The weekend actually began on Thursday with his parents' arrival at O'Hare Airport. After the usual happy greetings, they began the whirlwind of sights and sounds and tastes that is Chicago. Here are Michel and Elizabeth's thoughts on some of the highlights of the weekend.
Lincoln Square
E: We love the square. Every time we go, we discover something new. On this trip with Timi, Michel's mom, we discovered the meat mecca that is Gene's Sausage Shop. It is a German-style butcher and specialty store and is all the way wonderful!
M: Gene's is more than a meat Mecca. In addition to its vast selection of meats and cheeses, Gene's has wide selection of beers, wines, and pickles and whole pies for $7.00. There can be no nobler calling than providing humanity with inexpensive pie.
E: We will now show you the glory of Gene's in pictures...lot's of pictures.
The Art Institute, the Bean, and Auditorium Theatre
E: While Michel was in class on Thursday, his parents and I headed to the Art Institute for their Open Late Thursdays. We rode the train down and made it 45 minutes before closing. Just enough time to see quite a bit of the truly amazing Impressionism permanent exhibit. I love the Art Institute, recently voted one of the top museums in America, and it was really fun to experience it so late in the evening with fewer people crowding around the paintings.
After the museum closed, we still had about half an hour to kill before Michel was done with class, so we headed over to Cloud Gate, affectionately known as "The Bean". It is literally a giant, mirrored bean. It is awesome.
Finally, we headed over to the Auditorium Theatre building at Roosevelt, home of the historic Auditorium Theatre, where Michel has his classes. Though we were unable to get into the theatre, the lobby of the classroom building is quite beautiful. Not a bad place to wait for Michel to get out of class!
M: I was in class at this point, but had I been present, they no doubt would have kept the museum open for as long as we wanted.
Magnificent Mile
E: So the first time we came to Chicago together was last summer, and the first thing we did was walk the Mag Mile. This northern part of Michigan Avenue is a bustling shopper's paradise, and we had a great time. This time was still fun, but I've got to say, if you don't have a purpose, it's just walking up and down a big street with nice stores. However, I am looking forward to the Festival of Lights in November...should be a lovely start to the holiday season!
M: Walking down the Magnificent Mile gives one a "Gee whiz! I'm in a big city!" type feeling, but otherwise, like Elizabeth said, it's a big street with nice stores. That being said, as far as big streets with nice stores go, Chicago's is pretty nice.
State Street Macy's
E: I LOVE this store! It's a 9 story, old-style department store full of all sorts of wonderful goodness. It is the original Marshal Fields building, and they have done a beautiful job of maintaining the original architecture and decor, including the Tiffany's ceiling. Plus the 7th floor food court is a hidden gem of a delicious food paradise! Let me tell you, this is the place to get some of that amazing food by Rick Bayless and Marcus Samuelson without paying top dollar prices. I cannot wait to see this store decked out for the holidays!
M: The State Street Macy's is a gorgeous building with the best food I've ever eaten in a department store. Not being a huge shopper, I don't know if I could happily spend an entire day there, but it's a neat place to visit and a great place for lunch. It also looks really easy to fall to one's death from either of the double atria.
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago
E: So this is a really great museum...if you like contemporary art. I try to like contemporary art, but most of the time, I'm just irritated by it. That was the case today. We saw a photography exhibit, which I actually liked until they started showing photos of photos that the artist claimed were his own work (but weren't), an exhibit based on the home, and a exhibit based on cartoonist Daniel Clowes (Chicago native and creator of Ghost World). A lot of it was just weird. However, be sure to ask me about my new installation involving a sound proof room, a clap-on/clap-off lamp, and me sitting in the dark. It is a biting social commentary, and I'm sure the museum will approve it soon.
M: Contemporary Art is interesting because if something is new, it's difficult to tell if it is brilliant and ahead of its time or asinine and forgettable. Such is the crap shoot of visiting the Museum of Contemporary Art. I did quite enjoy the Daniel Clowes exhibit. Even if we hadn't gotten in for free, his collection would have been worth the price of admission.
John Hancock Building Observatory
E: Ok, super touristy, but still super fun! They take your group picture before you even get on the elevator to the observation deck. The deck is all inside (no falling or jumping from this building, let me tell you), and there is a nice-looking cafe and some cool exhibits up there as well. But, of course, you go for the views. They are spectacular! We could even see our neighborhood, though we were not able to identify our building, sadly.
M: We did this on a lark and were glad to have done so. Though perhaps not as high up as the Willis (Sears) Tower, the John Hancock Building is fairly central and offers great views of Chicago. I was disappointed to discover that there is no Firemen's Pole one can take back down to the ground floor. Just a boring elevator. Lame.
Chicago History Museum and Gift Shop
E: Our last stop of the day, and we only got 20 minutes in the museum because we did not realize that it closes at 4:30 on Saturdays! Fortunately, all of our museum visits were a part of the Smithsonian's National Museum Day and so were free. (Thanks for the tip, Stephen!) Charlotte and Craig got married here last summer, and it is a gorgeous place to hold a wedding and a super fun museum. So far we have now visited the Chicago history section twice, but I am definitely looking forward to seeing the rest! Thankfully they did not kick us out of the gift shop until 5, and the gift shop is almost as fun as the museum.
M: I love this museum. It gives a comprehensive history of the city and doesn't shy away from the less savory aspects thereof. Plus, any museum that lets one sit in an antique train engine is tops in my book.
Fork
E: Oh, I love Fork! Fork will probably get its own full post sometime soon. This is where Charlotte and Craig had their rehearsal dinner, and I remembered having a great time. However, I didn't remember much about the food. It's just down the street, though, and Michel decided that it was a perfect birthday dinner place. And he was right. It has a fun, hip atmosphere, an extensive wine and beer list, the most flavorful mushroom and rosemary flatbread ever, and hot, melty, sharp, happy delicious mac n' cheese. And that is just what I ate. Everyone else was just as satisfied. At least, I hope they were because Fork is definitely up there on my list now!
M: Much like Fountainhead, Fork has a booze binder with, among other things, a genuinely impressive beer selection (not quite as extensive as Fountainhead, but still great). They also have a rotating selection of sliders that, on this trip, included lamb sausage, beef short rib, and pork belly. The pork belly was good, but a little dry. The lamb sausage and beef short rib sliders were outstanding. I also got garlic cilantro fries that were near Bernie's Burger Bus level delicious. It was a spectacular birthday feast.
Walking along the beach
Michel's official birthday picture
I loved everything but the birthday photo! Thanks for taking the time for this, Michel!
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