Category Archives: Chicago

Chicago 4: Frank Lloyd Wright

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To catch you up to speed with my Chicago adventures…
Chicago 1: Bloomingdale Trail + Street Art + Antique Taco
Chicago 2: I Love the ZOO!
Chicago 3: Millennium Park + The Art Institute of Chicago

Since my trip here is so short (2.5 days), we are approaching the last .5 day. How could I leave Chicago without visiting Oak Park, home to Frank Llyod Wrights home, office, and many of his designs. We arrived at FLW’s home and got tickets to go on the 12:15p tour. While waiting for the tour to start we walked around the block which is filled with other examples of FLW architecture.

The house above is called the Arthur B. Heurtley House designed in 1902. The house below is the Nathan G. Moore House.

I think the FLW house offers walking tours aroudn the neighborhood, but if you wanted to go at your own pace just print the map HERE and read up on the sights ahead of time. This is a beautiful walk and you can even stop an grab some delicious pizza (like we did) at Giordano’s on Chicago Ave, just down the block. Once it hit 12:15p we were back that FLW’s house for the tour. I opted not to get the photography pass (aka more $), but I got these photos of the outside of the property.  Below is the front of his home, and behind the greenery to the left of the photo, is where his architectural studio/office was.

The photo below was his carriage house, which has been converted into a gift shop and main office for the museum.

The photo below is looking toward the entrance to his offices. I really enjoyed this tour and highly recommend it to be able to see the inside and learn more about his design decisions. I’m so glad I could to stop here before I headed to the airport.

Check out the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust website to see better images and learn more about his architecture, events, and different types of tours offered.

Chicago 3: Millennium Park + The Art Institute of Chicago

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Catch up on my Chicago adventures!
Chicago 1: Bloomingdale Trail + Street Art + Antique Taco
Chicago 2: I Love the ZOO!

I know this would normally be the weekend guide, but given my west coast absence this week, I don’t feel I can adiquately tell you about local events. Instad I’ll continue with my Chicago posts. On to a big day exploring Millennium Park and the Art Institute of Chicago. I took so many photos, it was hard to whittle it down to just a handful.

I included the photo above because while walking around I saw these free book stands. This is meant for the community to leave-a-book-take-a-book and share with each other. When I opened this one it had several children’s books inside. What a great idea for a city. Well done Chicago. They do the same thing with videos.

This art installation was done by kids working with the elderly (if I remember correctly?) and they created a series of life size human cut-outs made of metal. I like this one for the mustache.

We took the “L” train down to the loop for our city exploration day. This looks like the Warner Bros backlot… or does the backlot look like Chicago. It’s the chicken and the egg.

Once we entered Millenium Park I got to see the faces fountain! Well it’s actually called Crown Fountain but that’s not as fun sounding.

There is my friend Mark and I reflected in the world famous Bean! Everyone needs a Bean photo.

I love the reflection of the city in it.

Next up, we walked through the Jay Pritzker Pavilion. There was a musical orchestra practicing in there. At noon midweek this space was being used as a lawn to picnic on and I imagine at night it’s a great place to see concerts, a very fun outdoor venue.

Frank Gehry designed this bridge and walkway system carrying you through the park. If I lived in Chicago I would run through here everyday and then end it with a lunch at the zoo by the gorillas.

We headed down toward the water because I really wanted to see Lake Michigan.

This lead us to a big fountain with excellent city views.

Time for the Art Institute of Chicago!

There is an art auctioning game that I played growing up (and even as an adult because I love it) called Masterpiece. it’s a game about buying and selling paintings all of which are located in this museum. Getting to see these paintings in real life was such a joy. Poor Mark had to deal with me wanting to see EVERYTHING!

Another classic only in Chicago, Van Gogh’s bedroom. He lived a very shabby-chic style, wouldn’t you say?

Above is part of the old museum and below is in the new modern wing of the museum. This dude is probably 12′ tall? It’s hard to tell, but he’s huge. We also visited the Roy Lichtenstein exhibit in the new wing. We really enjoyed it and highly recommend it.

Chicago 2: I Love the ZOO!

