Weekend In Chicago: Day 4

The Brookfield Zoo

Tuesday was the last day of our extended weekend vacation in Chicago. We still had a tickets to the Shedd Aquarium on the Museum Campus but neither of us wanted to go back into downtown again. So our time in that part of the city was over. But we still planned on spending the day in one of the  suburbs. 

Paula and I travel well together. We always have. So packing up and checking out of the hotel was comfortably routine; almost automatic.

At the front desk I mentioned to the clerk that while we had no major problems during our stay; the room amenities and condition of some areas of the hotel left a something to be desired. 

I mentioned that a room in a 3 star hotel (the rating Four Points by Sheraton O'Hare received on Priceline.com) usually included a fridge and a microwave. We had to "upgrade" (aka pay $20 a night more) to get a room that included them.

I don't remember the desk clerk's exact response. It wasn't rude but it did convey an undisguised "take it or leave it" type of apathy. Because of that attitude we will probably never stay at that Four Points by Sheraton O'Hare hotel in Chicago again.

One more time we grabbed breakfast and something to drink at the BP gas station near the hotel. This convenience store was one of the better aspects of our vacation. More on that later in the final post in this series. 

Our plans for the day, other than heading back home, was to visit a zoo for a few hours. We found two in the area: The Lincoln Park Zoo and the Brookfield Zoo. 

Lincoln Park was free but required a return to the city just north of the downtown area, and was mainly intended for families with kids.  

From what I read during my trip planning, Brookfield zoo, although it charged admission, had a lot more that would be of interest to two adults than Lincoln Park. 

The 2 specific reasons we chose to go to Brookfield were: the dolphin show and the butterfly house.   

From the hotel, we drove about 11 miles south to the town of Brookfield. We arrived at the south gate entrance of the zoo (paying for parking, thankfully, for the last time this trip) just before noon. 

We stepped up to the ticket booth and discovered that the $15 ticket price I had seen on their website was just for "basic admission" into the zoo. To see the dolphins, the butterflies and do one other attraction that required a separate ticket we had to pay an additional $10 each.

Since the extra cost was the only way we were going to be able to do what we specifically came to do, I reluctantly paid the for the "upgraded" ticket. 

Just inside the south gate were a pair of lion statues and we could see a rather large fountain in the distance. 

Here's a close up of each of those. 

It was a beautiful warm sunny summer day; but because it was already the middle of the day not many of the animals were very active.  

Here's the zoo map. This will give you an idea of our path and the area we covered during our visit.  

Having entered the park at the south gate, we headed west. Stopping at the baboon habitat. There were a few of them sitting around on the rocks. They didn't seem to mind the heat. 

  














The dolphin show we had tickets were for wasn't until 2:30 so we had some time to walk around and see as many animals as we could. Here are some pictures of some of the animals we saw. 

Penguins

Reptiles 

Snoozing Polar Bear 

Giraffes

Two Totally Relaxed Lions

This next animal is one that neither Paula nor I had ever seen before. It is a black footed cat; the smallest feline species found in Africa. The zoo was in the process of introducing a trio of 6 month old kittens into their new habitat. 

They were very cute. Although they looked like playful and cuddly domestic house cats the placard outside their cage insisted otherwise. If you are interested in those differences you can find more information about the black footed cat on the internet. 

To us these cats looked like the Puss N' Boots character in the "Shrek" movies. We took a picture that shows this. See if you agree. 

We were at the top center of the zoo when we realized that it was time to head over to the Seven Seas area in northeast corner to get in line for the dolphin show. 

We were a bit hungry and decided to get a big soft pretzel to share. Luckily we were in an area where there was a counter service restaurant near by. (blogger's note: I wrote that last line with a bit of sarcasm. I think this zoo had more places to eat and buy souvenirs than any other we've ever visited. Listed on the back of the paper map were a dozen places to eat and 8 gift shops.)

I checked with someone at the guest services booth to make sure that we were headed in the right direction to get to the dolphin show. If we went the wrong way we'd be late and it was the last show of the day. 

