We're always looking for ways to escape the heat of a Texas summer, but this time we flew out of the Texas frying pan only to land in a Chicago fire. Almost every day of our short trip, the temperature in Chicago was as high or higher than that in Fort Worth, and with higher humidity.
Even so, Chicago is a great city and one of our favorite places to visit. There's always so much to do, the food is terrific, the art and architecture is a joy, public transportation is cheap and efficient, and Chicagoans are eager to share their city.
The heat slowed us down but didn't stop us. We enjoyed a great Cirque Shanghai show, "The Year of the Dragon," at Navy Pier. We did some comparison eating of deep dish pizza and decided that Lou Malnati's is clearly the best. We enjoyed a great improv show at the iO Club near Wrigley Field and attended concerts in the park.
We escaped the afternoon heat by roaming around the cool Art Institute.
On July 4, we hopped a bus towards the park around the Shedd Aquarium and Adler Planetarium, a recommended vantage point to watch the fireworks at Navy Pier. It must have been obvious we were unsure about where to get off the bus -- the route had changed due to the holiday -- because another passenger graciously offered her help. Lucky for us, La'Vena was going to watch the fireworks, too, so we all walked to the park together. We got to talking about this and that and the other, and before the evening was over we knew we had a made a new friend.
Of course, I took some snaps: Crown Fountain and Cloud Gate (AKA The Bean), the skyline at night, and some interior shots of the historic Hotel Burnham, where we stayed. Here's my Flickr photos.