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Here’s the link to Chicago 1: Bloomingdale Trail + Street Art + Antique Taco, my first Chicago post. This next post is all about where we spent the second half of our day, The Lincoln Park ZOO! This FREE zoo is a must do when visiting or living in Chicago. I had a blast and wish LA had a free zoo, I would be there every night. Parking was $20, but if you park on the street and walk in (it was super easy), it’s free! Well, here are some of my favorites!

Since it was the afternoon, many of the animals were napping. This lion was one of the first animals we saw. I was really shocked at how nonexistent the fences are. Like, shockingly nonexistent. At least they all stayed in their pens.

Crocs! Or alligators? Here’s the thing about me at the zoo, I love looking at them but hate actually learning about the animals. I’d rather just watch them. Also, I can’t read. Okay, I’m kidding there… kinda.

SLOTHS!! They were hiding in the rafters, but I got a face shot.

The camels have dreadlocks. We tried to impersonate what they sound like. That’s actually a really fun zoo game, guess what the animals would say and how they would say it.

I love patterns, so you can guess I love the zebra.

This was the best part of the zoo, the gorillas, orangoutangs, and baboons! They are so human it’s insane. I could watch them all day.

These next two photos are of the same lovable animal. Just don’t look at his private parts. He starred me down and came right over to me (notice the shaky shot).

Sleepy Baby pose! How adorable all the sleepy females.

Mold-A-Rama!! We paid the $2 to get our green gorilla. The inject the plastic into the mold in front of you and it creates this cool toy.

How happy does this polar bear look? Bear bliss.

It reached 5pm, when the zoo shuts down, so we bid our farewell to the animals, specifically the bear exhibit. In fact, the last bear dwelling we saw didn’t have the bear in it (and it also had low fences)… should we have told the zoo keepers? We didn’t and went on our way. My only word of advice is bring sunscreen! We all got a lot of color at the zoo.

Chicago 1: Bloomingdale Trail + Street Art + Antique Taco

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As you know, I’ve been in Chicago visiting these awesome people. I haven’t been there since before I had the ability to contain memories, so this was a very different and fun trip. There were three surprises for me, an LA’er:

1) Everyone owns dogs and doggie daycare is everywhere.
2) Bikes, Bikes, Everywhere! Everyone bikes.
3) Chicago has a super active culinary scene, with hip new restaurants opening constantly all around the city.

The above photo was taken by a doggie daycare place by the Bloomingdale Trail. We spent time walking around the city and we passed so many pet daycare facilities. I love that pets are a high priority here and architecturally it fits well, because Chicago has many rehabbed warehouses which are a good size to hold many dogs.

The next series of photos are taken from the Bloomingdale Trail. This is very similar to NYC’s Highline, accept it’s in the “before” stage. This abandoned aboveground series of rail tracks is a great walking space and provides a nice view of the city, accept they are still in debates on whether to clean it up and turn it into a proper space. I’m all for it, especially since NYC’s Highline is one of my favorite places. As of now this space isn’t really open to the public, although we found a way in and passed a handfull of people while we walked.

The trail is one level up from the street, and the L train crosses another level up above.

I love Chicago’s graffiti! Much of it looks like it was done by the same street artist. It’s all very sweet.

How cool is the photo below? I love the architecture of man-made steel.

Chicago has so many textures. From the man-made engineering above, to the natural texture of building materials, to the fonts and graffiti. So much texture.

After the trail, we walked around Wicker Park looking at neighborhoods, shops, and new restaurants.

The history and age of this town is unmissable. I like the photo below, where you can see that the side of the right building had a giant mural on it, and then they built the building on the left, covering up this massive piece of artwork. It’s like looking at the layers in a painting. You can tell Picasso started it one way, but in the end it’s a new composition.

We took a break for lunch at Antique Taco. I bet you’re thinking what I first thought when I heard the name: crusty old tacos. Not at all. This place looks like Etsy vomited inside… but a good kind of vomit.

I ordered the fish tacos with smoked slaw and we ordered a side of corn salad and guacamole. Such delicious food. There were only a few actual antiques for sale, but all the food was very tasty & cutesy.

After lunch we explored more of Wicker Park. So artsy! So many graphics!

We started heading back to the car (to make an afternoon zoo visit- in a post to come) and passed another of this street artist’s work. A very fitting piece for Wicker Park, so I’m told. I’m still learning about each area but I had a fun half day walking around Wicker Park.