We walked by the butterfly house and the carousel. As we passed it I regretted my choice of ticket options back at the front gate. A ride on the carousel was one of our options but I chose a visit to the children's petting zoo instead. Even though I knew we probably wouldn't go ever get there. I should have chosen the carousel. I would have definitely used that ticket. 

With only about 20 minutes to get to the show we couldn't take the time to stop and eat our pretzel. Good thing we didn't because when we got to the Seven Seas area, the line to get in was very long. We were about 100 yards from the entrance. 

But the theater held quite a few spectators. I am not very good at estimating crowds but I'd say it was close to 1000 people. 

Since we got in line so late we didn't have the choice of the best seats. We sat on the right side of the pool about 3 rows from the top of the arena. Here was our view. 

While waiting for the rest of the crowd to filter in and the show to start we finished the rest of our soft pretzel dipping it in the small cup of cheese I had gotten. (Don't judge us. We were on vacation and it was delicious). 

Also while we were waiting I took picture of my wife. Of all the shots I took of her during our vacation this is probably my favorite.  

As showtime drew closer the dolphins were swimming around in the pool playing with some yellow volleyballs. They were throwing them around in the water with their noses. 

Once everyone was seated the show began. The theme of the show was the dolphin Olympics. It started out with the "team" doing a variety of tricks. 

One of the "events" was a competition to see which dolphin could jump up out of the water to touch a ball tethered from the ceiling. I didn't get any video but Paula got some good still shots. 

Close...

Closer...

Got It !!!

It was a terrific show and I would have liked to have seen more. As expected we exited through the gift shop and then went down stairs to view the dolphins swimming underwater in their tank. 

We had just one more thing we wanted to do, go see the butterflies. After that we were ready to head home. 

The butterfly house was without a doubt Paula's favorite animal exhibit of the day. The "house" was more of an metal mesh Quonset hut. Inside the enclosure was a small garden with hundreds of butterflies. 

With I-phone and digital camera in hand Paula and I took many many pictures. So many in fact that I had a difficult time choosing which of them to include in this post. But here they are. 

Among the rules of the butterfly sanctuary was "don't touch the specimens." But during our visit several guests had butterflies land on them. 

This brings me to my favorite picture I took during our butterfly experience. As we were getting up off a bench to leave Paula got a visitor. Perhaps the attraction was the pattern on her shirt. 

After about 30 minutes in the butterfly garden we checked ourselves in the mirror looking for "hitchhikers" as required by the rules. The exit brought us out right next to a merchandise tent where they were selling stuff at 40% off. We browsed through it but didn't find anything we "couldn't live without". 

At this point we had seen all we wanted to see at the zoo and ready to head to the car. Since it's main station was right there we were decided to take the zoo tram to the south end of the grounds so we didn't have to walk. Also, it was one of the privileges included in our admission. 

We found a seat near the middle of the tram and waited. We didn't leave until at least 15 minutes later but neither the driver nor the guide gave a reason why.  

The tram was very boring. It went really slow. I mean slower than walking speed. Also the guide, an older gentleman giving narration over the on board PA system was improvising his narration. 

He was obviously knowledgeable and passionate about the zoo both past and present; but he was not very entertaining.  

The tram route took us to the north east part of the zoo before it turned south. Because of the distance and the speed the trip took us about 30 to 45 minutes. We could have walked to the gate in about 15. But we were tired and sitting down was a welcomed rest. (seems I've written those words quite often during this series doesn't it?)

The one good thing about the tram tour was that once it reached the south gate we were next to a Starbucks coffee shop. Paula wanted one for the road. With her iced mocha latte sweetened with a couple of packets of Splenda my wife and I headed out to the parking lot. 

This was not the best zoo we've ever been to but it wasn't the worst either. It was a nice way to spend our last day in the Chicago area. Seeing the dolphin show and butterfly garden was worth the extra charge for the admission.

The Brookfield Zoo encompasses 216 acres. That's more than 4 times the area of the Philadelphia zoo. Yet it's not a better zoo. Here's some of the reasons why. 

