Chicago in the Spring

We're enjoying a long, warm, relaxing weekend in Chicago.

The first photo above shows the view outside the Sheraton lobby atrium's window where we park ourselves for reading and people watching during sunny parts of the day.

The second photo shows me at lunch on the top floor of the Art Institute's Renzo Piano Cafe which is light infused, serves Italian lunches (I had a pomegranate sage Italian soda) and has fabulous views of the city.

The third photo shows Gil reading a light Janet Evanovich detective novel yesterday before we headed out for our daily adventures in the downtown area.

Drove in to Chicago on Friday morning and spent the afternoon at the Art Institute of Chicago at the Matisse show. (We became Art Institute members on our last visit so admission fees are a thing of the past for the coming year.) We ate an amazing fixed price fish dinner at Catch 35 in downtown Chicago that night.

Yesterday we spent the morning at The Shedd Aquarium watching moray eels and seahorses and Beluga whales. By the time we left, the lines waiting for admission wrapped around the building and we were glad we were on our way "out!"

In the afternoon, we attended Stanford's Leading Matters "traveling lecture series for alumni" here at the hotel. It was an alumni event designed to capture the hearts (and philanthropic dollars) of Stanford alumni. We heard from the university's best professors in stimulating talks, followed by dinner and a not-to-be-missed media presentation that made me wish I was 35 years younger and smart enough to be considered for admission as a Stanford student.

We were seated at a table with other Stanford parents and we all gushed and gloated over our Stanford-graduated students -- each of whom has gone on seeking higher education degrees.

Today we are heading back to Michigan but not before we head up to the Chicago Botanic Garden for their 10th annual Antiques and Garden Fair which will feature currently blooming tulips and all sorts of other flowering plants. I know it will be be very crowded and I'm only hoping that once we get to the parking lot, we won't decide to abandon the plan.

We stayed here at the Sheraton which is convenient walking to practically everything downtown. Headed downstairs to breakfast now to get our day started.