| Friday,
April 3, 2003. Chi-town,
a cousin and Chinese take-out. |
|
The kids
and I got going early to be at the Museum of Contemporary Art when it
opened at 10 a.m. http://www.mcachicago.org/
Lizzy had loved the Hirshhorn in DC last spring, and although Chicago’s
collection was smaller, the building was well-designed to showcase the
works, and we liked the curator’s style. Lizzy’s favorite piece was
Jeff Koons’ Rabbit, but there were many interesting works in the Life Death Love Hate
Pleasure Pain
and War (What Is It Good for?) exhibits. We stopped to visit for a few minutes with an
artist who was putting up her one-room installation for opening that
night. It was a “gross bathroom” as she put it, not unlike the kind
you might find in a neglected public place. She had mocked it up in a
cardboard box like a student’s diorama and was busy recreating it by
pasting paper strips to the walls while we watched.
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| We
had only a quick 10 minutes to spend in the CMA gift shop--long enough for
Lizzy to get a “Fear No Art” t-shirt and for Maddie to spot some
miniature Barcelonas for sale at some incredibly high price, but not long
enough to browse to our hearts’ content. The selection seemed more
appealing than MoMA’s. I mistakenly promised the kids we could go to the
MCA online store to shop at our leisure from home…alas, there’s hardly
anything to it. |
 |
We
rushed back to the hotel lobby to meet “Cousin Nancy” Merel, the
daughter of Craig’s father’s brother, Myron “Bud,” and Gladys
Ball. Craig arrived in better-than-good spirits, having given his final
speech to a packed room (attendees can pick and choose among competing
speeches—both days, his was the hot choice of that time slot). Cousin
Nancy had driven down from northern suburb Glencoe to see the Ball gang.
It had been years since she’d been with Joan and Craig, and she’d
never met the kids or me.
We had a wonderful visit. Nancy is like the
Energizer bunny—a whirlwind of motion, ideas and fun! She had planned a
“ladies lunch” with Joan and delivered the rest of us to the original
Pizzeria Uno, home of the Chicago pan pizza. After lunch, we made a return
visit to the Lego store so Madison could make up his mind about a purchase
for his already huge collection. |
| Then,
Craig left us to go back to the convention, and the kids and I headed to
the Field Museum of Natural History. http://www.fmnh.org/
The highlight there is Sue, the world’s largest and most complete T.
Rex. The Egyptian exhibit was well-presented, with an interactive water
pump illustrating Nile irrigation systems and one of the better mock tombs
we’ve seen, but their collection is not as impressive as the British
Museum’s (which houses the best we’ve seen) or the Met’s. |
We
decided to spend our last hour of the afternoon at the gorgeous, Beaux-
Arts-styled Shedd Aquarium located next to the Field on Chicago’s Museum
Campus and strategically positioned on a peninsula extending out into Lake
Michigan. http://www.sheddnet.org/
Just when we exited the Field, the skies opened up, and we had to run
through the miserably cold deluge. We were soaked to the bone, and our
teeth chattered, but somehow, it didn’t seem odd to be drenched while
viewing the awesome “Amazon Rising” exhibit. We finished drying out
while watching the dolphin show in the 1,000-seat amphitheatre of the
fabulously-designed Oceanarium. The 3-story-high curved glass window wall
provides natural lighting for the indoor aquatic arena and makes it appear
that the lake outside and the huge marine mammal tank inside are a single,
flowing body of water. The illusion is both spectacular and restful.
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| Our
Plan B for the night had been to see the movie “Chicago” while in
Chicago, but nobody wanted to do much more than stop moving, warm up and
zone out in front of the tube. I went down to ask the concierge for a
Chinese delivery menu, and we ordered in. Joan joined us for the feast,
and it was either some of the best Chinese food we’d ever eaten, or we
were really hungry. The carb boost kicked in, and I took the kids down to
the indoor pool. It was packed with families, so Lizzy and Maddie had fun
playing Marco Polo and other splash games while I sat and read. Craig
showed up in his swim suit after a “nothing special” steak dinner at
Don Shula’s, the hotel’s signature restaurant. His business
obligations were over, and he was ready to relax. The Sheraton shut down
the pool at 9:45 p.m., and it was another early lights out for our bunch. |