The layout was a bit complicated and confusing. I didn't notice it until I was doing research for this post that it was shaped like and abstract map of the United States. If I had thought of it that way during our visit it would have been a whole lot easier to navigate. 

I've already mention the over abundance of food counters and souvenir shops. But now I realize that the Brookfield Zoo is more than twice the size of Disney's Magic Kingdom. So in comparison the number of counter service restaurants and of merchandising outlets is not excessive at all. 

Blogger's note: Just in case you are wondering the zoo is less than 1/2 the size of Disney's Animal Kingdom, which is 500 acres. 

One of the biggest negative aspects for me was that several of the buildings that you walked through to see the animals smelled really badly. Now I know that animals have a tendency to have a rather unpleasant and sometimes pungent odor to them. But it was stronger and more frequent at this zoo than the others we've ever visited. If we ever went there again I'd probably  avoid any of the buildings and remain in the "open air" areas.  

But overall we will fondly remember our visit to the Brookfield Zoo. 

It was about 5:30 when we turned on to Interstate 55 and headed south toward Indiana heading for Kentucky. 

Our time in Chicago was officially over. We had a 6 hour drive ahead of us but it would end up with us back at home and asleep in our own bed. That's where we wanted to be. 

Weekend In Chcago: Day 3 Part 3

Blogger's Note: This post contains a detailed description of  the August 20, 2012 game between the New York Yankees and the Chicago White Sox. It may seem uninteresting to some of you who are not baseball fans. But the details of the game are an intricate part of the last night of our vacation. 

The Ball Game

The drive from Grant Park to US Cellular field was a lot faster than I thought it would be. They're only about 5 miles apart. 

This would be 2nd time seeing the White Sox play at their home stadium and my 3rd trip to the area. (See the post from July 18, 2008) This was Paula's first time to a Major League ballpark. 

We parked in just about the same place as I did back in 2010. It was very close to the stadium gate#4. 

I had been wearing my White Sox shirt all day but I changed into my Yankees t-shirt before going into the game. 

Because the drive was so quick we found ourselves waiting about 30 minutes until we were allowed into the ballpark. 

Just like the last time I was there a band played on the stage set up to the right of Gate 5.   The name of the band was "Black Hawk" which had significance in regard to the activities of the night; but I hadn't realized it yet.

We walked around and found a place to sit and chill for a few minutes. 

Even though this was Chicago as we sat there I saw a lot of people wearing Yankees shirts and hats. 

Paula was browsing through a stadium information guide that she had picked up on our way past the Gate 5. 

She was reading the information to get a perspective on what she might find inside. It was then that I realized that she was seeing this baseball adventure in a way I hadn't in quite a while: through the eyes of a first timer. 

This was Paula's first visit to a big league baseball game. Realizing this, I decided to do my best to become "tour guide" for my wife and see things as "fresh" as she was going to be seeing them. 

The place we found to rest was across from the hanging over sized posters of the White Sox players in the order they would be batting in the game. 

Immediately I noticed that the leadoff hitter that night was Dewayne Wise. A couple of weeks earlier Wise had been a member of the Yankees. But they released him when they acquired Ichiro Suzuki from Seattle in the last week of July. 

With a line forming at the Gate 5 we took our place among the gathering crowd with about 10 minutes before they would let us in. We talked with some of the people standing around us. They were Yankees fans too.  

Once through the turnstiles we turned to our left and walked up about 4 ramps. It was a bit more of a walk thank I had anticipated. At first I thought we had gone the wrong way but when we leveled out we found ourselves on the field level of the stadium.

Immediately we were infused with the smell of grilling meats and greasy food cooking at all the concession stands and kiosks throughout the ballpark.

It was an aroma that I have come to recognize as part of the ambiance of being at the ballpark. To Paula it was new and almost overwhelming. 

We found our seats: Box 137 Row 32 Seats 9 & 10, aisle seats. 

I had paid a bit more than I originally intended for our tickets but it was worth it. Our view of the field was terrific. But there were other factors that would take away from our enjoyment of the game. More on that later. 

