AN AUTUMN ADVENTURE IN CHICAGO & MILWAUKEE

When Seth needed to travel to Milwaukee for a certification program, we took it as an opportunity to add to our list of late-2012 road trips! We stopped in Chicago on the way, seeing a college friend of Seth’s before spending a couple of days seeing the sights. And although our days in Milwaukee were mostly spent working — Seth in his training and me on my laptop in our hotel room — we made good use of the evenings for exploring the downtown area.

Also, although late October/early November probably is not the time we’d ordinary have chosen for this trip, I was pleasantly surprised how well my strategy of dressing for the dead of winter worked. With coats, scarves, hats and gloves, I was probably actually prepared for even colder temps than we experienced!

day 1 • 10.28.12

Chicago, IL

Above: Our first view of the Chicago skyline, with Willis Tower welcoming us!

Willis Tower was also our first sight in the city to visit, and we had a beautiful day for taking in the views from Skydeck Chicago on its 103rd floor.

Above right: Just hanging out 1,353 feet in the air in a glass box extending from one of the tallest buildings in the Western Hemisphere!

Willis Tower also gave us our first look at Lake Michigan.

As we made our way from Willis Tower to Millennium Park, we passed Calder’s Flamingo in the Federal Plaza. The steel sculpture (above) weighs 50 tons and stands 53 feet tall!

We were excited to see Cloud Gate (aka The Bean) in Millennium Park (a portion of Grant Park intended to celebrate the current millennium). This piece of public art is one of the world’s largest permanent outdoor art installations. Since its unveiling in 2004, it’s been one of Chicago’s most famous sights — in part for how its shiny surface reflects the surrounding skyline and passersby.

day 2 • 10.29.12

Chicago, IL

We were in Grant Park again to start our second day in the city — this time at the Clarence F. Buckingham Memorial Fountain, a Chicago Landmark at the center of the park. Although the fountain wasn’t running at this time of year, we could envision it being pretty impressive.

From Buckingham Fountain, we walked along the Lakefront Trail beside Lake Michigan to Navy Pier.

Navy Pier is a 3,300-foot-long pier on the shoreline of Lake Michigan. The shopping and entertainment area encompasses more than 50 acres and is one of Chicago’s top attractions … But it seems that if you visit on a weekday in late October, you can have it pretty much all to yourself!

Despite the confidence of the sign at above right, the wind actually did steal my hat at Navy Pier! Fortunately, Seth was able to chase it down before it blew into the lake.

The Ferris wheel at Navy Pier is an iconic part of the Chicago skyline. It was inspired by the very first Ferris wheel, which came to Chicago during the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 and was meant to rival the newly built Eiffel Tower. The one pictured above was installed more than a century later, in 1995. 

After Navy Pier, we made our way to the Magnificent Mile — an upscale section of Michigan Avenue and one of the world’s most famous shopping districts.

Above is the Chicago Water Tower, the most iconic building to survive the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. It was built in the 1860s as an attractive way to house piping that delivered water from Lake Michigan — part of a solution for a water supply problem faced by a growing population.

Speaking of the Great Chicago Fire: Fourth Presbyterian Church (pictured above) dedicated a new building the same day the fire began and tragically lost its sanctuary to the disaster. The congregation has constructed new buildings a couple of times since then, and the current one is the second-oldest structure on North Michigan Avenue (after the Chicago Water Tower). It’s also on the National Register of Historic Places.

Our last stop on Michigan Avenue was the Hershey’s store, and of course we left with some hot chocolate to keep us warm on our walk back to our car!

days 3 – 6 • 10.30.12 – 11.02.12

Milwaukee, WI

I loved the high ceilings and the view we had from our hotel room in downtown Milwaukee — which is good since I spent a lot of time in this room while Seth was in his certification class!

Our hotel was near the Milwaukee RiverWalk, which follows the Milwaukee River through the heart of the city.

We went out for a walk each evening, even though there was only a little light left after Seth got out of class. On the plus side, the light we did get — as well as the colors of the sky and the city — were so pretty at that time of day.

On our last evening, we walked to Milwaukee Public Market, located in the city’s Historic Third Ward neighborhood. It was inspired by the Pike Place Market in Seattle and offers foods and other goods from a variety of vendors.

 Of course, we saw a lot of cheese there (top left in collage above), but we opted to get dinner from Aladdin’s Taste of the East. And we couldn’t leave without some Wisconsin-shaped chocolates — a sweet way to end this adventure!