Day two of our adventures centered on downtown Chicago. I wanted to show Cathie as many of the most popular sites, so we started at Cloud Gate (aka The Bean) in Millennium Park. The great thing about Cloud Gate is that no matter what angle you look at, you get great reflections of the skyline, and of course, you will end up in the photo too. Also, you have to go underneath, the curves of the stainless steel underneath give some great “Rohrshach” reflections. I did some time lapses of the crowds, but having photographed it many times already, I didn’t take many photos.

I had thought about also heading over to either the Crown Fountain, or across the serpentine bridge to Maggie Daley Park, but the day was already getting very hot, and I had some interiors in mind too if we needed to cool off. So, we went across Michigan Ave. to the Cultural Center (the original main branch of the Chicago Public Library, and has been featured in many films, including “The Untouchables” with Kevin Costner and Robert DeNiro). The main attraction there is Preston Bradley Hall, which is topped by the world’s largest Tiffany glass dome.

From there, we went to the James Thompson Center. It was designed by Helmut Jahn, and has a great atrium (very post-modern). We had lunch, I did a time-lapse there too. We then walked along the River Walk from Dearborn all the way to Lake Shore Drive (stopping for refreshments along the way). We then had dinner at the Billy Goat Tavern (world famous, courtesy of the original Saturday Night Live cast- Cheezborger! Cheezborger!)

After dinner, we went to the John Hancock Building. The observation deck gives a 360 degree view of the city: 360 Chicago. They allow tripods on one night, Monday night, so we took advantage of this. We got there around 6:30, caught the sunset from the west side of the building, then got some night skyline photos. All in all, a great day, and there was more fun to come over the next two days! More to come!