Jane Addams, photo courtesy of University of Illinois

Jane Addams attracted national attention when, with with her friend Ellen G. Starr, she founded Chicago’s Hull House in 1889. The facility was located on the city’s near west side, in a densely urban neighborhood populated primarily by struggling immigrants. Modeled after the settlement houses in London, the mission of Hull House was to assist immigrants by providing a center for a civic and social life, improve the quality of education, and to investigate and improve the conditions in the industrial districts of Chicago.

Hull House provided kindergarten and day care facilities for the children of working mothers; an employment bureau; an art gallery; libraries; English and citizenship classes; and theater, music and art classes. By virtue of its efforts, the Illinois Legislature enacted protective legislation for women and children, setting the stage for passage of a Federal child labor law in 1916. As her notoriety grew, Addams was appointed to Chicago’s Board of Education, helped to found the Chicago School of Civics and Philanthropy, and led investigations on midwifery, narcotics consumption, milk supplies, and sanitary conditions in Chicago. Yet despite her laudable work, when Addams opposed the country’s entry into World War One, she was branded a traitor by the press and expelled from the Daughters of the American Revolution. Fortunately, history treated Addams with more respect; fourteen years later she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her humanitarian work and pacifist ideals.

Jane Addams Hull House Museum historical landmark

Of the 13 buildings that once comprised the Hull House complex, only the original home and adjacent dining hall escaped the wrecking ball when a six square block area was razed to make way for the University of Illinois at Chicago. The original home was restored and converted to the Jane Addams Hull House Museum, which today attracts more than 30,000 visitors a year who come to learn about women’s history, immigration and labor rights.

The Museum’s collection includes more than 1100 artifacts related to Hull House history and 100 oral interviews with people who have shared their stories about Hull House and the surrounding neighborhood. Remaining true to its history as a place where the public has gathered to discuss the most critical social issues of our time, the Museum continues the tradition by hosting programs that are free and open to the public. Every Tuesday from 12:00-1:00pm, local residents gather at a modern day soup kitchen to eat soup made from fresh, organic ingredients, many of which come from the museum’s on-site organic garden. Other events include classes on canning and preserving foods and weekly screenings of Sex Positive, a free documentary film series for people who like sex.

Interior spaces are decorated with period furniture and historical displays

Hull House Museum, located at 800 S. Halsted Street in Chicago, is open Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. Admission is free. After touring the original house, dining hall, and organic garden, visitors can also visit historic Maxwell Street and Haymarket Square, as well as the vibrant neighborhoods of Little Italy, Greek Town, and Pilsen, all of which are within walking distance of Hull House.

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After a few housebound weeks in Illinois’ sub-freezing winter weather, a thirty-six degree day felt positively balmy. Although the weatherman called for yet another dreary, overcast day, no snow or freezing rain was forecast, so I seized the opportunity to visit the Morton Arboretum, a 1,700-acre park in the Chicago’s western suburbs.

Walking along the shores of a frozen lake at the Morton Arboretum

The Arboretum was established in 1922 by Joy Morton, who is best known as founder of the Morton Salt Company. Although Morton’s head was in the salt business, thanks to his father, J. Sterling Morton, who founded Arbor Day and served as Secretary of Agriculture under President Grover Cleveland, the younger Morton’s heart belonged to trees. “Plant Trees” was the Morton’s family motto. And plant they did, over many years creating a horticultural showcase on their private estate. At the age of 65, Morton began developing the property into an Arboretum, with the mission to “collect and study trees, shrubs, and other plants from around the world, to display them across naturally beautiful landscapes for people to study and enjoy, and to learn how to grow them in ways that enhance our environment.”

Reflections in the east branch of the DuPage River

Today the Morton Arboretum is a wonderland in every season. Each spring, blooming flowers explode across its 1,700-acres: butter yellow blossoms in the Daffodil Glade, blooming Crabapples along the lake, and riotous wildflowers in the woodlands and meadows. Summer offers perennial flower gardens along Joy Path, cool shade on the Conifer Trail, and sweet smells in the fragrance Garden. In the fall, sumacs and crabapples drop their heavy fruit, while the Maples and Oaks burst into flaming hues.

A stark but beautiful winter wonderland

Chattering birds and fat squirrels were my only companions

But in winter, the park has a stark, desolate beauty. Rather than rent snowshoes, I tramped through calf-high snow that buried the park’s 16 miles of trails. Choosing a path leading into the eastern sector, I circled Lake Marmo and Sterling Pond, breaking a fresh path through white powder. Barren black trees tickled leaden skies and reflected in the inky waters of the east branch of the DuPage River. Tufts of dry brown prairie grass poking through the drifts and snow-laden evergreen trees provided the only relief in an otherwise monochrome landscape. Although the parking lot had been partially full when I arrived, my only companions were chattering birds and fat brown squirrels, who sat in high tree branches ripping acorns to shreds. Although I would have preferred a stroll under sunny summer skies, I had to admit that I was awed by this winter wonderland. I stayed put until I could no longer feel my nose or ears, vowing to return in the gentler seasons.

Snow-laden evergreen boughs

The Morton Arboretum is open 365 days a year from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. (or sunset, whichever is earlier). In addition to walking trails, the park offers nine miles of roads for biking, jogging, or driving tours, as well as tours on the Acorn Express, an open-air tram that provides narrated tours of the Arboretum’s history and tree collection. The Arboretum is located at 4100 Illinois Route 53 in Lisle, Illinois, phone 630-968-0074. Regular admission is $11 for adults (18–64), $10 for seniors (65+), $8 for youths (2–17), and free for children under two, however on Wednesdays admission is discounted to $7 for adults, $6 for seniors, and $5 for youths.

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They say all things come full circle. In September of 1969, I hopped aboard the Red Line of the EL and rode down the Dan Ryan Expressway for my first day at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The neighborhood around Roosevelt and Halstead Streets was not safe in those days. One block south was Maxwell Street, for years home to the world’s largest open-air market. By the time I arrived, foot traffic had been reduced to sullen gang members, panhandlers, and furtive drug dealers lurking in shadows between the neighborhood’s disintegrating, grime-covered buildings.

