Decoration in the Architecture of the Turn of the Century (not our century)

This is the opera house.

The light fixtures are sheet music.  The lights are the notes!

This is terracotta.  Remember after the fire they were crazy over terracotta because it wouldn't burn.

These people were crazy over decoration.  Root was the artist in the firm of Burnham & Root.




This is the Tiffany ceiling inside of Marshall Field's. 

Look up! Look up!  All inside of Marshall Field's.

Lake Geneva II

The lake freezes in the winter with ice three feet thick.  Every boat and every dock must be removed from the lake for the winter.

They have restored and preserved some of the 100 year old treasures.

These big boats are kept in the water in a special marina with warm water circulating thru the winter.

This one has a lift for people and coolers.

This was the Nabisco mansion.

This was where we docked.

A carnival for the weekend Venetian festival.

Lake Geneva I

Lake Geneva is 70 miles north of Chicago.  It's a good-sized spring-fed lake 7 miles by 2 miles.  A rail line was built from Chicago to this lake in 1870.  When Chicago burnt down in the fire of 1871 the rich and famous people who already had houses up here just lived here while their Chicago houses were builing rebuilt.  The rail line is gone now and the travel time in a car is no fun.

This boat is over 100 years old.

We took a 2 1/2 hour tour which is the "mail boat."  It actually delivers mail to 60 docks around the lake.



Here is Dan, the mail guy, delivering the mail.

A night at Second City and dinner in Old Town

No trip to Chicago is complete without a visit to Second City.  Be sure to get your tickets in advance because it's always sold out on the day of the show.  Of course, Ed had never heard of it.  He had a great time and couldn't believe it was such a "hidden gem."



Inadvertently, Ed and I wore our orange outfits.

This is a very trendy part of town but Chicago is so huge there are many many cute parts of town.

A Matinee @ Steppenwolf Theater

 This theater is in Lincoln Park.  The members of the company include John Malkovich, Gary Sinise, Joan Allen, etc.  They all started in Chicago.  Quite illustrious.


So we saw this two person play which debuted recently at Lincoln Center.

These were the two actors.  They appeared after the performance and were kind enough to allow a few pictures.  This is William Peterson who was in CSI Las Vegas.



We are down the street at a good Italian restaurant.

Architecture Tour I

This is the Art Institute.  One of two buildings that still exist that were built for the Columbian Exhibition of 1893 which celebrated the 400th anniversary of Columbus discovering America.  The architects argued over what school of architecture would be employed for the exhibition and the Beaux Arts guys won.

This is an example of the Chicago School of Architecture.  The buildings are brick and terracotta.  After the Chicago fire, no buildings could be built in Chicago out of wood.  Since terracotta had already been baked, it was fireproof.

This was our guide.  She was really awesome.  This is the Marquette Building, dedicated to the discovery of Joliet and Marquette of the passage from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River.  This connection made Chicago the center of trade for the Midwest.

Inside this building are bas relief of everyone on the expedition.

Next is an Art Deco building.  Notice the verticality and that the building is shaped like an armchair.  This was a result of zoning ordinances passed in cities building skyscrapers so that some sunlight and air would get down to the street.

The interior is meant to look like an ocean liner.

The courtyard in front of the Board of Trade.

This is the Fischer Building which is still upscale apartments.

This is the new Harold Washington Library, an example of Post Modernism.  There are touches of many older styles all tied together to created a striking building.