Day Two sent me to Hyde Park and the Museum of Science and Industry. First I had to see Lake Michigan, take off my shoes and wade in it! I love the great lakes. Now I have waded in 3 of 5 of them. As I was drying off my feet I noticed a lot of motor cycles passing by on Lake Shore Drive. And then there were more, and then more, and then I noticed that the police had blocked off the road for them. The police were escorting them, and there must have been a couple hundred. It when on like that for quite some time, maybe 20-30 minutes. If you live in Illinois you don’t have to wear a helmet, who knew? Who would choose not to? I googled the affair and discovered it was an annual ride in support of police killed while on duty. The article stated that there were about 1,000 riders! No wonder why they had an escort!
Before the museum I walked to the Osaka Garden.
Honestly, thought it would be bigger and not basically in some secluded section of the park. Some people were there photographing half naked male models in this little waterfall. It was...different. Hmmm, there wasn’t too much to see. The old grounds of the Columbian Exposition retain nothing from that time, not even an echo. There was however, a fairly large quantity of garbage strewn around making me think perhaps there had been a concert there the night before. There was also one or two homeless guys muttering to themselves. The homeless in Chicago are abundant. The ones on Michigan Ave are aggressive in that they will ask you for money. There were also too many in their 20’s! They weren’t even scruffy looking, I thought that was just down right strange.
As for the Columbian Exposition, only the museum of Science and Industry is left of the buildings that were there over one hundred years ago. The museum was interesting, and would be a blast if you were a kid over seven years old. I enjoyed the weather section and the chemistry info.
There’s a real airliner in there. An old 747. The display itself is getting dated. It mentioned how planes soon would be using GPS to navigate. Heck, my phone was already triangulating my position as I was reading that. I bet the display was only from the 1990’s. Technology changes so rapidly. I didn’t go into the sub or the coal mine, but I bet both are really interesting. I did get to see a baby chick hatch! Cool!
After that I was beat. I still hadn’t seen Hyde Park and the Robie House, and quite honestly, I wasn’t all that close to it. Since I had no idea exactly where I would venture there, and how I could get there safely, I decided it would have to wait until another trip to the city.
Heading north on the # 10 bus I consulted my phone for my next move. It was my smart phone that decided to go to Pizzeria Due on Wabash and Ontario. While there, I was talking to a man who was from Illinois, but like 30 miles away. He was there with his friend talking Hungarian. She was from Hungary and spoke little English. She asked me if I were German or Russian. No one has ever asked me if I were Russian before! LOL. I often get Irish, German, Italian, and I’ve even heard Jewish, but not Russian. Seems that Pizzeria Due was recommended to this man by his friend who lives in Chicago! SERENDIPIDY. Man asks me how I knew to come there: I answer, I used my phone.
Let me stop here and say that most of my trip was facilitated by my smart phone. I had constant use of the map and an app that specifically gave the timing for the bus and train routes. Of course, I was also able to go online to find info as needed. I know that years ago I did very well with just a paper map and a lot of preplanning, but the phone just makes it so much easier.
The pizza was excellent!!!!! Such a fine crust that was crisp, yet doughy, and not all rough and hard to chew like NY pizza. The pizza was filled with peppers, onions, mushrooms, and cheese and topped with tomato sauce. I ate every single bite!!!!! After that I needed a walk. I headed back to my hotel which just happened to be across the street from Macy’s. This Macy’s used to be a Marshall Field’s Department Store. It’s old and ornate. There are 9 stories with a balcony that overlooks this open area in the center. At the top of the roof is a dome with colorful mosaic tiles. I spent probably less than an hour there as it was Sunday and closing time was 6 PM.
Being exhausted, I pretty muh called it a day. I did wander the park a bit, but got back to the hotel by 8PM and settled in to read before going to bed early. The only thing my hotel lacked was HBO! It would have been the perfect thing to watch on Sunday night (TrueBlood)!
Below are just a few more of the pictures I took on Sunday:
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