More than 50,000 bargain hunters descended upon Maxwell Street every Sunday during the heyday years

To the north, the university squatted across several blocks, a barren heap of concrete where saplings withered and stoned-out hippies lounged in the Student Union, strumming anti-war ballads on guitars. Barely seventeen at the time, it was more than I could handle; I dropped out before the end of the first semester, got a job, and never looked back. But last month, during my annual trip to visit my family over the holidays, I was invited to have lunch with a professor friend who teaches at the UIC. It had been more than 40 years since my last visit and I wasn’t sure I remembered how to get there, so I asked my Dad for directions.

“Halsted and Roosevelt? You mean down by Maxwell Street? You can’t go down there alone; it’s dangerous!”

I explained that, according to my friend, the neighborhood is now quite safe.

Picture, anyone? (photo courtesy of James Newberry, McKinney, TX)

“No kidding? You know, that’s the way it used to be when I was a kid. I must’ve been eight, maybe nine years old when my old man started dragging me down to Maxwell Street every Sunday morning to help him sell merchandise. We had to be there by 4 a.m. to get a spot. He’d wait in line to buy a ticket – a different color strip of paper for each size stall. Some sellers set up tables and racks but my ol’ man just threw the stuff on the ground.”

“What did he sell?” I asked.

“Handles. All kinds of wooden handles. Axes, hammers, shovels. They were seconds from a factory on his milk route. Sometimes he’d have to pay a quarter for one, sometimes the factory just gave them to him. He sold those handles for years – a buck or two apiece. Just dumped them on the ground and let people pick through them.”

Dad had fond memories of those Sunday mornings, which spanned the mid-1930′s and stretched into the 40′s. “You could buy absolutely anything on Maxwell Street. Cheap, too! Everyone came down to shop, to eat, just to see what was going on. Even as a teenager, my friends and I would go because it was fun.” But neither of us could have foreseen what was to come.

From the 1880′s to the 1920′s the densely populated residential area surrounding Maxwell Street was mostly Jewish, the center of Chicago’s first ghetto. As the Jewish residents became more prosperous they moved their families further west but kept their shops along Maxwell Street. Mexicans and African-Americans moved into the neighborhood, creating an area of ethnic diversity where all of Chicago’s races intermingled and shopped for bargains. Of Maxwell Street, it was often said that “the only color that mattered was green.”

View of market booths from the rooftop

At its peak the market area stretched six blocks, from Clinton west to Sangamon, with almost 2,000 vendors selling from pushcarts, wagons, boxes, and stores. On an average Sunday, more than 50,000 bargain hunters would descend on the market. Many well-known Chicago business got their start on Maxwell Street, among them Vienna Sausage, Keshin, Meystell, Karoll’s Clothing, Chemin’s Shoes, Morrie Mages Sporting Goods, and Fluky’s Hot Dogs. Nate’s Delicatessen, at 807 West Maxwell Street, became legendary after Aretha Franklin sang “Think” in “The Blues Brothers.”

The Zoot suit was invented here by Fox Brothers Tailors in the 1930′s and the infomercial traces its roots to salesmen such as Ron Popeil, famous for his demonstrations of food gadgets like the Dial-o-Matic slicer/dicer. Up and down the street, pitchmen hawked products with the refrain, “But wait, there’s more!”

But Maxwell Street was about more than commerce. During the first half of the 20th century, rural southerners poured into northern cities in search of jobs. African-American musicians flocked to Maxwell Street because it provided them a place to play and pick up a few dollars. Before long, Mississippi Delta country blues had mixed with urban grittiness to create a new form of music, the “Maxwell Street Sound.”

Sculpture commemorates apple sellers that once hawked fruit on Maxwell Street

Local businesses provided musicians with space outside their stores to perform, hoping to draw crowds and snare customers, but musicians often could not be heard above the noise of the crowd. The solution, electrified instruments and amplifiers, produced a new musical genre – electrified urban blues, later coined “The Chicago Blues.” Nearby Chess Records recorded the new sound, which heavily influenced the development of rock and roll. Some of the greats got their start here: Benny Goodman learned to play clarinet at the nearby Hull House, while blues greats Muddy Waters, Johnny Young, Jimmy Rogers and Little Walter all recorded on Maxwell Street.

Another sculppture honors the spirit of the historic market, on a street now filled with upscale shops

The automobile finally signaled the demise of the market. New expressways allowed customers to take their business to the suburbs and the neighborhood fell into decline. It’s death knell was construction of the Dan Ryan Expressway in the late 1950′s, which cut through a portion of the market and moved it westward. By the 1970′s the market was in full decline and the neighborhood completely blighted, but the university was in full bloom. Needing more space for its 25,000 students, the school slowly began buying land and demolishing the old buildings. The City of Chicago finally relocated the market in 1994 and it still continues to operate every Sunday, although in a much reduced fashion, on Desplaines Avenue.

Intersection of Maxwell and Halsted Streets today, one of the city's most desirable residential neighborhoods

On the day of my luncheon meeting, I found the old neighborhood with ease and immediately recognized the original UIC Admin building. Even in winter it is evident that the campus is now lushly landscaped, and its stark nakedness has long been supplanted by attractive buildings, interspersed with the occasional lovingly restored historic property. Once dangerous Halsted Street is lined with coffee houses, gourmet restaurants, and upscale shops. My professor friend said it best as we stood on the corner surveying the gentrification: “If we’d only known this was going to happen…” Indeed, all things do come full circle.

Historic photos courtesy of University of Illinois at Chicago

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I am on my annual pilgrimage to the Chicago area to visit family over the holidays. The day after I arrived, freezing rain coated everything with ice, creating dangerously slick driving conditions. The following day, more freezing rain was followed by eight inches of snow. Since then, it has snowed almost every day and the temperature has barely climbed above ten degrees. Although I don’t venture out much in this kind of weather, I managed to brave the horrid conditions one rare sunny day to take photos. Frost and ice had coated the naked tree trunks and tall grasses, transforming barren forests into a fairyland. Despite my double-lined winter coat, knit cap, hood, boots and gloves, I just about froze to death. I swear the metal earpieces of my glasses froze to my cheekbones.

Winter fog coats the trees and obscures a country road

Beautiful ice-and frost-coated trees

I was feeling pretty proud of myself for enduring the elements until happening upon these teens jumping around on the rocks at the edge of the Illinois River, wearing only lightweight jackets, and I began to question whether I really was just a wuss about cold weather.

