chicago, chicago.

Visiting American cities as the beginning of our world tour might seem like a delay of the exotic somehow, but we don’t see it this way. For us, there is just as much culture and cultural difference across our own country as there is in any other international destination. Besides, for Chien-hui, upping her “been there” count is always a goal, especially here in the USA where she has been to a lot of cities but there are still so many left to see. Last year we checked off Charleston, SC, so the top of her list now was Chicago. For me, it was New Orleans. I have been to both cities previously and they are my two favorite US cities. They have some similarities as cities at the nexus of rivers and huge bodies of water, but they are also opposites from a North-South perspective. I like that they use similar aphorisms; Chicago’s being the Third Coast, and New Orleans’ is the Dirty Coast. Both imply they are just as worthy of equal standing with the cities of the east and west coast of our country, but also implied in them is that these places are unique on their own. All of this to say these cities are where we began our journey, and where we have just spent the last 10 days. They did not disappoint.

There is so much to do in Chicago and even after five days we didn’t really scratch the surface of what was possible. There are two very important goals I have for every place we go: eating the food and seeing great art. Chicago’s restaurant scene is world class, and of course, they have the Art Institute of Chicago, a behemoth of a museum that took us two days to conquer. We saw Greek pots shaped with finesse and curving grace that were thrown 7,000 years ago, Roman statues of the human figure chiseled from blocks of marble 2,000 years ago that could have animated alive on the spot they were so perfect. We were lucky enough to see an exhibition of Georgia O’Keeffe paintings from her youth from New York City when she was shacked up with and being promoted by Stieglitz. The first inklings of her famous flowers were revealed in the shadows and color blending of the tall skyscrapers she was enamored with in the 1920s. In the four-sided photography gallery was the entire 47 years of Nicolas Nixon’s annual photographs of the Brown sisters. The first taken in 1975, which began the loop, hanging next to the last from 2022—the aging extreme, the reminder to use your time well, reconfirming. We saw Seurat’s dots and Buddhas from Ancient Mughal India. And poor Vincent, looking out at us in despair, unaware that he would achieve all he dreamt of only after he left us. We will visit every great museum in every city we visit because they fill our souls.

Vincent Van Gogh

The Brown Sisters, 1975

The Brown Sisters, 2022

Filling our souls every day was important but filling our bellies every night was, too. We ate well to nobody’s surprise. Of the hundreds of great places to choose from in Chicago, we hit Girl & the Goat (American), ROOP (Michelin star Indian), La Grande Boucherie (French), Volare (Italian), and Mei’s (Taiwanese). All of them excellent. We did the tasting menu at ROOP, and the food was so beautifully plated that we felt a little guilty sticking our forks into them. That guilt was quickly replaced with surprise and delight as the creativity and the flavor combinations washed over us. I had the wine pairings to go with and our sommelier kept bringing me things that I wouldn’t have thought of that perfectly accented each dish. We logged a lot of miles every day in the Chicago heat and humidity to help burn the calorie intake and sweat out the wine, but I doubt it helped us lose any weight.

Girl & the Goat

I love boats! I will go on any kind of water vessel I can. In Chicago we took a water taxi from the Shedd Aquarium to the Navy Pier on a hot afternoon to cool down and catch an amazing view of Lake Michigan and the Chicago skyline. And one evening, at sunset, we took the river cruise architectural tour along the Chicago River. This was the highlight of our time in Chicago. As you float along looking up at the famous architecture, and you listen to the guide giving you the city’s stories, the sun sets and the lights come on, the breeze drifts past, and you think, “My God, what a country.” In times of tension, like those of today, it’s reassuring to see time through a wider aperture, to understand that history repeats, and that we’ve been here before, many times, in fact, and we will get through it and still achieve more greatness as a nation, and as a people, and we will leave record of those accomplishments for future generations to reflect upon.

Chicago is a spectacular city. It’s big and feels substantial. It impresses you everywhere you look. But it’s also still Midwestern, which means people are polite and friendly. When we chatted with Uber drivers, waiters, or restaurant owners, we spoke so highly of our experiences in the city, and I would notice them sort of come around to our perspective. They had forgotten in the day-to-day of their lives and I liked that as we reflected back to them what they had once knew, their civic pride would reemerge. The conversation would quickly turn to more places we should visit, more restaurants we had to try, and authentic ethnic communities outside the tourist core that we needed to experience. They remembered that they were Chicagoans and, yeah, we were lucky to be in their midst. And I didn’t disagree one bit.

Chicago

Clarence F. Buckingham Memorial Fountain

Chien-hui staying cool in front of Crown Fountain

Architectural Cruise on the Chicago River

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