On past trips to Chicago, we’ve seen a few “K-9s for Cops” art installations around the city…this time, we saw a few more in a place we had never previously been!
I love finding cool public art installations!
Gone to the Dogs
K-9s for Cops
Hot Dog
On National Hot Dog Day, it seems appropriate to share some photos of this “K-9s for Cops” dog we say in Chicago in May. He’s not the first of the public art display we’ve run across, but he was our favorite, because he sits outside a Chicago-style hot dog stand and is covered in hot dog art. Please note: There is no ketchup here, as it should be!
Markel Family Combo Breaker Getaway–Day Two
Last Thursday was one of my favorite days of any trip up north…the day we took the Metra into the city of Chicago!
Those first moments in downtown Chicago are always a thrill for me!
Our big activity this year was going to the Sears Tower Skydeck. (Yes, I hear some people are calling it the Willis Tower these days, but it will always be “Sears” to me!) Not only were we thrilled with the views from all four sides of the Skydeck, we also walked out onto the “Ledge” for an even more amazing, and slightly terrifying, view!
After we had our fill of Chicago views, we made our way to Buckingham Fountain, where we had lunch, and a nice lady offered to take a picture of the six of us:
We then started walking toward Millennium Park, and found this cool dog along the way. I think he’s a companion to the dog we saw on the Wendella dock last year!
Bunny was thrilled to have an opportunity to feed some pigeons:
And we took some pictures at The Bean, as has become our tradition:
We then walked across Michigan Avenue to the Chicago Cultural Center, which used to be the central library in the city, and is home to beautiful mosaics and Tiffany glass domes:
Outside of the Cultural Center, we stopped to see the Bronze Cow statue, a gift to Chicago to commemorate the 1999 Cows on Parade display:
We of course had to stop at Marshall Field’s of Blessed Memory for a box of Frango mints:
And then back to Ogilvie Transportation Center to catch a train back to Geneva. We even found seats on the second floor!
After dinner in the hotel room, we indulged in the chocolate torte cake that I mentioned yesterday. It was as good as I remembered, and the children loved it!
After we spent a little more time relaxing, we headed to the outdoor pool, and stayed in the water as the stars came out. It was a lovely evening for a swim!
Back in the room, we watched a little more Food Network, but not a lot, because we were all exhausted from our busy day, and knew there was more fun to come!
Wendella Lake and River Tour
The highlight of our day in downtown Chicago last month was the Wendella Lake and River Tour. I last took this boat ride when I was in the 5th grade, and I was excited to do it again as an adult, and share the experience with the Fab Five. We were not disappointed…we enjoyed the fantastic views of the city, both from the Chicago River and Lake Michigan, learned a bit about Chicago’s history and the architecture we saw, and enjoyed lovely lake breezes! We also had an amazing narrator along the way…he hit the perfect balance between facts about the city and personal stories to give context to those facts…I don’t think we’ll ever forget learning about the “Dime Piers!”
This was a fun trip, and gave us a chance to see the city in a completely new way. I highly recommend the tour if you’re ever in Chicago…just make sure you don’t forget the sunscreen!
Markel Family Weekend Getaway–Day Two
I think this was our busiest day of vacation…and Combo Breaker hadn’t even started yet!
Last year when we were in St. Charles, we never made it to downtown Chicago, because to my great surprise, there were no ticket agents on duty at the Metra stations on the weekend. I planned accordingly this year, checked the hours, and was sure we wouldn’t run into any problems. Until we arrived at the Geneva Metra station, and the ticket agent basically shut the door in our face, because she had a “meeting.”
This forced me outside of my comfort zone…A LOT. I had already paid for Wendella boat tickets and Art Institute tickets, so I had to find a way downtown. Even though I faced possible problems, including the fact that my students don’t have school IDs, we used the Ventra app to ride the train, and in the end, it worked out fine.
We took a slightly different walk during our travels in Chicago, so we saw some things that were the same, and some that were new:
The highlight of the day was the Wendella Chicago River and Lake Michigan Tour. It has been close to 30 years since I last did the boat trip, so it was a very different experience for all of us, and a lot of fun!
After disembarking, we began our walk toward the Art Institute, stopping to see the “Bean” and other sites at Millennium Park (including the Crown Fountain) along the way.
At the Art Institute, we focused specifically on the Arms and Armor galleries, as well as a special exhibit on Medieval illuminations, in keeping with this year’s summer school theme, but we also saw a few other things, including the Chagall windows.
My children are obsessed with pigeons (no, I don’t know why), and they certainly got to see a lot of them!
Before heading back to the train, we stopped at Marshall Field’s of Blessed Memory (now a Macy’s) to buy Frango mints.
We even got to ride on the upper deck of the train on the way back!
We enjoyed some more pool time back at Pheasant Run, which was the perfect way to end a hot day. We also indulged in some Food Network shows on cable TV, which is one of our favorite things about vacation!
Up next: Combo Breaker finally begins!