the sidewalks that mark the outline of the original fort.  



We headed back to Rick's home and experienced the full force of Chicago rush hour.  Poor Rick has to endure this traffic every workday!  After dinner out with the family we headed back to our home on wheels.  It was another great day with our family.  We only have two more days with them (this weekend), then we’ll be moving along to Elkhart/Goshen for the Escapees Rally.