By the time I had snapped a few photos of these three frolicking along the shores of the Illinois River, my hands were frozen, yet two of them weren't even wearing hats!

Still, even my sisters are complaining about the winter this year, something that I can’t recall happening in previous years. One of them sent me the following poem, which perfectly expresses my sentiments about Chicago winters:

It’s winter in Illinois
And the gentle breezes blow
Seventy miles an hour
At thirty-five below.

Oh, how I love Illinois
When the snow’s up to your butt
You take a breath of winter
And your nose gets frozen shut .

Yes, the weather here is wonderful
So I guess I’ll hang around
I could never leave Illinois
Cuz I’m frozen to the ground!

Author unknown

Perhaps I’m not such a sissy after all. Normally, I would be looking forward to heading south, but from the weather reports, it seems the south is not much better off than Chicago. Wonder what happened to global warming?

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With its rusting chain and flat tires, some consider the dilapidated, whitewashed bicycle chained to a sign post on Chicago’s north side a piece of urban junk. Cyclists know better. Pedaling by, they pay silent homage at this memorial to George Chavez, a cyclist killed at this spot in a hit-and-run accident in June of 2006.

The “ghost bike” memorial project began in 2003 in St. Louis, Missouri when Patrick Van Der Tuin, after witnessing a vehicle strike a bike rider, placed a white-painted bicycle on the spot with a hand-painted sign reading “Cyclist struck here.” Upon realizing that motorists tended to slow down when they passed the memorial, cyclists placed 15 more “ghost bikes” in spots around St. Louis where cyclists had been hit by automobiles. The idea caught on and before long there were ghost bikes in Pittsburgh, New York City, Seattle, Washington, D.C., Chicago, London, and dozens of other cities around the world.

Can’t view the above slide show of ghost bikes? Click here.

Debate over whether the memorials should be temporary or permanent reached a zenith over a ghost bike in Washington, D.C.’s Dupont Circle. For more than a year, it stood just a few feet from the spot where a garbage truck struck down 22-year old Alice Swanson as she pedaled to work. In August of 2009, claiming area retailers had complained that the memorial was an eyesore, the city cut the chain and carted the bicycle away. Less than a month later, friends of the rider surreptitiously arrived one at a time, laying ghost bikes at each of the intersection’s 22 lampposts and chaining a new memorial bike to its original spot. Although participants expected the 22 unchained bikes to disappear over time, they announced their intention to replace the memorial again and again until the city relents and leaves it in place.

The burgeoning movement has sprouted websites devoted to ghost bikes and events dedicated to those who have perished, such as last weekend’s Fifth Annual Memorial Ride and Walk in New York City, and the Chicago Ride of Silence, hosted in hundreds of cities worldwide with an aim of raising awareness that cyclists have a legal right to the public roadways. In Chicago, this year’s event is scheduled for May 19, 2010 at 7 p.m.

The question of whether ghost bikes are urban trash urban art may never be resolved, but it seems certain they are raising motorist awareness for bicycle safety. And if they can have that effect, I am all for keeping them in place.

Photo Credits: Ghost Bike 1 Hryck, Ghost Bike 2 Time’s Up! Environmental Organization, Ghost Bike 3 randomduck, Ghost Bike 4 Osbornb, Ghost Bike 5 Tom T, Ghost Bike 6 ChrispyWorld, Ghost Bike 7 hogalicioous, Ghost Bike 8 mattwi1s0n, Ghost Bike 9 Tom T, Ghost Bike 10 Daquella manera, Ghost Bike 11 Carlos F Pardo

Also a tip of the hat to Heather Cowper at HeatherOnHerTravels.com, the fabulous UK travel blog where I first learned about ghost bikes.

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I am in the Chicagoland area, visiting my family as usual for the holidays. I love this city and would move back here in a heartbeat, but for its brutal winters (it has been hovering near zero for the last few nights, with daytime temps in the single digits). But the rest of the time, Chicago is a joy, and never has it been more joyful than this past September, when more than 20,000 people pulled off a massive surprise for an unsuspecting Oprah Winfrey during the Oprah Show’s 24th season kickoff party, held on Chicago’s Miracle Mile on North Michigan Avenue. The entire crowd performed a choreographed flash mob dance to the Black Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling.”

Oprah, who was obviously shocked and thrilled by the surprise, showed the video from that event on today’s show and interviewed two of the people who were dancers. One said that her favorite part of the dance was when everyone was hunched over with their hands on the backs of the person in front of them. Amazed no one seemed to care that they were being touched by total strangers and elbowed by dancers aside them, the woman speculated there would be world peace if everyone lived with that kind of spirit and happiness. Another participant said that he still remembers the steps and whenever he is havingh a bad day, he closes the door to his office and dances to the video of the event. He described the portion of the dance where participants put their palms together in prayer fashion and raised their arms to the sky as “Joy Rising.” I watched the video three times and got goosebumps each time. Take a look:

My wish for everyone in 2010 is “Joy Rising.”

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Metal angel sculptures line pathways in wildflower choked Northerly Island, previous home of Meigs Field. The old runway, now a mowed grassy strip, is still visible in the background.

During my recent trip to Chicago, I took an afternoon stroll around Northerly Island, located just behind the downtown Museum Campus on the lakefront. This narrow peninsula was once home to Meigs Field, a tiny airport that opened on December 10, 1948 and by 1955 was the busiest single-strip airfield in the country. In its latter years, the airfield served mostly private planes, but I have a vivid recollection of landing at Meigs in a prop engine puddle-jumper many years ago, so commercial airlines must have used the field at one time. Landing and taking off from Meigs Field was a scary proposition. The runway was short and dead-ended into Lake Michigan; my first landing was my last – purposely. I was certain my plane was going into the drink.

In 1994, Chicago’s Mayor Daley announced plans to close the airport and build a park in its place. Nine years of legal battles ensued until, in a controversial move on March 30, 2003, the Mayor ordered private crews to destroy the runway in the middle of the night, bulldozing large X-shaped gouges into the runway surface. Daley subsequently excused his actions, insisting that post-9/11 risks of terrorist-controlled aircraft attacking the downtown waterfront necessitated the closing of Meigs Field.

