Oot & Aboot: Momma always said life is like a box of chocolate

A free day today to roam Chicago so I decided to check out Navy Pier and the Art Institute of Chicago. After sleeping in, I got my gear together for Navy Pier. In Chicago, the city offers a free trolley service in which trolleys service four routes that go from attraction to attraction and in and around the city. I got a timetable from the concierge and decided to take the trolley to Navy Pier. I could have really walked it but felt quite lazy today. I also can’t say no to something free. The trolleys pick up every 20 minutes at places, so I had a bit of a wait, but it arrived and I was headed to Navy Pier. Navy Pier is a long pier on the shoreline of Lake Michigan which has entertainment, shopping, dining, amusements etc. It’s very much like Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, so basically it suits families and kids. But I thought I’d have a look. It was another hot day, so the air conditioning when I got into the pier was great.

I hadn’t had any breakfast so I thought it find somewhere to park and have brunch. I ended up at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Some smarty pants has bought the rights to Bubba Gump from the makers of Forrest Gump and have created a chain of restaurants across the US that specialize in, surprisingly, shrimp and all things seafood. So I ordered my fish and chips that came wrapped in Green Bow Alabama Newspaper. Kitch. The fish and chips wasn’t all that. I’m more of a crumbed fish fan, not fried, and EVERYTHING is fried in the US. After lunch I headed to the trolley stop to get the trolley to the Art Institute and also to see Millennium Park. Millennium Park is adjacent to the Art Institute and is just a much smaller Lincoln Park. Chicago holds an annual Food Festival at Millennium Park that actually started whilst I’m there. I did check it out but I’m told is worth it if you have the time. Given the heat, and the school holidays, the fountains in Millennium Park were chockers with kids. After a quick look around the park I headed into the Art Institute.

Chicago’s Art Institute is one of the best museums in America if not the world so I was keen to see what was inside. I haven’t been to a art museum outside of Sydney’s so I’m keen to see some of the greats in person. The Art Institute building is beautiful and if draws quite a crowd. I started in the Thorne Miniature Rooms thinking, what exactly am I to expect? What I did get was an exhibition of literally miniature rooms. James Ward Thorne, a Chicago lady painstakingly constructed miniature rooms from houses from the late 13^th century and 18^th century America in a one foot to one inch scale. It was amazing, everything, furnishings and all, created so life like. After the Miniature Rooms I just got myself completely lost in the museum, just as I wanted. I passed more examples of Frank Lloyd Wrights work with furniture, and furniture and home wares from early American life, as well as art from AD. I looked at the works and can’t comprehend that they could possibly be hundreds of years old, it just seems surreal. I hit the jackpot once I got to the American Modern wing and the Impressionists wing. The American Modern wing had some great works but my ultimate favourite was American Gothic by Grant Wood. It was so cool seeing it in person and it was one of my favs of the day. Also there was Nighthawks by Edward Hopper, a well known painting. The Impressionist wing was brilliant too, all the greats were there – Matisse, Renoir, Picasso, Chagall, Monet, and Pissaro. My favourite Impressionist work was A Sunday on La Grande by Georges Seurat. Up close you can see the dot work on the artwork which was incredible. After a few hours of soaking up the artwork it was getting to late afternoon, so I thought I’d head out to get a early dinner as I had a sow to attend at night.

I decided to check out Portillo’s Hotdogs. Another must see for Chicago tourist joint. I just tried out the hotdog and I will say best hotdog of my trip so far (not that hotdogs differ all that greatly to one another). It was a cool venue to eat at though. I headed back to the hotel to get changed and head out again.

I had pre-booked a ticket to Supernatural Chicago which is held weekly at Excalibur Nightclub in Chicago. I had heard about the show through word of mouth, and it is basically one guy who tells of ghost stories of Chicago and through magic, gets you to believe them, It was an intimate setting of about 25 people in the basement of the nightclub. The performer (or as he’s known, a necromancer…whatever the hell that is) explained to the audience that Excalibur nightclub is haunted. Chicago is considered a very haunted city as it rests on a burial ground ever since the Great Fire in the 1800’s. The show was presented by Neil Tobin. It was a fun experience and worth checking out if you can. He told about four ghost stories and did several tricks with ‘haunted’ coins etc. After the show, I took advantage of my two free drinks that you get when you go to the show. Once I enjoyed more samplings of Honker’s Ale I headed back to the hotel.

It wasn’t that late but I didn’t feel like going to a bar and I had walked passed a cinema. So I ended up taking in the 10.30pm session of Sex and the City. I had seen it already but wanted to see it again. ;)

What I learnt in Chicago today:

Seeing the art in person really does make it all the more special than when you see it in books.
I will never believe in ghost stories, no matter how good Neil was at his tricks!
Don’t go see movies late at night, you just want to fall asleep.