For our spring vacation this year we went to Chicago, arriving on Wednesday evening and departing Saturday morning. We then traveled to Madison, WI and left on Monday morning. By the numbers we did:
- 35 miles of walking
- 7 breweries
- 4 museums
- 2 cemeteries
- 1 distillery
- Countless restaurants
The highlights for me were the Art Institute of Chicago, and seeing the U-505 at the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry.
I think we'll start with our hotel, which was on the corner of Wabash and Harrison. You can clearly see the L-train and Roosevelt University, as well as some street murals.
And then we'll move on to some architecture and street art, as well as a little Picasso (which is actually huge).
Art Institute of Chicago
We spent right around 5 hours at the AIC. I could have spent another 5 hours, but our brains were pretty full and we were hungry. There was a special display of the work of Henri Matisse, and we made sure to get the extra tickets.
It was cool to see so many well known works of art as well as others I'd never even imagined. My absolute favorite, and the one that stopped me in my tracks, was Norman Lewis' 1942 painting "Multitudes." The photograph doesn't do justice to the depth in the colors. The more I stared at it, the more I saw: people, tables, buildings, doors...
Field Museum of Natural History
I didn't take many pictures at the Field Museum -- the exhibits were all so dark. But I did get a couple of good shots.
Griffin Museum of Science & Industry
Our time at the Griffin was limited, but the only thing I really wanted to see was the U-505, a Nazi uboat captured by the American Navy in 1944. It was the only intact uboat captured by the US during WWII. I was a little underwhelmed by the tour, which didn't go into enough depth (pun intended) for me. Still it was a dream come true to be onboard, and to see how the sailors lived in such a small and cramped war machine.
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison was great. I actually liked it better than Chicago. It's clean, friendly, not oversaturated with humans, completely walkable, and I didn't see any rats (saw one in Chicago). I would go back to Mad anytime.
We started at Resurrection Cemetery and Forest Hill Cemetery, which are across the street from each other. Forest Hill is one of the most beautiful cemeteries I've ever been to.
In our walks we saw a lot of fun stuff, and visited the Contemporary Art Museum of Madison, which was probably the oddest museum I've ever been to, and not because of the art. One gallery had pieces enclosed in stained glass boxes, and we both thought the stained glass was more interesting than the art they contained. Another gallery on the lower floor had only two paintings by two different artists. The second floor was in the midst of having a new exhibit installed and was closed to the public. And the top floor open air "sculpture garden" had only one sculpture. All-in-all, Kate said she counted only 21 pieces. It was free admission, but we donated some money anyway in hopes that they will get some more art.
And I'll end with a few random shots from our long hikes.
We had a lot of fun, despite a few traffic jams on the way, and we both look forward to our next adventure together.
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