Closeup of sculpture on Northerly Island

These days, Northerly Island is strewn with wildflowers. Metallic angel sculptures rise amidst blossoms, pointing the way down narrow asphalt paths winding between the Adler Planetarium and the old air tower. Butterflies drift from bloom to bloom and songbirds warble melodies from nests secreted in tall grasses. Eerily, concrete runway markers – the only remnant of the once busy airfield – poke their heads above thick vegetation growing on the old landing strip. Walking through this idyllic park, it is hard to imagine that it may soon undergo yet another radical transformation.

If the City of Chicago is successful in its bid for the 2016 Olympics, beach volleyball and sailing would take place at Northerly Island and a new permanent facility would be built for the canoe and kayak slalom. Just across Burnham Harbor, Soldier Field would be altered in order to host soccer games while McCormick Place, located  a bit further south on Chicago’s lakefront, would be transformed into a sports complex to host 11 Olympic and Paralympic sports. Planners propose locating the structures for 22 sports in five historic parks: Grant, Douglas, Jackson, Washington, and Lincoln, four of which are located on Chicago’s south side. Making way for an Olympic Village which would accommodate 16,000 athletes and officials, Michael Reese Hospital on the near south side is slated to be torn down and replaced with a group of high rises that would be converted into affordable housing after the Olympics.

Surrounded on three sides by Lake Michigan, Northerly Island will be transformed into Olympic Island, site of canoe/kayak slalom, beach volleyball competitions, and Olympic and Paralympic sailing

One of Chicago’s oldest and most beautiful public parks, Washington Park on the city's far south side will be the setting for the Olympic Stadium

The East Hall of McCormick Place, the largest exhibition hall in the U.S., will be home to weightlifting, judo, wrestling and volleyball competitions

Completely renovated in 2004, Soldier Field will again take center stage in the footballing world during the 2016 Olympic Tournament

The Olympic Village woud be located in an inspiring lakefront setting. Ninety percent of athletes will be within 15 minutes of their competition and training venues.

Supporters believe the Olympics would leave the parks in better shape than they are now, and that the Games would bring long-term benefits to Chicago, such as improvement of transportation infrastructure and revitalization of struggling neighborhoods, like the one surrounding Michael Reese. Opponents worry that the proposed venues would damage parks, displace residents, and be a financial drain on the city.

If Chicago is selected to be the host city, its Olympic plans will likely renew a 100-year old debate about the best future for the city that began when urban planner Daniel Burnham developed the Plan of Chicago. Burnham envisioned swaths of interconnected greenways and beautiful parks running along the lakefront to the southern border of the city. Only a small portion of these public spaces were ever built but if the Olympics are awarded to Chicago, a huge chunk of Burnam’s vision will become reality. While the winner of a heated debate can never be forecast with certainty, I’m betting that the city fathers (read Mayor Daley) will prevail. After all, anyone who has the audacity to tear up an airfield in the middle of the night can certainly get an Olympic Village built.

NOTE: The Olympic Committee is scheduled to announce their chosen city in 21 days. Monitor the process and announcements at Chicago2016.org. I’m rooting for Chicago.

All Olympic venue photos courtesy of Chicago2016.org

Chicago Vacations

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The meaning of the term “skyscraper” has changed dramatically over the centuries. Originally a nautical term referring to a tall mast or main sail on a sailing ship, the word was first used to describe buildings when the ten-story steel-framed Home Insurance Building was constructed in Chicago in 1885. Although later demolished, the structure forever marked Chicago as the birthplace of the skyscraper. Chicago today has an unrivaled collection of skyscrapers that makes the city a premiere destination in the world for the study of architecture.

Chicago Model City display in the lobby of the Architecture Foundation documents the history of architecture in the city

Chief among the city’s spectacular skyscrapers is the Chicago Board of Trade Building, which anchors the southern end of the downtown financial district on LaSalle Street and is the world’s oldest futures and options exchange. Built to provide a centralized location where buyers and sellers could meet, negotiate, and enter into contracts to buy and sell commodities produced in the Midwest, farmers flocked to the CBOT with samples of their wheat, corn, and soybean crops. Over time, the function of the exchange evolved into one of buying and selling forward contracts for commodities. Today, more than 50 different options and futures contracts are traded by over 3,600 CBOT members through open outcry and eTrading from the floor of the open exchange.

Art deco designed Chicago Board of Trade Building anchors the south end of the LaSalle Street financial district

Growing up in Chicago, I had always wanted to tour the Board of Trade building and watch the commodity traders in the “pit” but, like most locals who never visit the attractions in their own back yard, I just never got around to it. I moved away and forgot about CBOT until recently, when I returned to the city for a conference scheduled to be held in the Loop. In years past, anyone could visit the Chicago Board of Trade, but since 9/11, security concerns have necessitated limiting access to the facility. Fortunately, tours are still available through the Chicago Architecture Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing public interest and education in architecture and design. The CBOT is one of 16 “Lunchtime Tours” of historic buildings available through the Foundation. In this instance, the timing was perfect; not only would I learn the history of the skyscraper and see its unique architectural details up close, at the conclusion of the tour I would have an opportunity to witness live commodities trading in the pit from an overhead observation gallery.

I arrived early and strolled around the massive granite tower to kill time. Courtyards on two sides of the building provided seating for harried traders clad in the bright blue, red, or gold jackets of their particular brokerage houses. They rushed in and out of revolving doors for quick breaks, gulping coffee while talking on cell phones and puffing furiously on cigarettes, generating a billowing cloud of smoke. Wading through the billowing smoke, I was reminded that not so long ago I was living the same kind of harried and stressed-out life and I gave silent thanks that this part of my life is over.

Back at the front entrance, my tour group had gathered. Our guide led us half a block down the street for a better view of the building. The top of CBOT reflected crisp sunlight, but the street was dark even in midday, cast in shadow by the bricks and mortar canyon of skyscrapers along LaSalle. We craned our necks upward as our guide described details of art deco design of CBOT, considered revolutionary for its day. Directly over the LaSalle Street entrance, a relief carving of two hooded figures, an Egyptian gasping a sheaf of wheat and a Native American holding an ear of corn, bracketed a 13-foot diameter clock. About 30-feet above street level, carved bulls protruded from the limestone cladding, referencing a bull market. Ceres, Roman goddess of agriculture, perched atop the copper-clad pyramid roof, clutching a sheaf of wheat in the left hand and a bag of corn in the right hand. Sculptor John H. Storrs left the face of the 6,500 pound, 31-foot tall Ceres blank because he believed no other building would be tall enough for the inhabitants to clearly see the statue’s face.

