Things have been very busy in the Korol household, with the cross country move, starting the new job and getting settled in DC. All have been great and energizing.
Before it got too far in the rear view mirror, I wanted to get a post up on Chicago, a city that I had not been to in several years and one that showed very well in our brief stop over on the drive east. We pulled into the city around 9 pm and stayed with a great friend from grad school.
Ranjan went to Duke Law with Mu and has lived in the city since graduation. His place, on the 29th floor, looks out over the azul Lake Michigan and Lincoln Park with the north suburbs stretching into the distance. We hung out at a cool spot that night near Ranjan’s place with Jen, his fiancé, also a Duke Law grad and a great friend. It is always fun when two friends get married, definitely the case of the whole being more than the sum of the parts and this union will be another example of that corollary.
That night, we were very happy to go to sleep with the city twinkling below. Thought it would be fun to share what we got up the next day, in our one full day in the city.
Running in Lincoln Park and along Lake Michigan
I woke up energized and excited for the day and leveraged that high energy state to go for a nice run in Lincoln Park and then back along the shoreline of the Lake. The temps were just a bit on the chilly side, as it looked warmer outside than it proved to be upon stepping out of the building. But no matter, I would warm up on the run and that proved to be the case. The run took me north through the park, past a couple museums and then circled back. The lake was perfectly calm, a rarity in my experience and it gave off an almost tropical color on this spring day. At times it felt a bit more Miami than Chicago.
Relaxing on the 29th floor
After the run it was nice to take a bit of time and hang out at Ranjan’s place looking out over the route I had just covered on foot. Being that high up gives such a different perspective and we had a nice breakfast and some needed time on the net to take care of a few things.
Bike share
Then it was time to start exploring. Our mode of transport for the day was the bike share system, Divvy. This system has a network of stations all over the city and works the same as other popular systems in New York and Washington, to name just a few. You check a bike out, ride to wherever and then park it in a station at your destination. The first 30 or 60 minutes of each ride are free after paying a registration fee. It is so much better than taking a bus or metro, riding a bike in a city is a great way to get a sense of space and character.
Butterflies!
Our destination was the Nature Museum (http://www.naturemuseum.org/), located in Lincoln Park and a place I fondly recalled from a visit over a decade ago. The coolest part of the museum is the butterfly haven, which has thousands of butterflies from around the world. You enter it through these reverse pressure doors and then a greenhouse. It takes a couple of seconds to realize that movement surrounds you in this hyper dynamic space as the butterflies flirt about. If you stand still, they will dive bomb you and get super close. Others will just chill on one of the numerous plants in the space and slowly flap their wings, allowing one to see the contrast between their colors. I could have stayed in the space for hours but we had things to do so 30-40 minutes had to suffice.
The Bean
Then we headed out, retracing our path through the park south towards Millennium Park. We docked the bikes and walked to the Bean, a highly polished mirrored sculpture in the park. This is a stunning piece of art and had hundreds of people around it on one of the first summery days of the year after a very long winter. The reflections off the Bean are so cool and we played around with taking pictures.
Deep Dish Pizza
Now our appetites had been properly built up and there was one solution – deep-dish pizza. This solution is pretty dominant, as I challenge anyone to eat some deep dish and not get full. Not possible. We went to place a couple of blocks from the Bean called Pizano’s (http://www.pizanoschicago.com/). The pizza was great and very filling, and we got to sit outside in the nice weather and have a lingering late lunch.
Suit Buying
Now we started walking north into the heart of the city, and happened by the Macy’s there, which is located in the original Marshall Fields store. Such cool features throughout the building, with the spectacular vaulted ceiling that recalls some of the art we saw in Europe and South America. This was a great stop for me because in my new job I am wearing suits everyday. A big switch from the teleworking wardrobe I rocked at my past job, but one that I am enjoying thus far. However, I was in need of some new suits and was able to pick up a couple. They have been serving me very well thus far and I wore one today.
Sunset on top of the world at the Hancock Tower
Lastly, we headed to the Hancock Tower, a 96 floor skyscraper that is the second tallest in the city. It has a bar and restaurant on its top two floors and we made our way up there right as the sun was dipping towards the western horizon out across Illinois. Or maybe you can see all the way to Iowa from 96 floors. Over some drinks, we watched as the sun set, darkness descended and the city lights popped. I loved seeing grid of the major road arteries radiate out from the dense downtown to the suburbs in all directions.
We then headed back to Ranjan’s place and hung out watching sports and talking. A great day of exploring and enjoying one of America’s best cities on the books.
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