Tuesday, August 14, 2018

8.14.18 - Signature Room, Art Institute, Dine-In movie theater


We planned our last full day in Chicago well, I think, mostly because at the end of the day we were going to get dinner at a dine-in movie theater. I really love movie theaters, so looking forward to that all day just made the day more cheerful. Neither of us had eaten at a dine-in theater before, and I was eager to see what that would be like. Plus by now we were both getting very tired and sore from walking so much more than we’re used to, so I’m glad we planned the final evening to involve a lot of time off of our feet.

But to begin with, we did walk to the John Hancock building again. I pointed out we could take a Lyft but Jack opted to walk. It was nice. I like the old, large limestone buildings such as the Catholic church we passed. We also went by the water tower again, and this time we realized you can go inside for free and take a look around. We didn’t stay long, though, because we had expected historical information about the water tower itself but instead the displays were about using photography and other activism to get certain parts of Chicago formally recognized as historical landmarks. Can’t say I care that much about that. We did stop to examine a large map of the area and point out all the places we’d already been, but overall we were in and out in probably five minutes.

We were heading to the Signature Room for lunch, partly because our brief time at the Signature Lounge on the first night was a little too loud and a little too tired, and also because we had wanted to see the view from the other side of the building, which isn’t an option from the Lounge. I thought maybe there would be a wait or at least a crowd for such a popular spot, but I guess arriving only 20 minutes after they open on a Tuesday has it’s perks. We were seated immediately at a two seat table next to the windows looking North, just what we had wanted.

The view was excellent. We could see Lake Shore Drive; a beach with tiny volleyball players, sun bathers, and swimmers, and, further out, sailboats; the Lincoln Park Zoo; Wrigley Field; part of the El train tracks; the blue dots of rooftop pools all around; city balconies with little potted plants; and so much more. I spent so much time examining the amazing view that I kept not noticing when our server would come back. He surprised me many times, haha. We did manage to get some drinks: Jack got some type of beer and I got a “Skyscraper” (Bacardi Superior rum, pineapple juice, cranberry juice, and a pineapple wedge – just my type). I got the Caesar salad with salmon and Jack got seafood pasta. Actually ever since we went to the aquarium and saw freakishly large lobsters and the like, Jack had been mentioning he wanted to eat some seafood. So this lunch was sort of two birds with one stone.

As we ate and (distant) people watched, a few other tables filled all with more people taking photos of the view, but the restaurant never did get super busy while we were there. They were playing instrumental versions—I think mostly violin—of pop songs like Train’s “Soul Sister” or Great Big World’s “Say Something,” and we enjoyed trying to name the lyricless tunes. When we were done we walked halfway up the flight of stairs between the Signature Room (94th floor) and Signature Lounge (95th floor) to take in the view from three sides. Pretty great. Also on the way out we admired the unusual fountain the building has in its ground floor lobby: the water pours over a large smooth black stone-looking surface, so smooth you have to double take to even realize there’s water there. Hanging above the water is a large sculpture that reminded me of a nucleus with an exploded atom around it, all sparkly and silver. Not sure if that’s what they were going for or just how my brain interprets a circular sculpture, but either way I liked it.

I asked Jack if he wanted to take a Lyft back to the Art Institute (our next stop) but he still opted to walk, and I’m so glad we did. At the base of the John Hancock building we noticed a statue of a red dog, and Jack took my picture next to it to add to our growing Chicago statude/sculpture photo set. Then we realized there were several more such dogs around the plaza, all the same shape and size but colored differently. We took pictures with all of them and continued to do so as we found more and more all the way down Michigan Avenue on our walk. That alone made walking worth it. It reminded me of the late 1990s when I came to Chicago with my family and there were countless cow statues of different design.

Most of the walk was pleasantly overcast, but by the time we crossed the river it was getting sunnier and warmer. We felt a blast of air conditioning from the open door at a Starbucks so we popped in and got frappuccinos (summer specials limited time only – triple mocha and ultra caramel) and then enjoyed that cool treat as we walked past Millennium Park to the Art Institute. We pointed out all the groups of people that looked so similar in build and height and hair and even very similar clothing styles. I guess you end up socializing most with people like you.

We arrived at the Art Institute and, again thanks to City Pass, got to take the shorter queue and nearly walk right in. I say “nearly” because as we were offering our tickets to the attendant we realized they had handed us two tickets for entrance but also two tickets for a free audio tour. We almost didn’t bother but decided to grab the audio equipment in case we changed our minds. I was expecting a Walkman type set up with headphones, but instead the equipment looked like old 1990s remotes. We soon learned that some of the paintings and other art had headphone symbols on their plaques with three digit numbers, and if we put those numbers in the “remote” and put it to our ears (so more like a cordless phone) we could hear recordings explaining what was going on in the artist’s life at the time, who or what the subjects of the paintings were, where the paintings were completed, how they fit in with art movements at the time, and so on. It was fantastic! The info made so much of the art so much more interesting through context.

We originally went to the Art Institute because Jack wanted to wear his “Save Ferris” shirt and get a picture with the painting Cameron stares at in Ferris Bueller: “Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” by Georges Seurat. But the audio tour added so much to it that we ended up staying from 1:30pm until they closed at 5pm. If it weren’t for them closing and us having a movie to get to, I could have easily stayed another couple hours. Jack and I both really liked the Impressionism section, hated the Modern section, and found stuff we both liked or didn’t in Contemporary, American post 1900 art, and the Renaissance. We didn’t actually realize the institute closes at 5pm until we asked someone for directions to Chagal’s stained glass windows (also of Ferris Bueller fame) about quarter to 5pm and he helpfully pointed us the right way and said we still had a few minutes. We got our homage photo maybe five minutes before the institute actually closed. Worth it.

When we left we walked by the Route 66 sign (signifying the start of the famous Route) before heading to the movie theater for dinner and a movie! The theater had the pleather reclining seats and tray tables with big cup holders and menus and ketchup bottles next to us. I got a margarita and a surprisingly large pile of nachos. Jack got a beer (maybe?) and chicken and fries and coleslaw. We saw Incredibles 2, which I really enjoyed, not least of all because Bob Odenkirk was one of the main voices, and I really like him. Favorite characters, though, were Jack-Jack and Dash. And seeing Jack-Jack reunite with his mom almost made me tear up a little, which is ridiculous since it was a wholly unsentimental scene. I think I just missed my kiddos, haha.

On the way home we tried to swing by Garrett’s Popcorn to get a bag for Beth, but they had closed maybe 10 minutes prior, alas. So we went back to the hotel and relaxed. More Breaking Bad. Jack ordered another to-go Malnati’s pizza (the third Malnati’s of our trip!) and walked over to pick it up. While he was gone I chatted with Neil for the first time really all week (kind of a long time for us between phone calls) about philosophy and moral secularity. Later Jack and I video chatted with the girls one more time. It was a laid back evening.

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