[Chicago, IL, Mar 16, 2024]

It was time for my annual conference, which was taking place in Champaign, IL The Higher Education Date Warehousing (HEDW) conference moves around every year depending on which university is hosting it, and this year it was the University of Illinois. I always make it a point to extend my trip and sightsee. This time, I started my trip early so my boyfriend and I can spend some time in Chicago, IL before the conference.

Even though I came through this area back in September, when I had another work meeting in Champaign to prep for this conference, I had not been to Chicago itself since 2015. I was excited to come back and experience the city again.

We took the red-eye flight out of Portland on Friday evening and found ourselves in Chicago bright and early on Saturday morning. Our plan was to go directly to the hotel and take a nap, which had me questioning why we didn’t just travel super early on Saturday morning. As we were traveling to the hotel, I saw signs that the Chicago River was about to be dyed green for St Patrick’s day! That was quite a surprise, because I had forgotten all about St Patty’s day and hadn’t even packed any green clothes! But I was excited to see it.

The city was super quiet when we arrived at our hotel at 8 am. 5 hours later, when we emerged post-nap, it was anything but. I hadn’t seen this many people in one place since before the pandemic, and it was a little overwhelming!

I also realized we accidentally made the right call coming in on the red-eye; trying to get into the city this time of day would have been a nightmare.

We made a bee-line for the Chicago River at the intersection of Wacker and Michigan Ave. It was a great sport for photos! Temps were in the mid 50s and partly sunny, which is pretty much a miracle for Chicago in mid-March.

We had put our name down at a restaurant we passed on the way to the river. The place was crazy busy already and it was supposed to be a 90-minute wait. We had just finished taking photos by the river and were contemplating what to do next when they texted us that our table was ready. I was starving, and since I had no green clothes in my suitcase, I had to get a green drink.

Next time, maybe I’ll check out the Nutella cafe next door. If you know me, you know I LOVE Nutella. The line was just way too long!

By the time we finished our late lunch, the sun had come out so we had to go back to the river for a new batch of photos.

Next up, we headed to the Beanfa. The famous sculpture at Millennium Park reflects and distorts the city skyline from its highly polished stainless steel surface. I had taken a gazillion photos here in 2015. Sadly, we couldn’t get to it. Millennium Park itself was closed for crowd control. It was supposed to re-open later that day, but even so, the Bean was out of commission because of construction. The sads.

We continued to the Art Institute of Chicago, which I had also visited in 2015. I enjoyed re-visiting some of my favorites.

I also enjoyed discovering new things. In the Impressionist’s wing, I marveled at a couple of Renoirs, Monets and Manets. I was impressed with my own ability to spot what looked like a Caravaggio’s before I even looked at the plaque. I feel in love with Caravaggio’s work during my 2015 trip to Italy. The work was actually by one of his disciples – close enough in my book!

I loved Gustave Caillebotte’s Paris Street; Rainy Day. Although he was a late Impressionist, his style is more realistic than that; it reminded me a lot of Seurat’s.

There was a room-full of Van Goghs, which contained one of the museum’s highlights – The Bedroom.

There was also a special exhibit – Picasso: Drawings from Life. This exhibition focuses on Picasso’s life and art as it intersected with a network of artists, dealers, printers, family members, and lovers.

The Modern Wing had great views of Millennium Park and the skyline.

And at the exit, I had to re-create the 2015 pic I took at the sign.

By this time, Millennium Park had finally reopened. We could get just a tad closer to the Bean.

I marveled at Jay Pritzker Pavilion, which I had failed to appreciate on my previous visit. As an Angelino, I immediately recognized Frank Gehry’s work; LA’s Walt Disney Concert Hall is of the very same style.

Despite the nap, we were pretty tired by now, so we headed back to the hotel for a quick rest. For dinner, we chose Rosebud, which overlooked Millennium Park. It was a mixed bag; the bacon-wrapped scallops were great, but the pasta and my cocktail were just average. The dessert, a giant Godiva chocolate mousse cake, was also nothing to write home about.

It was a pretty good half day in Chicago; it was Ash’s first time, and he thought he got a great taste of the city.