Wow, it’s 63 degrees and sunny on Christmas Day in Chicago. Perfect for a walk along the 606/Bloomingdale trail, Chicago’s answer to NYC’s High Line. Much less crowded and a little less refined. Not as much public art or enterprise, which is fine. We walked above some gentrifying neighborhoods west and north of downtown, starting in Wicker Park/Bucktown and then west to Logan square and Humboldt Park. There was a respectable trickle of people, many walking dogs or with little kids, a few bike riders and runners including one shirtless guy and a tank topped woman. (Again, this is Chicago in late December!)
Last night, on Christmas Eve, we joined a lively crowd at Imperial lamian, a Chinese restaurant downtown for dinner. The food (ribs, noodles, a fun dessert that looks like a giant ostrich egg and dissolves into cake and ice cream when hot fudge is poured over it) was good, nothing amazing but it was a fun scene and perfect for the occasion. We also took in the Andy Warhol exhibit at the Art Institute, which was more interesting than expected.
The clear highlight of Labor Day weekend here in Chicago was meeting our sweet new grandson Linus Paul, born on Aug. 28, 2019 at Northwestern Hospital, 8.2 pounds, 22 inches and lovely. We met him and his mom and dad in the Prentis Women’s Hospital, maternity ward or whatever it is called these days. They had a spacious room with a dazzling view of Lake Michigan.
When we were not holding and staring in wonder at Linus, we walked around the city and ate a meal or two, including two chosen for their proximity to the hospital – – Cafecito, an offshoot of a Cuban restaurant we really like downtown and had no idea had offshoots, let alone one near to Michigan Avenue, and Francesca’s, across the street from cafecito, where we had excellent celebratory pasta with Aunt Mary Ann. We had excellent Indian food from Heema’s on Devon Street, takeout style with the new babe and parents and Uncle Noah. The lake was very full, with crashing waves and water gobbling up the concrete shore near Oak Street Beach. Now we are driving home and no doubt will be back soon to see the babe.
The Des Moines-based Raygun, world famous for its snarky t-shirt commentary on Iowa, the Midwest, presidential politics and more, has opened its first Chicago outpost, conveniently for me in Andersonville, walking distance from our kids’ apartment in Edgewater. The lovely young woman who runs it is someone we have known since she went to grade school with our kids so I made sure to drop by and say hi and buy something.
Today, for one last hurrah, my Aunt MAT took me for a delicious lunch at the classy restaurant in the Ritz Carlton. Not too shabby! And now, here at O’Hare, my carryon under-the-seat-only bag with the cheapest fare (aka basic) appears to have passed muster. What a memorable and action-packed trip to Chicago! Thx to my family there!!!
Some of my favorite Manet paintings are not in the new show at the Art Institute of Chicago but that’s okay because 1) I look at them all the time (the poster versions of Olympia and The Balcony) 2) there was so much else to see. The show is small, much smaller than the Bonnard show at The Tate Modern in London that I went to in March. But the lovely colorful portraits of elegantly dressed women and still lives of flowers bounced off the walls. Being in rooms full of these paintings made me happy, although they were painted during a sad period in Manet’s life, when he was sick and nearing death.
We also popped into a nearby room full of American painter’s work including Grant Wood’s American Gothic, a famous Edward Hopper and other great works by Georgia O’keefe, Diego Rivera and Thomas Hart Benton. A few user tips: I was glad we bought fast pass tickets online a few hours before we arrived. Saved us from standing in a long line. What I should have done was bought a membership for $70, rather than tix to the museum/special exhibit which cost $84 for two of us. (I need to do the math to see what it costs to bring a guest as a member.) Members also get discounts at the museum store which has some gear stuff, including jewelry by Chicago artists. And of course members can keep coming back without further payment.
Yes, Bike the Drive was definitely worth getting up at 5:30 a.m.. The chance to ride a bike along Lake Shore Drive with nothing except other bikes, albeit thousands of them, was much-appreciated. The annual event was orderly and well-organized, with lots of helpful volunteers, very little red tape or lines, and plenty of free food (bananas, apples, cliff bars, even designer coffee.) I was riding a borrowed 6-speed Schwinn with a very comfortable wide seat. The only minor challenge was making it up several minor inclines. Otherwise the route was flat and very scenic. I spotted sights along “LSD” I’d never seen during decades of zipping along it in my car.
We got lucky with the weather. The sky was overcast and dark at times but it never rained beyond some drizzle. At points, the sun almost came out and the lake looked beautiful, as did the dramatic skyline. What a treat to see some of the dramatic high-rise architecture along the river leading to the lake from new vantage points. And for a moment you had a feel for what might be if we were all less dependent on our gas-guzzling cars. I did recall, at times, the thrill of riding on some bike-only bridge in Copenhagen and, of course, the temporary bike-only rural roads in Iowa during RAGBRAI.
I rode a few blocks from Emma and Rockets in Edgewater to the BRyn Mawr entrance onto the Drive and rode south 8 miles to Grant Park where I met up wi5 my sister Jill and two of her friends who took the El in from Oak Park. I wanted to keep riding south but we sort of ran out of time (there are some timing issues to keep track of – and I am glad I started at 6:30 am) so we rode back north. next time, I may being my bike and ride all the way down and back, the earlier the better.
This afternoon we went to the Sunday farmers market in Logan Square and to delicious Bang Bang Pie shop, which serves, yes, pie — sweet and savory. We had excellent chocolate caramel pie and key lime pie (they’d run out of strawberry rhubarb) and sampled the chicken pot pie. Also had great homemade lemonade with free refills. We also walked Millie around E & R’s lovely Edgewater neighborhood.
We somehow managed to drive from Des Moines to Chicago last night without directly encountering any of the storms that were popping up all around us. Outside Iowa City on I-80, we saw scary looking white clouds (which may or may not have produced the tornado we learned touched down about 25 minutes before we passed through) and in Illinois, lightning lit up the dark night just south of us and north of us off and on. Needless to say, we were very happy when we got to Chicago around midnight.
Today, the weather was much more pleasant than anticipated in Chicago, sunny and warm instead of rainy. We spent two hours at the scoula on the second floor of eataly, taking a very fun cheese and wine tasting class that emma and rocket got me for my birthday. Great gift idea and we sampled 6 cheeses, and 3 “natural” wines and learned everything we ever wanted to know about to cheese from the cheesemonger.
TakeBetsywithyou 