Category Archives: 1) Home Turf

I have walked past the Chicago Cultural Center dozens of times without ever noticing it – why, I don’t know. But today, I finally noticed and entered and was amazed at what a gorgeous building it is, full of intricate bejeweled mosaics, high ceilings with elegant mouldings, elegant glass domes including one by Tiffany. My son and I wandered through the public spaces and galleries (which were a bit tricky to find.) We stopped by the Vivian Maier show, which was worth a visit although not very extensive and seemed to be as much photos from New York and beyond as from chicago.

On the first floor, lots of people had gathered in seats in front of a stage where four musicians played a free concert. A sandwich bar in the lobby looked like a good lunch option.

For lunch, we went to The Gage, a lively gastropub on South Michigan – I had a hard time selecting an item from the menu because about all of them looked great. I finally settled on the mussels vindaloo – a huge bowl of freshly steamed juicy musles in a light burnt-umber colored broth with the not-over-powering Indian spice (Vindaloo can often mean searingly hot spice but this wasn’t.) My son had a huge hamburger with blue cheese that fortunately came with the upright fries piled into a mug-like bowl. All very good, pleasant and swift service, nice ambiance. Will definitely return.

We stopped at the Chicago Art Foundation to browse in the gift shop, one of the best around, and admire the huge model of downtown Chicago buildings. It’s got every building west of Oak Street and way past the loop. Incredibly cool. And every 15 minutes, the lights dim to simulate the sun hitting the buildings, casting some in high relief.