The Yankees were just about to start batting practice.

Getting to watch them was my main reason for being there so early. I went down to just behind the White Sox dugout to get some shots of the Yankees players. 

Raul Ibanez was in the cage and, one of my favorite players, Mark Teixeria was waiting his turn. 

I didn't get many good pictures because of the lack of zoom power on my camera lens. 

Once the Yanks were done hitting it was time to go find something to eat. 

We walked along the concourse surveying the cornucopia of ballpark specialties. There was: Chicago style hot dogs, Pizza, burgers, chicken, TexMex nachos to name a just a few. 

We walked all the way from our seats to the area in center field just to the right of the scoreboard.

There was so much food to choose from we couldn't decide. We finally both got an sliced roast beef with onions and peppers on an Italian roll. This proved to be a not so good choice for me. 

When we got back to our seats I discovered that the sliced beef had been soaked in a juice laced with hot peppers. For the second time in the day I couldn't eat something because it was too spicy. 

Later on I would treat myself to a Dove bar. Not the best choice for me but it was a treat. 

Although I had decided that I wasn't going to take a lot of pictures during the game because I wanted to enjoy the experience of just being there; I did manage to get this shot of Paula at her first MLB game...

...and one of us together. 

As game time grew closer the pregame festivities began. It was "Black Hawks" night at the stadium. The White Sox were honoring and celebrating the City's NHL hockey team who had won the Stanley Cup back in 2011.

The fans enthusiasm and love for the team was more than evident by their reaction to all the pregame events. 

There was an on the field interview with the Black Hawks coach and a parade of the season ticket holders around the perimeter of the field.

But the special event that really got the crowd going was Jim Cornellison, a tenor who sings at all the Black Hawks home games, and his rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. 

I thought it was long, drawn out and a bit over the top but the Chicago fans absolutely loved it. 

The game was very entertaining and started out really well for the Yankees. White Sox starter Gavin Floyd struggled with his control and gave up 2 runs in the first. Jeter singled, Swisher walked, Teixeria singled Jeter home.  Robinson Cano, who had also walked, scored on a ground out.   

Only an outstanding fielding play by White Sox 2nd baseman, Gordon Beckham, with the bases loaded and 2 outs, kept the Yanks from scoring more. 

Yanks scored again with two outs in the top of the 2nd. Consecutive singles by Swisher and Cano put runners at 1st and 3rd. Teixeria walked. 

Curtis Granderson singled to right. Swisher scored. But once again the Yankees threat was quenched by a defensive play. Alex Rios threw Robinson Cano out at home to end the inning. 

At this point in the game I was very happy. Despite Freddie Garcia's shaky performance the White Sox did not score in the first or second inning.

In the 3rd, much to the crowd's delight, Gavin Floyd was taken out of the game after hitting Raul Ibanez.  

Let me just take a few words to say something about the White Sox fans. They are very involved with their team and expect only the best out of them. When they get it they are happy but when they don't watch out. White Sox fans are very passionate and somewhat fickle. 

The Yankees threatened again in the top of the 4th. getting 2 on with no outs. Jeter's 2nd single of the night, another walk to Steve Swisher put two on with no out. But then Robinson Cano flied out. 

The threat ended when Mark Teixeria on a 3-2 change up by the White Sox 2nd pitcher (the 9th pitch of his at bat), hit into a double play.

In the bottom of the 5th White Sox made a comeback. Dewayne Wise, the former Yankee, hit a 2 run homer. After a single, the Yankee starter loaded the bases with 2 consecutive walks. Joe Girardi took him out of the game. 

On a fielder's choice and 2 singles, the White Sox  scored 3 more runs taking a 5-3 lead. I was not a happy camper.  

In the top of the 6th Derek Jeter hit a home run over the left field fence. His 3rd hit of the night and 2nd run scored moved him up to 13th on the all time run scored list. 

The Yankees then scored 2 more runs on hits by Teixeria and pinch hitter Casey Magehee. Momentum and the lead had shifted back to the Bronx Bombers. 

