Chicago Illinois – January 2008

Last winter, Luke and I spent a long weekend in Chicago.  It doesn’t snow very often in our home in Austin and a huge winter storm hit as soon as our plane landed – over the next 4 days we were in for a lot of snow.  The architecture, parks, lake and skyline of Chicago are breath-taking and with light snow falling from the sky and draping the city in a field of white, it’s even more beautiful. 

We spent our first day in the city with my Aunt Audrey and Uncle Al.  Audrey and Al have lived in Chicago for a lifetime and are the perfect tour guides.  We started out at the Cultural Center to take in the gorgeous Tiffany glass rotunda, walked down Michigan Avenue to spend a few hours at Art Institute and had a lovely lunch together at The Berghoffon West Adams street.  Uncle Al worked at Leo Burnett advertising agency his entire career and dined with colleagues at The Berghoff for years, so it was a real treat for Luke and I to share the experience.  We parted ways, my aunt and uncle back to their home in the suburbs and Luke and I to our dear friends home in the heart of downtown Chicago.

Staying downtown was a luxury, despite the continued snowfall, Luke and I walked everywhere.  We walked through Grant Park to the Field Museum of Natural History,  the Shedd Aquarium, Soldier Field, the Financial District and Board of Trade and Rookery Building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and to the Cloud Gate in Millennium Park.  Luke and I went to our 4th museum in 3 days, the Museum of Science and Industry, with our friends and their young daughter. 

Photos below, starting from top left:

Lunch at The Berghoff, Calder Flamingo Sculpture at the Federal Center Plaza, Sue the T-Rex at the Field, view of the Sears Tower through the snowfall in the Financial District, interior of the Rookery Building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, frozen ice on Lake Michigan and the Lighthouse, a portrait of Luke as we walked through the city in the snow, exterior of the Art Institute of Chicago and snowfall covering the grounds around the Art Institute, Luke and I in the reflection of “The Bean” at Millennium Park and some younger tourists mesmerized by the reflection of the skyline in the sculpture. 

Chicago