Sunny Day in the Windy City

We woke up Saturday morning well rested and ready to take on the day. Mary, the ever generous hostess made us a delicious breakfast and a cup of ginger tea. Sufficiently fueled up we started down the street and took the 'L' train downtown. The train ride offered some excellent views of the city and the river and Mary pointed out interesting places and neighborhood tidbits along the way. 

We got off at Wabash Street and walked down the street to the cultural center. As Mary described it, the cultural center truly is a hidden gem. It is filled with incredible mosaics from floor to ceiling and is also home to the largest Tiffany done. 

We were also lucky to see two great art exhibits on display. The first was Archibald Motley whose work focused on racial identity and the African American neighborhood and jazz scene in Chicago. 

The other exhibit was a collection of Valmor Products' packaging and advertising. 

After leaving the cultural center we headed for the Art Institute. It would have been easy to spend all day there, but we moved through quickly to see the hits.

After the art institute we crossed the street to Millenium park to tour the gardens and see Cloud Gate:

Around lunch time Mary headed for home and Rachael and I set out for some Chicago deep dish pizza. We found some at Giardano's. 

I think this was a once-in-a-lifetime pizza for me. It was good, but so huge and so cheesy that once was sufficient. 

After lunch and some shopping we Uber'd our way uptown to the Hancock Tower for a glass of wine with a view:

We took the 'L' back to Mary's and made a quick stop at Wrigley Field before hitting the road to get a headstart toward South Dakota!