I should have been happy but, as I mentioned to Paula, I knew that there was cause for concern: Jaba Chamberlain now was the Yankees pitcher. 

Having entered the game in the bottom of the 5th giving up a single that led to the White Sox 5th run, Chamberlain was lucky to get out of the inning on a deep fly ball tracked down in center by Curtis Granderson.  

Since he came back from a severe early season ankle injury a couple of weeks earlier Chamberlain had not pitched effectively at all. I had no confidence in him. 

My concerns proved valid when Joba gave up a game tying homer run to Gordon Beckham in the last of the 6th. 

In the top of the 7th Derek Jeter hit a two-out double but was left stranded. At the 7th inning stretch the game was tied and now in the hands of the bullpens. 

Now let me take this place in the post to write about the only negative aspect of our experience at US Cellular Field. 

As I mentioned earlier we had really good seats at least as far as the view was concerned. But there was a guy and a girl behind us who did nothing but talk the entire game. I mean they didn't shut up from the minute they sat down until the last out. 

They weren't just talking at a volume where we could occasionally hear them. They were intrusively loud.

They appeared to be in their mid 20's. I couldn't help but learn from their conversation that they were both co-workers and friends. The guy constantly used the Lord's name in vain and the "F" word. 

Paula was bothered by it a lot more than I was but we were both uncomfortable. At one point Paula was going to turn around and ask him to stop using his foul language but I stopped her. 

Paula told me that at that point she prayed that the guy would stop. Even though he was still loud and annoying he stopped using foul language. 

Now back to the game. 

In the home half of the 7th with a man on White Sox outfielder, Alexei Ramirez hit a 2 run homer off Yankees left handed reliever Boone Logan. 

Logan is usually pretty effective out of the bullpen but not this time. The Ramirez homer would be the difference in the game. Sox DH Adam Dunn would hit a homer in the last of the 8th extending their lead. 

The Yankees would manage only 1 more hit in the last two innings; a two out single in the top of the 9th by Ichiro Suzuki off the Chicago closer Addison Reed. Russell Martin then struck out to end the game. 

The Yankees lost 9-6 in because their bullpen, which had been rather effective all season, had a bad night. I was very disappointed. So much so that I didn't even take my traditional final scoreboard picture. 

The bright spot and only positive memory I could take with me me was Derek Jeter's great night. 

The Yankee captain had 4 hits: 2 singles, a home run and a double. Unfortunately, he never got to the plate for the chance hit a triple for the first "cycle" of his career. 

And as it says on the message board in this picture (even though it's hard to read). That night Jeter joined Willie Mays as the only player in MLB history with at least 3000 hits, 300 HRs, 300 stolen bases and 1000 RBIs. 

Even though I didn't like the end results I did enjoy getting to see the Yankees in person again for the first time in over 8 years. 

We exited the stadium, got into our car and on the highway heading back to the hotel in less than 30 minutes. Relatively quickly for a MLB baseball game. 

Back at our hotel we had one final in-room snack made up of left overs we had in our room's refrigerator. 

We each had one last slice of Giordano's pizza warmed up in the microwave, some cheese sticks, and a sugar free chocolate covered pecan candy. It was a simple but delicious late night snack. 

We packed up what we could so that packing to check out in the morning was easier. 

Day 3 in our long weekend was over and the next day we would be heading home. But there was one more place for us to visit.  

The next day would be fun and the next night we would be back sleeping in our bed.

Weekend In Chicago Day 3-Part 2

The Beach, The Fountain, and The Bean

With our tour of the Alder Planetarium at an end we had one more thing to do before we left the Museum Campus area for the last time. 

The picture below is a reminder that the planetarium was right next to the shores of Lake Michigan.

Among the few requests my wife made in regard to activities on our trip was that she wanted to take a walk on the beach. 

She qualified her request with the words "in the morning". But as you have read in previous posts our mornings were spent "sleeping in". A morning walk on one of the many lake front beaches wasn't going to happen. 

