Chicago

Quote of the Day

“And having answered so I turn once more to those who sneer at this my city, and I give them back the sneer and say to them:
Come and show me another city with lifted head singing so proud to be alive and coarse and strong and cunning.
Flinging magnetic curses amid the toil of piling job on job, here is a tall bold slugger set vivid against the little soft cities;
Fierce as a dog with tongue lapping for action, cunning as a savage pitted against the wilderness,

Bareheaded,
Shoveling,
Wrecking,
Planning,
Building, breaking, rebuilding…” from “Chicago” by Carl Sandburg

The Clock Mender

When we visited Chicago in May, we were wandering around Marshall Field’s (I’ll call it what I want to!), and discovered that there was something of a small museum on one of the upper floors. Among the displays, there was a three-dimensional representation of Norman Rockwell’s “The Clock Mender,” from the November 3, 1945 cover of the Saturday Evening Post, which featured the famous bronze clocks on the outside of the building. When we visited the Chicago History Museum a few days later, we saw the actual print…I think it’s really fun to compare them side-by-side!

Pullman National Historic Park

One of the places in Chicago I’ve been wanting to visit (since before the pandemic, I’m pretty sure) is Pullman National Historic Park, located on the far south side of the city. We finally had a chance to stop by there and walk some (but not all) of the grounds, and now I really want to go back and explore the rest!

The Administration-Clock Tower Building houses the visitor center. We didn’t go in, but we did walk around the entire (massive!) structure.

Hotel Florence was built in 1881, with an addition built on in 1914. It is obvious even today what a grand building it was!

A Metra line runs right across the street from the park, but you can also see the ghosts of the original rail lines (and in some places, they have even been turned into flower beds).

Here are a few more views of the extensive Administration-Clock Tower Building, which is about 700 feet long when you take into account the wing to the side.

I don’t know what this building was originally, but it’s a fantastic example of modern ruins.

The main gate, along with its curved wall, were built in 1886, but the original foundations were only discovered in 2020, so the (re)construction is new:

One Florence Blvd., originally an executive home, now houses a coffee shop:

The Greenstone Church was built in 1882, and is still used as a Methodist Church today.

The Market Hall suffered several fires over the years, but the lower part is still standing (with some help), so you can get an idea of its size:

Lovely colonnaded apartments were built on all sides of the Market Hall, and people still live in them today:

This settlement has a fascinating history, and benefits from the fact that many of the original houses are still lived in, making it a vibrant site that still hums with activity today. It is one of those rare places where history really comes alive as you walk the grounds, and I’d love to learn more about the people and events that were key to its past in the future!

Flight of Butterflies

You know how much I like a public art project, so when we stumbled across the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum’s “Flight of Butterflies” exhibition on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, I was really excited. My children were, I think, a little afraid that I was going to try to find all of the butterflies, but I was satisfied to see eight (and photograph seven) of the sculptures as we walked down the Magnificent Mile. I think that’s pretty good for an art exhibit I didn’t even know about until we arrived!

Markel Family Combo Breaker 2024 Getaway—-Day Seven

Combo Breaker might have been over on the last day of our trip, but we still had a lot of things planned, starting with our first-ever trip to the Chicago History Museum (even I had never been there!). The short film was really good (it made me cry a little when the things I remembered from my childhood were mentioned), and there was one exhibit in particular that I really enjoyed.

After that, we went to Rainbow Cone. I broke with tradition, and tried one of their new sliced creations (the first addition of those since they opened in 1926!), the “Cosmic Birthday” which included Superman ice cream just like I remember from my childhood. Between all of us, we also had a traditional Rainbow Cone, and two of the other three new additions, “Minty City” and “Chocolate Obsession.”

Then we went to the Pullman National Historic Park, a place I’ve wanted to visit for a long time. We had a nice walk around…it’s a really cool place to get a glimpse of history!

The trip home always involves a stop at Wally’s:

And as usual, we went to Portillo’s for dinner, but this time we stopped at a different location, in Springfield, IL. I love how no two of their restaurants look the same!

After that, it was only about 90 minutes to home…we arrived later than we usually do when returning from Chicago, but we had a full, fun day along the way!

Chickadee Thursday

Chickadee had a great time at Combo Breaker!

We had a fun time checking out the Umbrella Sky Project in Elmhurst…in the rain. Let me tell you, the umbrellas in the project definitely did not keep us dry!

On Monday, we visited the Chicago History Museum for the first time…Chickadee really liked how interactive it was!