Carved relief of Egyptian with sheaf of wheat and Native American carrying ear of corn adorns the fascia of the CBOT building

When built, CBOT featured the world's largest light fixture

Original mailboxes, although no longer in use, have been restored

John W. Norton's three-story mural of Ceres shown bare-breasted in a field of grain hangs in the atrium of the 1980s addition

Equally impressive, the interior featured seven different types of marble in the open three-story lobby, as well as a light fixture reputed to be the world’s largest when the building was constructed. Though impractically small for modern use, bronze mailboxes in the lobby were attached to chutes that allowed mail to be deposited from upper floors, a state-of-the-art design at the time.

Finally, we ascended to the glass-walled observation gallery to watch the end of the day’s trading. Said to be large enough to accommodate a 737 aircraft, the trading floor contains a series of raised octagonal platforms or “pits” with steps up the outside and down the inside that allow hundreds of traders to see and hear each other during trading hours. Traders stand in these pits to bid on contracts to buy or sell commodities, using both voice and hand signals to make their intentions known. As I watched, hundreds of traders gestured wildly, pointed, and performed a series of bizarre signals. Although the impression was one of complete chaos, there was an underlying system to the madness. If a trader wanted to buy ten contracts at a price of eight, he turned his palm inward toward his face, putting his index finger to his forehead denoting ten; if he wanted only one, he placed his index finger on his chin.

Bedlam ensues in the pits as the final bell approches

During the final 60 seconds, audio from the trading floor was piped into the observation gallery, turning silent manic gesticulating into an earsplitting roar of shouting, begging, pleading traders hoping to effect a last minute buy or sell. In the final seconds utter bedlam ensued. Traders jockeyed for position, pushing, shoving, waving their arms, and screaming final orders. The final bell sounded and, as if a switch had been thrown, the noise instantly died and traders began to disperse, some disgustedly throwing handfuls of unplaced order slips into the air, where they floated down to the trading floor like confetti in a ticker-tape parade. As I descended to the lobby via escalators that move at twice the speed of regular escalators (our guide explained that everything moves fast at CBOT), I gave silent thanks that I was able to walk away from my previous life of stress to do what I love.

The Chicago Architecture Foundation presents more than 85 enlightening tours of Chicago’s neighborhoods and historic suburbs by bus, boat, Segway, train, or bicycle, and on foot. Certified volunteer docents lead these tours after completing a graduate-level ten-week training program. Regular tours include the Architecture River Cruise, Historic Downtown (South Loop), Modern Skyscrapers, Highlights by Bus, and Frank Lloyd Wright in Oak Park. Most tours last two hours and fees begin at $5, but an annual membership to CAF – which may be the best deal in the city at $55 – provides members with free, year-long access to any tour other than the River Cruises and bus tours.

Chicago Architecture Foundation is located at 224 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60604. For further information visit www.architecture.org or call 312-922-3432.

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Step inside a mall in San Diego and you might just as easily be walking through a Philadelphia shopping center. Likewise, many cities around the country are so similar that I often have to stop and remind myself where I am. But every once in a while I visit a city that stands out from the rest, a city that has a powerful personality. Chicago is one such city.

Chicago Skyline from the Adler Planetarium

With each visit, I have become more impressed by this awesome city. But during my most recent visit I began to wonder, “What makes this town so special? What defines its powerful personality? How has Chicago succeeded in distinguishing itself from the faceless masses of other large cities across this country?” Certainly its extensive cultural opportunities, diverse ethnicity, and unique architecture are all factors to consider. But many of these same elements are found in other cities. For an answer, I had to dig into Chicago’s history.

In the late 1800′s, Chicago was a crowded, traffic-choked city struggling with rapid growth and hodge-podge development; the quality of life was anything but good. When the city was chosen as site of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, urban planner Daniel Burnham was hired to oversee its design. The collection of neo-classical structures built at Burnam’s direction earned the fair the nickname of “White City” and significantly enhanced the city’s reputation. Encouraged by the success of the Exposition, Burnham began developing an urban plan for Chicago that was rooted in his belief that nature, parks, and great public open spaces were essential to the development of a world class city. His “1909 Plan of Chicago” laid out an ambitions vision of interconnected green swaths, landscaped boulevards, and beautiful parks along the lakefront.

Burnham’s plan ultimately led to the creation of the double tiers of Wacker Drive, development of the Magnificent Mile along North Michigan Avenue, and the creation of regional forest preserves. It is also responsible for the city’s 26-mile long chain of lakefront parks, the shining stars of which are Millennium Park and Grant Park in the Loop. It is these public spaces that differentiate Chicago, a fact that was reinforced on the day I decided to visit the Museum Campus on the southern end of Grant Park, home to the Adler Planetarium, Field Museum of Natural History, and Shedd Aquarium.

Adler Planetarium

Restored Gemini 12 Space Capsule

Ancient telescopes on display at the Ader Planetarium

"Our Solar System" gallery at the Adler Planetarium

Since I hadn’t been to these museums since childhood I worried they might not live up to my memories, but I need not have worried; they were even more spectacular than I remembered. At the Adler Planetarium, I was spellbound by images of exploding stars, colliding solar systems, and giant meteors that raced across the ceiling of the domed auditorium as Robert Redford narrated “Cosmic Collisions.” The “Shoot for the Moon Gallery” featured the fully restored Gemini 12 spacecraft as well as artifacts from the personal collection of astronaut Jim Lovell, while “Telescopes, Through the Looking Glass” was an intriguing display of ancient telescopes.

John G. Shedd Aquarium

Diver feeds fish in the giant Caribbean reef tank

Oceanarium amphitheater, where the aquarium's new Fantasea show will premiere this fall

Just steps away, the John G. Shedd Aquarium’s 90,000-gallon circular Caribbean Reef aquarium was just as I remembered it, right down to the diver who hand feeds the reef fish, rays, and sharks that circle endlessly. Beyond the tank, however, I was in for a surprise. After visiting the subterranean Polar Play Zone, I grabbed a seat in the Oceanarium’s amphitheater to watch the marine mammal show. As a giant curtain descended, blocking out light from the wall of windows looking out on Lake Michigan, the emcee announced that we would be treated to a preview of the aquarium’s new Fantasea show, scheduled to premiere later this fall. It was a fabulous Disneyesque romp with flying boats, fairies, divers falling from the ceiling, and stunning stunts involving Beluga whales, white dolphins, and penguins. I’d love to tell you more about it, but we were sworn to secrecy (all 5,000 or so of us). What I can say is that you’ll definitely want to see Shedd Aquarium’s new show.

