Coast Swap: Chicago IL

Chicago IL

1167 miles

41 ° cloudy

Gas $4.12

We had so much fun visiting our college friends Emily and Jordan in Chicago! We studied architecture with them at Texas Tech (and Stephen and Jordan took the MBA program together). They bought a house a year ago, and we enjoyed hearing about their architectural work on the house, being nerdy about the same things, and their drawings on the walls and same textbooks on the shelves.

The Chicago Model City can be found at the Chicago Architecture Foundation downtown.

Jordan and Emily are expecting their first baby next month. His name is Malcolm, and his bedroom is themed with dinosaurs. I love the dinosaur drawer handles best. 

 

Their cute 1920s neighborhood, in a near suburb of Chicago. Emily commutes to another suburb for work as an environment consultant, making use of her civil engineering degree. (She says she does more problem solving than engineering.) Jordan walks and takes the train to work in downtown. He's an architect working toward his license with EXP. 

Clementine befriended their 4-pound Pomeranian, Precious. 

Their neighborhood is very close to the Frank Lloyd Wright district. We took a tour of Wright's house and studio. They have excellent tours. It costs $5 extra for permission to take interior photos. 

Stephen stands by the Inglenook. The dining room is a room within a room created by high backed chairs and lighting feature. 

In front of Wright's studio, the large column capitals have the tree of life, a book, a floorplan, and storks. Stephen informed the tour group that it is a floorplan of the Florence Cathedral.

We sought out authentic Chicago food. Stephen had a hot dog for lunch, which Real Chicago Hot Dog: poppy seed bun, mustard, onions, relish, tomatoes, pickles, sport peppers and celery salt. at Big Guy's Sausage Stand. We went to Emily and Jordan's favorite pizza place for dinner: Lou Malnati's for real deep dish Chicago pizza.

 Emily had the afternoon off from work, and gave us a wonderful walking tour of downtown. She pointed out buildings by Sullivan, famous interiors and skyscrapers, and a dash of stories from a ghost tour.

The park has more modern architecture and art including "The Bean" a bean-shaped reflective sculpture. Seeing Chicago with Jordan and Emily was fun! We wish them the best with their new life.