But now we found ourselves standing in front of our car looking out at the lake on a beautiful warm pleasant summer afternoon. As an incurable romantic and someone who always tries my best to show my love to my wife, I knew that we could not leave that park without at least going down by the beach. I took her hand and we headed that way. 

As we made our way through the maze of sidewalks, we were passed by a group of tourists taking the Chicago Segway sightseeing tour. 

It looked like a lot of fun and doing it in Chicago would be really cool. I'll have to put it on my agenda for our next Windy City vacation.  

Our hand-in-hand stroll led us to the railing that separates the bike path and the sands of the beach front. 

We stood and looked at the water for a while. Then it was time to head on down to the beach.  

We walked to the end of the wooden walkway dusted with wind driven sand and looked out over the panoramic view of  the only Great Lake entirely within the US border. 

Although there were other people on this small section of beach they were far enough away to make us feel somewhat isolated. 

I don't believe Paula thought we were going to do anything but look at the water. She seemed at bit taken back when I asked her if she was ready to take our shoes off and head down onto the sand.

With no place to sit, we leaned on each other to take off our sneakers and socks. First thing we did was put our feet into the water. This was a little bit of a challenge. While the beach was sandy there was a section of small pebbles between the sand and the water. Getting into the water required walking across those small stones. 

But after treading softly we breached the surf with our pedial digits. I took this picture as proof of our adventure.

But the water covering our feet doesn't really show up that well in this shot. We couldn't walk out much deeper than we did because the bottom dropped off rather drastically but we couldn't see to what degree. We knew it was best to stay where we were. So I decided this event needed to be documented with a video. 

We got out of the water and stood on the beach to allow our feet to dry. Paula found a small stick and began to draw in the sand. She made something very sweet and romantic. 

As we stood there looking at her drawing we thought it more like "RIP" than "R+P". So she just below it she wrote this. 

Then, like any good artist, my wife signed and dated her creations. Here's a shot of her entire sand art gallery.

While we were playing in the sand we had a visitor; a seagull. He didn't come over just to be friendly. He wasn't a member of the Chicago Aviary Chamber of Commerce. He was after something in the sand we didn't know was there.  

His quest was finding and devouring several pieces of snack chips buried in the sand. He was persistent and fearless in the search for his lunch. He got as close two feet away from us in his foraging efforts. I named him "Chipper". 

Here's a picture that shows all the elements of our time on the beach: Paula's artwork, our sneakers and our seagull friend. 

Although it was just a few short minutes out of our day; I would have to say that those few minutes on the beach by Lake Michigan was the most romantic time of our entire trip. 

A short drive north from the Museum Campus on Columbus Avenue took us to our next tourist attraction. 

We parked along the street and paid for it using an automated box near where we parked. It was $5 for an hour. 

We walked into Grant Park to see something I'd seen on TV many times.

Buckingham Fountain is the opening shot of the beginning of the first successful sit-com ever on the Fox Television Network: Married With Children. 

Each episode begins with the instrumental introduction of the Frank Sinatra song "Love and Marriage" playing in the back ground. The fountain shoots up into the air. It's only for about 5 seconds but that's long enough to be memorable. 

I was really excited about seeing this fountain. I think it's cool to see things that I've seen in TV or movies in real life. 

We spent about 5 minutes in front of Buckingham Fountain. I could have stayed and watched the water show it puts on at the top of each hour but we had only about 45 minutes before we had to leave for the ballpark. We still had several "must see" things to find. 

Next on our sight seeing agenda Cloud Gate, Chicago's most popular public sculpture. It's nickname is "The Giant Bean" because of it's shape.

I thought Cloud Gate was a lot closer to Buckingham Fountain than it was. As it turned out it was in a totally different park. 

My 3rd navigational mistake of the trip (but who's counting?) was thinking that Grant Park and Millennium Park were the same.  At it turns out they are 2 blocks apart. 

Using Paula's I-Phone for help with directions to get to Millennium Park. Along the way we passed in front of the Art Institute of Chicago. It was featured in "Ferris Bueller". I took a picture of one of the bronze lions outside the museum's entrance. 