Field Museum of Natural History

Sue, a giant fossilized T. Rex dinosaur. Photo courtesy of the Chicago Field Museum of Natural History.

Topping off the day I walked a short distance to the Field Museum of Natural History. As a child, I was fascinated by the enormous dinosaur skeleton that dominated the entrance lobby, and by Egyptian mummies entombed in glass cases in the bowels of the museum, but on this day I wanted to see Sue, the largest, most complete, and best preserved T. rex fossil ever discovered. This astonishing specimen stands 13 feet high at the hips and 42 feet long from head to tail. Standing before the fierce skeleton, a shiver ran through me as I imagined those razor-sharp fangs ripping into soft flesh. Sue joined the permanent collection at the Field Museum in 2000 and rapidly became one of the museum’s most popular exhibits.

There was so much more I could have done; Grant Park stretches for miles and harbors dozens of monuments, sculptures, flower gardens, fountains, and plazas just begging to be discovered. There are those who insist that spending money on public art, parks, and open spaces is a waste. In my opinion, not only is it necessary, it is imperative if we are to build cities that are eminently livable. Chicago is proof of that.

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Illinois winters are brutal, but summer brings a special kind of beauty to the banks of the Kankakee River:

Wildflowers are everywhere

Sunset on the Kankakee River

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I didn’t know what to expect at the Veggie Fest 2009. Advertised as “Good Food, Healthy Living,” the fourth annual Chicagoland event was sponsored by Science of Spirituality, a non-profit organization located in Naperville, Illinois whose members are deeply committed to a spiritual way of life based on meditation, service to others, and personal transformation.

2009 Veggie Fest, sponsored by Science of Spirituality Mission in Naperville, Illinois

With temperatures in the low 90′s and humidity hovering near 100%, it was not an auspicious beginning.  In the sweltering heat I wandered through rows of booths, sampling eco-friedly products and picking up literature from massage therapists and other alternative health practitioners. Within minutes I was hot, damp, and uncomfortable. Then I spotted the meditation tent. The man at the door smiled and invited me in, adding, “Surprise! It’s air conditioned.” Beautiful, blissful air conditioning.

Soon, an initiate of Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj, head of Science of Spirituality Mission, stepped to the mike to lead us through a guided meditation. Closing my eyes, I concentrated on her words. Almost instantly I felt the stress drain from my neck and shoulders and my breathing slow. Strangely, for the rest of the day I didn’t even feel the heat.

Dozens of vendors offered everything from fruit smoothies to complete dinners, and all of it vegetarian. I thought I died and went to heaven!

Indian cuisine was a popular vegetarian selection at the event

Veggie Fest is a free event that promotes the many spiritual, physical, mental and social benefits of being vegetarian. The event features 100 food vendors, restaurants, and exhibitors; health talks by medical professionals; children’s programs with crafts, games, and activities; live music; and cooking demos (with free samples) by famous Chicago vegetarian restaurants such as Karyn’s Fresh Corner, Chicago Diner, Nature’s Path, Borrowed Earth Cafe, Cuisine of India, and Raw Creations, among others. For years I have been complaining that the Midwest has poor cuisine in general and a complete dearth of vegetarian options. Who knew that vegetarianism had made such a mark on my home town?

Although 16,000 people attended the two day event, it was so well organized and set up that it never seemed overly crowded. I even treated myself to a Shiatsu-Thai massage from one of the exhibitors. Pure Bliss. And the food was pretty darn good, too!

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With everything Chicago has to offer, it’s not surprising that some of the most interesting facts about the city have either faded into obscurity or become tangled in rumor and myth. Let’s set the facts straight:

Windy City Nickname and the Birth of Skyscrapers

Skyline of Chicago, birth of the skyscraper

One of the most common misconceptions is about the city’s nickname, The Windy City. Almost everyone believes it has to do with Chicago’s often windy weather. Actually, the nickname is a reference to blustery politicians of the mid-to-late 1800′s, who were accused of being overly boastful about the city. The myth persisted because skyscrapers, which were invented in Chicago, channeled winds off Lake Michigan through the brick and mortar canyons, often strengthening them to gale force strength.

Buckingham Fountain

Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park

Once an hour on the hour, from April to mid-October, Buckingham Fountain produces a major water and light display. Photo courtesy of Chicago Park District.

Buckingham Fountain, located at the southern end of Grant Park on Chicago’s Lakeshore Drive, was modeled after the Latona Basin in Louis XIV’s gardens at Versailles. The main basin represents Lake Michigan the four green sea horses symbolize the four states that touch the lake: Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan. Although the fountain is an iconic structure, it became even more widely recognized after being featured in the opening scenes of the TV sitcom Married With Children, and as the starting place for the The Amazing Race. The Fountain has remained intact except for the theft of two carved fish heads, which were eventually recovered when a salvage yard was offered the pieces. The buyer thought they looked very familiar and reported them.

Corinthian Columns In the Cancer Survivor’s Garden, Grant Park

Corinthian columns in the Cancer Survivor's Garden

Twin 45-foot Corinthian columns are the centerpiece of the central plaza in the Cancer Survivor’s Garden, located at the northern edge of Grant Park near Randolph Street and Lake Shore Drive. These two free-standing columns are remnants from the former post office, customs house, and subtreasury building, which was built more than 100 years ago and demolished in the mid-1960′s. Along with other debris, the columns were unceremoniously dumped into Lake Michigan to stabilize the lake’s eroding shoreline near Pershing Road. Rediscovered years later, they were extracted, restored, and installed in the garden.

Balbo's Column

Balbo’s Column, From the 1933-34 World Exhibition

Balbo’s Column, the only in-place structure that remains from Chicago’s 1933-34 World Exhibition, stands just east of Lake Shore Drive, opposite Soldier Field in Burnham Park. The column, which was removed from the ruins at the Roman temple of Ostia and transported by boat to the United States, was a gift from Italy, commemorating Italian General Italano Balbo’s historic trans-Atlantic flight to Chicago.

and finally…

Why Is Downtown Chicago called “The Loop?”

