Friday of the wedding weekend (September 11th) was an all-tourist kind of day. Jolene had to work (sad), so that left me and Mer to be touristy, with Shannon leading the way. To get the day started off right, Shannon and I ran up to the Skokie Sculpture Park and park and back, a run of about 6 miles or so. It was fairly gratifying that I was clearly in better shape than Shannon, which is often not the case. Shannon is an avid biker, but had not gotten to ride much over the summer, and I was two weeks away from a marathon, so I was in pretty good shape.

After we showered and got ready, we headed over to Ann Sather’s Restaurant for breakfast. Mer and I love this restaurant for breakfast – they have huge and very good cinnamon rolls that we quite enjoy. We always walk to the restaurant from Shannon’s place, a walk of about 2-3 miles. It is fun to see the city neighborhoods, and we always go along back streets to get to see houses and buildings. We do this even when we visit Chicago in the winter. It whets the appetite.

After we got done with breakfast, we decided it would be fun to go downtown and see a few sights, especially the sights that had changed in the 8+ years since we’ve lived in Chicago. Shannon works for the Art Institute, so that seemed a great place to start. Shannon was able to get us into the staff area of the building to meet a couple of curators of whom Shannon is very fond. They were very nice and funny women, and specialized in ancient art. On the recommendation of the curators, we then went to see an ancient falcon sculpture that looks as if it could have been right out of the Art Deco period. We also wandered through some of the 16th and 17th century rooms of paintings to see a few paintings that are very famous and/or that Shannon and Jo like.

The main attraction Shannon wanted us to see in our limited time at the Art Institute was the new modern wing. It is beautiful. I think Shannon said it was $300 million, and it looks like it. It has wooden floors, large ceilings, huge windows that look over the city, and the art is laid out in a logical (and not crowded) manner. Much of the art we blew by, but Shannon did want us to see some of the views of the city which happen to be near art that does not pass the Matt Test (the “could I have made it?” test), and thus the art made me angry. Still, much of the modern art was at least okay, and the views of the city are fantastic.

The new wing has a new restaurant and patio that looks over the park and the city, and also has a pedestrian bridge into Millennium Park. This is a great space. While we were looking at the city and having our picture taken, a woman was being filmed next to us for some kind of Chicago-based TV show. We then wandered down the bridge (which also has wonderful views of the city) into Millennium Park.

Millennium Park is a wonderful addition to the city. It has a lot of space, and the outdoor auditorium is really cool. They have planted walking gardens and new hedges that will take 20 years to grow to maturity. There is a cool winding bridge that connects the park to the shoreline. There is a small artificial stream that runs through part of the park, and several business people were eating lunch beside it or dangling their feet in it. Mer and I dangled our feet in the stream, and it was really cold! Shannon talked to a local guide who said the stream mirrors the original Lake Michigan shoreline, which is neat (the current shoreline is probably 3/4 of a mile away from the park). We wandered over by the sculpture called “The Bean,” which has become a Chicago icon and is strangely fascinating. The park’s fountain/square was working, to the delight of many children, but the large signs on either side that usually show faces that spit water at the kids were turned off. There was also a small display of Chinese sculpture near the fountain, including a metal dinosaur.

We were hot, so we stopped by a smoothie bar. Mer got water, but I was happy to get a strawberry concoction. We then jumped on the El to go back to the apartment, but got off a stop or two early to get ice cream at a place Shannon recommended. It was quite good. We then walked to the apartment, where Jo met up with us. It was a good afternoon, and the evening was still ahead.

We all piled in Jo’s car to head out to dinner and a show. We ate near the theater we were going to, at a local Italian chain called Leona’s. Mer and I are very fond of Leona’s as well, having eaten there quite a bit when we lived in Chicago. Sadly, this night, the food was slow in coming, and Mer’s food came out last and late, so she did not have much time to eat it. We did make it to the nearby theater in time, but it was not the leisurely sort of meal we like to have.

Shannon and Jo treated us to a play called The Night Season, which is a play about an Irish family. It was about a father (often drunk), his three daughters, an elderly (and slightly crazy) grandmother, an American actor who stays with the family, and one of the daughter’s former boyfriends. The theater was very intimate, with the stage only about 10 feet away. The audience was fairly small (about 25 people). The actors did a fine job in acting their roles. I enjoyed the play, and found it compelling, but it mostly just told a story. There is certainly nothing wrong with telling a good story, but the play did not leave me thinking too deeply about it when I left. Still, I do enjoy theater and it was excellent storytelling, so I had a very good time.

Not a bad little day in Chicago.