Although we didn't know it when we passed it on our way to Cloud Gate, this museum would play an unexpected part in our day.  

Just past the Art Institute was Millennium Park. In this park were two of Chicago's most unique tourist attractions. 

Crown Fountain is a black granite reflecting pool surrounded by benches. Although we didn't take a picture of the entire plaza I found one through a Google search. 

As you can see in at the far right and partially at the far left of this picture the fountain has a pair of 50 ft. tall transparent glass brick towers on either side of the reflecting pool. 

On the inside of these towers is a series of light-emitting diodes that can display digital video. Most of the time what's displayed on the towers are close ups of faces. The pictures are positioned so that it looks like the fountains are coming out of the mouths of the faces. 

Looking at Crown Fountain from the perspective of a tourist walking through the city it was a cool thing just to stand and watch. 

But being a kid at heart part of me really longed to, once again, take off my shoes, slosh through the water puddled on the granite surface and wait to be soaked by the stream coming from the tower. It would have been great fun. 

We watched the kids play in the fountain for a while but soon it was time to head on over to AT&T plaza and see Cloud Gate.  

The sculpture was given it's name by it's designer, artist Anish Kapoor. It was created to serve as a symbolic gate welcoming tourists into the city. 

  . 

Built on the roof of the Park Grill restaurant and resembling a gigantic bean shaped glob of liquid mercury, Cloud Gate is "you gotta see it to believe it" attraction. The 3 story high sculpture has a highly polished stainless steel surface with no visible seams. It reflects the Chicago skyline in a distorted and twisted way. 

You can see what I mean by looking at the sides of this sculpture in these pictures. 

If you look just to the right of the center of the picture below you'll see my camera flash. I was trying to capture the reflections of the people and places both in front of and behind me. 

As a tourist you can't resist looking for your own reflection and capturing it with your camera. 

You can also take advantage of the mirror effect to take a picture of yourself from both front and back at the same time. 

But just when you think you've looked at this magnificent sculpture from every angle possible you step underneath and look up. 

There you see a twenty seven foot high stainless steel kaleidoscopic panorama of the underbelly of the giant bean. The interior design provided the special effect; you just had to point your camera up and press the shutter. 

Paula and I appear 3 times in the picture below. If you look hard you can see us at the bottom at about the 4 o'clock mark from there look up toward 11 o'clock to see us again. In the center of the picture (a reverse angle reflection of the bottom of the picture) and you'll see us between 5 and 6 o'clock. 

You can spot us 4 times in this picture by looking for the reflection of my camera flash. Can you see us?

The giant bean is visually fascinating; almost hypnotizing. I could have spent an hour in the AT&T plaza not just looking at Cloud Gate but watching the tourists as they have fun finding themselves in the reflections.

But we didn't have time to stay very long. Our paid parking time was running out and we needed to leave for the baseball game. 

While in Millennium Park we realized that the route Paula's phone showed us was the best driving route and not the best walking route. We found we could have just walked straight up Columbus Avenue then over 1/2 block to the park. 

On our way back to the car I decided to take a walkway that looked to be a pedestrian bridge over a lot of the area traffic. It looked really cool and I thought that it would get us back to the car faster. But I was wrong.  

I later found out that the path we chose is "officially" called the Nicholas Bridgeway. It's intended to give tourists a direct way to go from Millennium Park, over top Monroe Avenue to the Modern Art wing of the Art Institute. 

We didn't find out about where the walkway ended until we got to the door of the Art Institute. We either went inside to see if we could find a way down to the street or walk back to the park and start over. 

I chose to walk through the door. But finding our way down to the street was not as easy as I thought it would be. We ended up asking a museum guard for directions, riding down 3 sets of escalators, and then having to ask a ticket counter attendant to point out the exit.  

Finally we made it back to the car with 5 minutes left on our parking time. It was a long walk and we were both tired and hot. 

Glad to be sitting down in the Impala we basked in coolness of the air conditioning for a few minutes. Then we said our "good byes" to downtown Chicago, programmed the GPS to take us to 35th street on the south side of the city, and headed for the ballpark.