Saturday, April 3, 2003. The finale.

When I woke up and saw the sun shining and the first clear skies since we’d arrived, I knew I had to get the kids going and up to the top of the Sears Tower, which—depending on who you talk to and where you think the measurement should be taken—retains the title “Tallest Building in the World” over the Petronas Towers in Kaula Lampur, Malaysia. We hopped in a cab and got there minutes after the 10 a.m. opening—thank goodness, we walked right on the elevator to go up, but by the time we came down, the wait was 30 minutes. The elevator ride to the Skydeck on the 103rd floor is amazingly fast, under one minute! Visibility was only 30 miles this morning, so I’m not sure if we actually saw the three other states (Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan). Nonetheless, we enjoyed the views and the attractive and informative interactive exhibits highlighting Chicago’s history, notable personalities (there was Mies van der Rohe, again!) and culture. Naturally, we were reminded of our last visit to the World Trade Center, although I have to say the Sears Tower enclosed viewing experience was much more pleasant than it would have been out on the windy platform of the twin towers this cool April morning.

Maddie at the real Sears Tower
Maddie & American Gothic Our last stop of the trip was the exemplary Art Institute of Chicago. http://www.artic.edu/ Craig had stored our luggage at the hotel and brought his mom to the museum. We enjoyed our walk through town from Sears Tower to meet them at the institute, passing by a peace rally and/or Iraqi war protest demonstration on the way…to Lizzy’s chagrin, I didn’t permit a stop to find out which point the group was advocating. Over the course of several hours, we saw many of the collections and enjoyed a tasty lunch in the museum’s casual dining venue. Lizzy gravitated toward the modern art wing and made a list of several pieces she admired. Maddie did a great job telling me about a Picasso painting from “his blue period,” but showed a definite preference for the American artists. His favorites were Edward Hopper’s “Nighthawk” (we had a print of it hanging in the Houston house powder room) and, what else, “American Gothic”?!

All good trips have to come to an end. We retrieved our luggage from the hotel and returned to the airport the way we came—by train. We never experienced one of Chicago’s trademark “El” train stations, though…another reason to return!
FINAL NOTE: Lizzy absolutely refuses to cooperate with picture-taking. She was, in fact, with us on this trip! Here's proof: Lizzy ducks the camera...again!

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