On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
Wag
Last October the kids had a break from school, and we did quick family trip to Chicago. I had never been to the Windy City, and I fell in love with the art and architecture.
one of our first stops was to visit The Bean, a massive mirrored outdoor sculpture that is a funhouse mirror in the. park. The joy of the innumerable people visiting was energizing.
Another Bean shot
A final Bean
From the Bean we walked to the Art Institute of Chicago. An amazing museum with timeless art from early civilizations all the way up to the present day. This phots is of the sculpture of Lincoln that was the original model for the marble sculpture that is in the Lincoln Memorial
sometimes the smallest details of a painting give you a significant understanding of the piece as a whole. This is a close-up photo of the edge of the pointillism masterpiece A Sunday on La Grande Jatte
My favorite exhibit at the museum was a major retrospective of the work of Barbara Kruger,
Kruger puts together works on a room filling scale with words and phrases that are sometimes overwhelming in their scale and political ambition. One of my favorite artists.
Kruger’s work was found throughout the building
The modern architecture in Chicago is amazing.
Dorothy A. Winsor
Looks like you had a good day. The river tour is one of my favorite things in Chicago. The guides are docents from the architecture museum.
dmsilev
One of my favorite mementos from the years I lived in Chicago is a set of photos I call “4 Seasons of the Bean”. Taken from the same vantage over the course of a year, with the changing of the seasons reflected in its surface.
It’s a really nifty piece of artwork.
artem1s
I love The Bean! La Grande Jatte is in one of my favorite rooms in the Institute. Lautrect’s At the Moulin Rouge is one of my favorite paintings. Love that turquoise face. Amazing choice of color there.
Scamp Dog
Were you wearing a red shirt or jacket when you took the second bean photo? I think I see your reflection there.
eclare
I love Chicago, there is so much to see and do in a relatively small area. The Art Institute has the largest collection of Impressionist art outside of Paris (if my facts are still correct). On your next trip try the aquarium!
MelissaM
I love Chicago! Grew up in the suburbs, worked in the city for a couple years, and now when I take the Amtrak in, that smell of the creosote and the diesel and the grease along with the throng moving in one direction… Ahhh. And the mix of people! Thanks for the trip!
JanieM
Now I want to go visit Chicago. Which is actualy more feasible than some places I’ve seen on OTR! Nice pics — the buildings look fascinating.
Mr. Longform
My kind of town! Great city with lots of “regular” people (the good kind mostly, but some of the other kind, like anywhere) – plenty big enough if you want a big city, and plenty easy to get around (for the most part). Like all big cities, it is a lot more fun if you are blessed with some spending money, but it is also a great place for hanging around in various neighborhoods and just enjoying the day (unless it is 78 below zero with a stiff wind.)
frosty
I’ve only been in Chicago once, for work, but I’ve always wanted to go back for Louis Sullivan’s architecture.
mrmoshpotato
Thank you for calling it by its real name – “The Bean” – and not that “Cloudgate” nonsense.
stacib
@Dorothy A. Winsor: I live here, and the architectural tour is a must-do. The docents are fantastic, and their knowledge of the bits and pieces of Chicago architecture that are not commonly known was enough to make me fall in love with my city all over again.
Miss Bianca
Man, you’re making me nostalgic. It’s been over twenty years since I lived in Chicago, and I haven’t been back since. (I am sure that The Bean, for example, was not part of the downtown landscape when I lived there.)
Might be time to think about a visit back…
persistentillusion
@Mr. Longform: Best big city in the world, if one is able/willing to ignore the weather, which can go from lovely to “Oh God, the end is nigh” in a heartbeat. A summer thunderstorm at 7 in the morning, leaving me soaked and shivering in my over-ACed building contributed to the fact that I don’t live there anymore.
Queen of Lurkers
@stacib:
Agree on architecture tour. Have been to Chicago many times (relatives + work) and the boat tour is such a fun way to see so much of the city. Be prepared for weather, though, both hot and cold.
Hoosierspud
Grew up in northern Indiana and I loved going to Chicago. If you like architecture, check out the Frank Lloyd Wright tours in Oak Park, just outside the city. Beautiful houses, and not just in the Prairie style.
Expletive Deleted
I’m out there for a week soon and very much looking forward to visiting the Art Institute.
Also have a food-to-try list a mile long.
Mom Says I*m Handsome
Lovely post with photos of two of my favorite cultural objects: Seurat’s pointillist masterpiece (and one of my favorite jigsaw puzzles), and the building featured on the album cover of Wilco’s “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.” Mrs Mom Says spent a day at the Art Institute two decades ago & has been itching to return ever since.
Steve in the ATL
One of my kids is at the Bean today! She does that first every time she goes to Chicago.
RobertB
I spent a week touring downtown Chicago and visiting the museums while my wife was taking a class in what used to be the IBM Building. One day I stumbled into an architecture tour, and tagged along with it for an hour or so. Awesome stuff.