“The Loop” is a reference to the “EL” (elevated train), whose tracks loop around the central downtown business district.

The "El" (elevated train tracks) "Loop" around downtown Chicago

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Italian Village Restaurant, downtown Chicago

From the moment I began my six hour walking tour of downtown Chicago last Saturday, I had dinner on my mind. I planned to end my day at the Italian Village Restaurant on Monroe Street between State and Dearborn where, in 1927, Alfredo Capitanini, an Italian immigrant who never worked in any restaurant before coming to the United States, began serving up spaghetti and meatballs for 40 cents.

Capitanini’s philosophy was uncomplicated: make good, simple food, serve it in ample portions, and offer it with warm Italian courtesy. A few things have changed over the years. Although the Italian Village is still located in the same place, it now houses three different dining venues: The Village occupies the entire second floor, while La Cantina and Vivere share the ground floor. Vivere boasts the most celebrated wine list in the Midwest and the restaurants have collected numerous awards and accolades over the years. In addition to being included on Wine Spectator’s list of “America’s 10 Best Italian Restaurants,” the restaurant earns the City Search designation of “Most Romantic” and “Best Italian Food” restaurant.

My meal was excellent, the service was impeccable, and the price was reasonable, but none of these were my reasons for choosing to dine at the Italian Village. My reasons were purely sentimental. You see, my father proposed to my mother in this restaurant, back in 1947 or ’48. I looked around the dimly lit dining room, noting the twinkling lights strung across the ceiling and the rotating water wheel. My father chose well, this was certainly a romantic setting. I wondered how he popped the question; did he blurt it out or put the ring in a glass of champagne? Was he nervous? Did my mother answer him right away or ask for time to think about his proposal?

Twinkling lights, crisp white linens, and romantic lighting inside the Italian Village

I would ask Dad for answers to these questions, but I’m sure he wouldn’t remember. Trying to figure out what year he had proposed, I asked him how many months elapsed between the proposal and the wedding. He had no idea. Time has a way or erasing these tiny details. I understand. I also have an excellent forgetter. But it was enough to sit in that darkened restaurant, watching other couples holding hands across crisp white linen tablecloths, and imagine my parents, young and in starry-eye, pledging to love one another till death do they part.

My mother and father were married in 1948. They had celebrated 53 years together when Mom passed in July of 2001. Her presence was so strong in that restaurant that I simply had to share it with someone. When the waiter returned to my table I reached out and touched the cuff of his starched white dress shirt.

“My father proposed to my mother in this restaurant,” I said quietly. “How long has the restaurant been here?”

“We opened 82 years ago today,” he replied proudly.”

It seems we both had something to celebrate.

Miss you Mom. Love you Dad.

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I’m a Chicago girl, born and bred. There – I’ve said it! It would seem like an easy thing to admit, but for the past 40 years, whenever anyone asked me where I was from I’d reply with some vague comment like: “Oh, I’ve lived all over the place.” Which is true. But it begs the question of why I have always been reticent about admitting my Chicago roots. Perhaps I thought some of the places I’ve lived (Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands) sounded more exotic, more impressive.

To be honest, I couldn’t wait to get away from the city when I was younger. I yearned for wide open spaces, for remote places. I lived in the north woods of Wisconsin, in a log cabin with an outhouse, an outdoor hand pump for water, and a tiny oil heater for heat. During the winter I traveled to work on a snowmobile; in the summer I rode a bike. Eventually, I moved back to Illinois, but to a smaller town 60 miles southwest of Chicago. Back-to-back brutal winters in 1978 and 1979 drove me to the warmth of Phoenix for the next 11 years. It is said that people either love or hate the desert; I loved it. The endless, uninhabited spaces soothed my soul. Where others saw only a vast kitty litter box, I was fascinated by this complex ecosystem that hoarded energy through the searing summer heat, waited patiently through the cold desert nights, and burst into lush greenery and riotous wildflowers when the spring rains came.

From Phoenix, to central Illinois, Indiana, the Caribbean, the Outer Banks of North Carolina, I searched for my paradise, but all of these places fell short of the perfection I sought. Even Sarasota, Florida, where I now reside, is somehow lacking, though it offers an uncommonly large number of amenities for a city of its size. Gradually, I began sampling larger cities. Business trips to New York and visits with my family in the Chicagoland area left me energized and longing for the culture that only a large city affords. And then fate intervened…I decided to attend two blogging conferences, both of which were held in downtown Chicago last week.

View of new Modern Wing of the Chicago Art Institute, opened in May of 2009, from Lurie Gardens in Millennium Park.

Original Art Institute, cultural mecca of Chicago, with its iconic lions guarding the front entrance on Michigan Ave.

Gardens at the original Art Institute

Following the conferences, I slung my camera over my shoulder and headed across Michigan Avenue to Millennium Park. Dodging hand-holding families and romantic young couples, I threaded my way past Wrigley Square to Cloud Gate, the behemoth silver sculpture that all Chicagoans insist upon calling “The Bean,” a reference to it’s coffee bean shape. At its base, tourists leaned on the highly polished skin, attempting to create pretzel mirrored images, while Chicago’s magnificent downtown skyline, topped by fluffy clouds, reflected from its upper surfaces.

Tribune Square in Millennium Park

Sculpture in Millennium Park

Pritzger Pavilion in Millenium Park is venue for free nightly summer long concert series.

North end of Millennium Park from top floor of the Chicago Cultural Center

Lurie Gardens in Millennium Park

Contemporary sculptures from China in Millennium Park

Cloud Gate sculpture in Millennium Park is fondly referred to as "The Bean" by Chicagoans

Closeup of Cloud Gate, with Chicago's skyline reflected in its polished surface

Sounds of falling water lured me further into the park. At the Crown Fountain, children gleefully romped under waterfalls cascading from the backside of twin glass towers. From the front of the towers, 50-foot computer generated images of the faces of Chicago residents stared back at the crowd. I grabbed my iPhone to video the scene and began to pan from one tower to the next when the enormous eyes blinked. Wait, did I really see that? Fascinated, I watched the faces morph from deadpan to smiling to pursed lips, and then almost dropped my phone in astonishment when a stream of water spouted from the mouths of the faces onto the squealing children below.

