Chicago Trip - Part 1

Every once in a while my Mom and I get a hankering to go to The Windy City and hang out for a few days. We went this past weekend and had a great time! Most of our fun is planning what we want to eat next, typically deciding on lunch while we're eating breakfast and making dinner plans while eating lunch all the while knowing there will be some impromptu snacking in the meantime!

OK, we also do some other stuff while we're there, too! Usually we have tickets for a few shows but this time we went with no particular plans what-so-ever. Not knowing what we wanted to do and, after having checked several "What to do on your visit" types of sites and finding nothing intriguing, we decided to sign up for a sightseeing trolley ride. It was one of those "hop on, hop off" trips. We had taken something like it once in Philadelphia and really liked it - this one was no different. It really was a very nice and incredibly convenient way to see the city. We even discovered some new things, which is always a bonus.

So here's a run down of our near-perfect Saturday in Chicago:

First, we got some Dunkin' Donuts coffee and set down Michigan Avenue to meet the trolley at Watertower plaza. It was a hazy morning and you couldn't see the tops of any of the buildings - the clouds were very low. 

We caught the trolley and headed off!

We toodled around town, going past some our favorite places, like Fado (the best place for a Black & Tan!)

Here's a great shot of one of the ornate clocks on Marshall Field & Co (now Macy's) - so cool...

The first stop we hopped off at was Millennium Park to see Frank Gehry's fantastic amphitheater and "The Bean":

Then we went across Michigan Avenue to one of our favorite places in the city: The Chicago Cultural Center. This building, built in 1897, was originally the Public Library. It is so beautiful inside and out and filled, litterally, with fabulous mosaics and the world's largest Tiffany Glass Dome. There is another stained glass dome here, too, but we couldn't get in to see it this trip - that will just give us something to look forward to next time! The most wonderful artwork you can see and it's FREE!! Don't miss The Chicago Cultural Center the next time you're in town. Here are my shots of the stairwell leading up to and including the dome (as an added note - all of the fancy stuff on the walls are mosaics!! No... really!) :

 

Here's a little video of the dome, too!

A view of Millennium Park from the Cultural Center.

Time for lunch! :)
Check back for more of our trip tomorrow!