08.05 - Day 114 - Chicago
Wednesday 8th May - Chicago, Illinois (Day 114)
Thankfully the rain has cleared overnight and everything looks greener and brighter at the Clarion Inn. After Cornflakes and Cheerios in the room and a little bit of schoolwork, we drive east to downtown Chicago joining the throngs of others making the same trip.
With Denver, Kansas City and St Louis it was easy to drive in but we weren’t perhaps prepared for Chicago to be double the size of all three of them combined, so in hindsight we should have perhaps found somewhere more central to stay or extended our stay to give us more time. But the Spothero app works again as we park under Millenium Park in between the city and Lake Michigan.
We pop up in the sunshine by the impressive Jay Pritzker Pavilion, an outdoor stage with sweeping curved silver frames.
This is next to the Cloud Gate, a giant jelly bean, which is of course much larger than I expected, reflecting the blue skies from above. This is overlooked by the mixture of new skyscrapers amongst the ornate stone skyscrapers of the mid 20th Century.
To the lakes edge, beautiful calm blue waters home to marinas as we walk towards the Navy Pier before turning back west along the river walkway. This popular trail mixes tourists and locals as it follows the river upstream under some of the many low lying steel bridges - which are currently opening in sequence one by one to let a pair of 30 foot sailboats downstream, as we sit and much on some grapes. As ever the ingredient of sunshine makes everything look a bit nicer.
We cut south a few blocks to the Richard J Daley Center, where outside under the gaze of a large Picasso ‘face’ sculpture some school kids are bashing on some drums on a makeshift stage in front of the passing lunchtime workers. Although it serves as a courthouse amongst other things, you can actually go up to the top 30th floor (after airport screening) which gives some sweeping views southwards over the city.
With hungry kids we walk for pizza at Gino’s East, passing under the raised railway tracks looping through the city, for some deep-dish crust pizza - though I think thin crust is now too ingrained on Sienna and Seb’s taste buds.
We continue our library streak; the Harold Washington library occupying its own block and the kids section its own floor including puppet stand.
Whilst the kids read, I walk and collect the car, picking them up enroute to Lincoln Park in the north, home to the only attraction challenging libraries - a free zoo. The 3 female and 1 lion particularly regal, even if the St Louis Zoo is still winning out.
Two oversized doughnuts from Firecakes Doughnuts give Sienna the energy for a school meeting with two teachers over zoom back in the library, whilst Seb and I eventually get back to Millennium Park through the traffic for Seb to lark around in the sprawling Maggie Daley Park.
When I realise the background noise has skipped from honking car horns to a single helicopter I get a vantage point and discover several roads have been closed for a student protest. Rather than sitting in exaggerated traffic we opt for dinner at Panda Express to wait it out making it an easier run to the hotel around 7:30pm.
A long day, with Seb clocking 25,000+ steps on his garmin and great to see some of the famous architecture of Chicago if only in passing.