December 26-30
I arrived in Chicago at 10:45 AM and was picked up at Millennium Station by my daughter Rachel. After picking up Juan (Rachel's boyfriend) and Liliana (Juan's 6 year old daughter) we had brunch at Meli in the West Loop neighborhood.
We spent the afternoon catching up and preparing for Christmas dinner.
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| Rachel, Juan, Liliana, and I are ready to enjoy this delightful Christmas dinner in Rachel's West Loop loft apartment and photography studio. |
We spent the next day walking around downtown Chicago.
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| I found this sign on the way to downtown. It's something Bob and I won't see in warmer climates. |
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| The Cloud Gate is a huge bean shaped polished stainless steel public sculpture in AT&T Plaza at Millennium Park that distorts the reflection of the city sky line. |
According to Wikipedia the Cloud Gate sculpture was created by Indian-born British artist Anish Kapoor. Constructed between 2004 and 2006, the sculpture is nicknamed The Bean because of its shape. Made up of 168 stainless steel plates welded together, its highly polished exterior has no visible seams. It measures 33 by 66 by 42 feet (10 by 20 by 13 m), and weighs 110 short tons (100 t; 98 long tons). Visitors can walk through and around the sculpture.
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| In this view of Chicago's Millennium Park (taken from the terrace of the Chicago Athletic Association) you can see "The Bean", the ice rink, the Pitzker Pavillion, Lake Michigan, and part of the Chicago skyline. |
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| Here we are (Lili, me, and Rachel) enjoying the view from the terrace of the Chicago Athletic Association after enjoying a great lunch in the Cherry Circle Room. |
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| On the way back to Rachel's loft I took this photo of two angels. |
I spent two more days with Rachel, et al. eating, playing board games, and just generally having fun.
I ended my whirlwind visit to as many family members as possible in 17 days by flying to Pittsburg and staying over night with my sister Becky and her husband Al. It turned out that my daughter Jessica and her husband Joe were visiting them that night, too. The next morning I drove to Annapolis and then to BWI for my trip back to Charleston and finally to Folly Beach where Bob and I are staying with our two cats while our boat is being re-powered. It was a wonderful holiday with my children and sisters, but it is also wonderful to be back with Bob and the cats. I have many blessings to count in the 2016 year.
Thank you for reading my blog.