I’d like to go back there again, to hit the museums and eat the hot dogs and Italian roast beef.
RobertB
@Mom Says I*m Handsome: If you had a copy of the game Masterpiece as a kid, you might have had the version that used art from the Art Institute of Chicago. I did. I didn’t know that at the time, but as I was seeing them in the museum I kept remembering them in the game.
satby
Love my city! I’ve enjoyed many big cities in my travels, and love many of them, but Chicago is home.
RR_Mikey
It’s my hometown and I’m very proud to call it my hometown. There’s so much to see and do and the food is awesome. I could go on and on but I won’t. It is fun to read outsiders’ impressions. Happy that all who’ve visited have enjoyed their visit.
Paul in KY
After NOLA, my favourite US city (though Washington DC is also cool) that I have visited. I love to find a nice outdoor cafe on a pretty day, get a good glass of wine & just people watch. Lot of hustle & bustle down in that part of town. Also the great Shedd Aquarium & Field Museum. Get a real good buzz (as can be done legally now in IL) & just grok at all the wonderful stuff in those places). Also, so many awesome ethnic restaurants. One that I really like is called ‘le Colonial’ and is a Vietnamesse/French restaurant not too far North of the Chicago River. They also have a ‘restaurant area’ of town which has this street with about 200 great restaurants/bars on it.
Heading up there in September for Riotfest!
Paul in KY
The bean, I call “Optimus Prime’s sperm” :-) The outdoor amphitheater there is badass.
delphinium
Nice photos! Chicago is definitely on my travel list, the the architectural boat tour sounds awesome.
indianbadger
The restaurant at Millenium Park has been upgraded to a really nice Italian place that serves really, really good Neapolitan Pizza. It used to be an overpriced Steakhouse previously. If there is a concert that evening; consider going. The sound is amazing for an outdoor facility.
Along with the boat tour, the Chicago Architecture Center has a really nice exhibit of the history of the city’s architecture that is worth stopping by. If you get the boat tour, the entrance to that ‘museum’ is included, I think.
The Chicago Cultural Center is worth stopping by if you are there already. It is a weird mishmash building. The North side was a tribute to the GAR after the civil war, and the south side was the original Chicago Public Library. After the city burned down, Queen Victoria sent books to get the new library started. When the new HWLC was built, they repurposed it to the Cultural Center. Along with art exhibits, concerts etc.; there is a visitor center with a lot of info and friendly people who will help you. The Tiffany domes are worth visiting on their own. The GAR room on the 2nd floor on the north side is fantastic. I got married there in a civil ceremony conducted by the city.
Also, there is a HotTix kiosk on Randolph which gives you half price tickets to all kinds of shows in the city, run by the Chicago Theater companies.
If you have to eat a deep-dish; go to LaBriola’s off Michigan just north of the Tribune Tower. It is the BEST deep dish in the loop area; forget the usual chain stuff.
J R in WV
When I was a newby in the US Navy I spent a long time in ET school at Great Lakes Navy Base, at that time a major training center for the NAV. We would buy round trip tix into Chicago on the commuter rail from the Great Lakes station and get into downtown Chicago Friday evening. Would find a place to crash and take the train back to GL Sunday afternoons. Loved Chicago, in spite of the dark side you see sometimes in the way wee hours. Saw lots of great R&R and Blues bands, couldn’t afford fine food but the cheap food was pretty good for a 19YO guy. I also like Philly, P’burgh, DC, NYC, Paris, Tucson, etc. ETA: New Orleans!!! Can’t believe I nearly forgot NOLA, great food, great music of every kind, etc.
Great pics of a great town….
Mimi
There’s loads more tours than the boat tour https://www.architecture.org
Origuy
Love Chicago; I try to get to the Art Institute every time I’m there and stop by Le Grant Jatte. A museum that’s a little out of the way is the University of Chicago Oriental Museum. When the museum was founded, Oriental meant the Near East, so it focuses on ancient Persia, Babylon, etc.
jackmac
Many excellent suggestions here to view Chicago treasures.
Here’s some more: A short cab or Uber ride to Clark St. and North Ave. (a couple miles north of the Loop) drops you at the Chicago History Museum on the south edge of Lincoln Park. The museum is a treasure trove of Chicago from founding days through recent history. Well worth a side trip. It also has a pretty good museum gift shop. Just north of the museum is the Couch mausoleum, dating back to the time the site was a cemetery. Keep strolling north and you’ll run into the Farm in the Zoo, featuring real farm animals. It’s part of the free admission Lincoln Park Zoo, also a must-see.
Wag
This was my first trip to Chicago and I lived the city Will definitely be back!
@Scamp Dog: Yep. That’s me!
Dan B
I interned in a couple urban planning and architecture firms in ’68-’69. Then was involved in Chicago Gay Liberation in ’69-’71. The city was dirty, noisy, corrupt, and brutal thanks to Daley 1.0 and the mob/police. At the same time the (free!!) Art Institute, architecture, parks, entertainment, etc. were astounding.