Children frolic in water cascading off the 50-foot glass towers that make up the Crown Fountain in Millennium Park

Giant faces projected onto the faces of the Crown Fountain in Millennium Park

Growing up, I worked downtown in the “Loop” and spent many lunch hours strolling Michigan Avenue and the lakefront, but I never really appreciated the magnificence of Chicago. It took moving away, growing older, and returning for this to dawn on me. Of course, Millennium Park didn’t exist in those days. Grant Park had been built along the shores of Lake Michigan in the mid-1800′s in response to lobbying by citizens who feared commercial development along the lakefront, but the land between Grant Park and the rest of downtown was occupied by a wide swath of Illinois Central railroad tracks that remained a blight on an otherwise attractive landscape. It wasn’t until 1997, when Mayor Richard M. Daley directed his staff to develop plans for a new music venue to be built over the tracks, that the idea for the new park was conceived.

Cancer Survivor's Garden in Grant Park, located along Lakeshore Drive

Today, a gleaming stainless steel bridge serpents over Columbus Drive, connecting Millennium Park to Grant Park and providing access to a miles-long greenway beginning on the north at Randolph Avenue and stretching south for miles, past the new Modern Wing of the Art Institute to Soldier Field, the Shedd Aquarium, Adler Planetarium, Field Museum, and North Jetty Park.

BP Bridge connects Millennium Park with Grant Park

Day after day I returned to the city center to visit dozens of attractions. Across the street from Millennium Park, the Chicago Cultural Center, which had been the public library when I was a child, featured an intriguing photo tour of the city’s diverse architecture. I strolled down State Street, pressing my nose to the display windows of major department stores, before diverting to Dearborn Street to view the towering red metal sculpture in front of the Federal Building and, just a block north, Picasso’s famous and still controversial steel sculpture at Daley Plaza. Although many speculate that the design is a cubist rendition of a woman, Picasso himself never explained what the sculpture was intended to represent.

Sculpture in front of the Federal building

Picasso sculpture at Daley Plaza

River walk along the Chicago River

As the sun drifted lower I strolled along the banks of the Chicago River and retraced my steps to Pritzger Pavilion in Millennium Park. Exhausted from my six-hour walking tour, I sprawled on the great lawn to await the evening’s free concert. Beyond the sweeping steel facade of this state-of-the-art facility, lights in the city’s skyscrapers competed with a canvas of stars painted on an inky sky. Suddenly the music swelled – the symphony orchestra and accompanying choral group performing The Dream of Gerontius, a gripping yet seldom-heard English-language choral work that tells the story of Elgar’s voyage through life’s end and into the unknown. Practically floating back to my car, I looped through Lurie Gardens, an astonishing lavender-scented oasis of blooming flowers and bushes that framed the nearby high-rises.

Enjoying a free concert on the great lawn in front of Pritzger Pavilion

Lurie Gardens in Millennium Park at night

Lavender frames high-rises in Lurie Gardens in Millennium Park at night

The Art Institute's new Modern Wing at night, viewed from Lurie Gardens in Millennium Park

There is much more I hope to explore during this visit: Chinatown; Italian Village; the Gold Coast, with its old Water Tower and pumping station; the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, where traders daily battle to buy and sell commodities; Oak Street Beach; Lincoln Park Zoo, multiple museums and music clubs…. I am getting exhausted just thinking of it all. But one thing is sure, this girl will never again hesitate to admit her Chicago roots, because I finally realize that Chicago is an absolutely awesome city!

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Beneath the I-24 exit sign for Metropolis, Illinois, a second sign read “giant Superman statue.” I’d been driving for five hours by this time and was hoping to make it to Atlanta before dark, but my curiosity got the better of me. I just had to find out more about that statue. Whipping the car off the highway, I followed a series of signs emblazoned with the familiar “S” logo to a bronze statue of America’s Super Hero standing in Superman Square, located at the junction of Market and 5th Streets.

Giant Superman statue stands at the corner of 5th and Market Streets, in Superman Square. The raised platform upon which he stands is lined with paver bricks that are engraved with the name of donors who contributed toward the cost of the new statue.

The tiny burg of Metropolis has built an entire culture around the legend of Superman. In addition to the statue, a Kryptonite meteorite is located on the southwest corner of Third and Ferry Streets and giant cut-outs of Superman and Lois Lane can be found in front of several stores and businesses around town. Across the street from the statue, The Super Museum is filled with a $2.5 million collection of more than 20,000 items spanning 60 years of Superman memorabilia.

Sisters pose for photos behind giant cutouts of Super Heroes

For the past 30 years, the town has even held an annual Superman Celebration. Last year’s four day event drew more than 30,000 visitors who enjoyed events including a Superfan Baseball game between the Metropolis Marvels and Smallville Meteors, a 1940′s Gala-Ball, a carnival, an autograph session with Superman celebrities, a Superman auction and dinner, and a costume contest where the town attempted to set a Guinness World Record for the “Most People Dressed as Superman.” This year’s celebration is scheduled for June 11th – 14th, 2009.

Another Superman takes off from the second story of the building that is home to the Super Museum

Despite the present day success of the event, Metropolis’ Super Hero connection was slow to catch on. The current Superman statue wasn’t erected until 1993. Its predecessor was a seven-foot high statue crafted of fiberglass that was used for target practice by local youths who apparently wanted to see if Superman really was bulletproof. But there’s no messing with today’s Superman; this 15-foot tall bronze Man of Steel is indestructible, although I couldn’t resist the urge to “pull on Superman’s cape” as I stood behind the behemoth and peered down the town’s deserted main street on this cold Sunday afternoon.

Not long afterward I was again on my way south, vowing to return at some future date to more fully investigate the area. Unlike the rest of Illinois, the southern part of the State is blessed with gently rolling hills that wrap around the broad Ohio River. Fort Massac State Park is one of the area’s most popular destinations, especially during its monthly living history weekends, when re-enactors bring the late 1700s to life at the historic fort. Other attractions in this part of Illinois include historical and archeological sites, revival period mansions, natural springs, unique shops, and even Las Vegas-style gaming at a Harrah’s Casino, located along the banks of the Ohio River in downtown Metropolis. Southern Illinois offers a wide selection of accommodations for all budgets, ranging from camping sites to cozy bed and breakfasts.

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