journal

Chicago, Chi-Town, the Windy City.  What a wonderful place.  This is by far my favorite big city on my adventure.  There is a ground swell of energy all over the place.  There is a plethora of public art.  The architecture is spectacular.  There is also one of the best and historic baseball fields left in Major League Baseball.  The downtown was busting with activity.  I stayed in a really charming boutique hotel.  I walked along the lake and was amazed at Millennium Park with the beautiful art and the Prtizker Performing Arts Pavillion, designed by Frank Gehry.  I also went to a performance of the comedy team – “Second City”.  They were hysterical and I bet we see some of the stars in prime time.  Here are just a few glimpses of this fabulous city.  Oh, and pay close attention to the crowd shot at the Cubs game.  You might recognize an infamous Chicago politician.

Once I quenched my immediate thirst to know how to pronounce Taliesin and what it means, I was blown away by the other information about this home and workshop of Frank Lloyd Wright.  (The word is Welsh for shining brow and is pronounced “tali-a-sin). I spent two hours on a tour learning about the life and loves of Wright.  First of all, this home burned almost to the ground twice.  The first time there were seven murders committed in the arsen by one of Wright’s servants.  The second time was due to the force of nature through a lightening strike.  During his life, Wright was married three times and his second wife was murdered in the first fire.  Taliesin was not, in my opinion, a spectacular example of Wright architecture because it was his home and not designed for a client.  But the place is full of history relating to his life.  While living here he often used the property as an experiment utilizing the labor of architecture apprentices living on the property.  It is currently being used as a location for the fully accredited Wright School of Architecture.  Students have the opportunity to live at Taliesin and study in this historic location.  How cool is that?  Anyway, watch for the movie about his love affair and marriage to his second wife and her untimely demise.  The book Loving Frank was bought by Lion’s Gate and is currently being developed.  I have ordered the book because this will really help me feel what part of his life was like. 

This is one of the most progressive and civilized cities in the United States.  Of course, that is my opinion but I find the depth of cultural options so impressive as well as the quality of the arts.  The Minneapolis Art Institute is a traditional museum with a number of wonderful collections.  The new wing is devoted to the design and architecture of Michael Graves.  I became a fan of his when I started seeing his designs at Target.  The coolest things were the board games he designed: chess, backgammon, poker and monopoly.  He also designed household products.  What a treat to make such artistic designs available to the masses.  We also went by the Fitzgerald Theater that houses the Prairie Home Companion radio show.  While we were taking pictures of that I saw a dinosaur across the street painted with some of the great musicians of our times.  Did you say “Bob Dylan” – my hero?  After these places we went to the Walker Art Center.  What a bizarre artistic experiment.  The most innovative and creative art is found at the Walker.  There was one “piece” that was a woman sleeping in the corner.  A real live woman who sleeps in the corner for an hour.  Don’t ask… even I was confused.  But you have to go just to allow your mind to be imploded.  I also got to go to a Twins game.  My Minneapolis hotel was also the coolest.  They have a pool table and rocking chairs in the lobby.  What could be more attractive.  I also got to see a show about Ella Fitzgerald at the famous Guthrie Theater.  I just love this city.  Especially because I have WONDERFUL relatives there.  This was a really great place to stop on my adventure.

(Please visit the other South Dakota postings first so you can appreciate this one.)    Well let’s see.  South Dakota is determined to be a great party state.  It has two incredible monuments.  The Badlands represent increcible beauty.  Now, let’s take a look at two of the most unusual roadside attractions.  The first one is located right outside of the Badlands and the other was found as we neared the eastern border of the state.  Wall Drug Store started in the 1930’s boasted free ice water.  What a selling point.  We began seeing the signs for this place miles before.  They had almost as many roadsigns as “Pedros” on Interstate 95.  However, this place wins the prize for the classiest kitsch.  Inside the “drugstore” (it started that way) you can find basically a mall of shops from bath products to western wear to Native American art.  But the best part of Wall Drug is the decor.  The place is filled with weird stuff like the enormous rabbit with antlers, a mechanical T-Rex that roars every 15 minutes, the miniature Mt. Rushmore and many assorted sculptures and stuffed animals.  This place is worth the stop.  Then, on our way east out of South Dakota, we stopped in Mitchell because I’d heard of “The Corn Palace”.  Originally, this building’s facade was made of corn and corn products in the most artistic way.  Through the years the design changes annually because the real corn products get eaten by the birds and go through a natural process of deterioration.  I took many pictures of the panels on the outside and few on the inside where they adorn an auditorium/performing arts center/gymnasium.  Finally, we stopped at Al’s Oasis for a final look at South Dakota. 

Extaordinary beauty.  Now this is a great National Park.  The area is remote and filled with charming wildlife, stunning landscapes and colorful plant life.  We arrived at sunset and got up at 5:00 am the next morning to see the sunrise.  Both experiences were worth it.  The best wildlife sighting was the deers with antlers.  It was the first time I saw “the Gentlemen’s Club”.  This group was out together for their morning meeting.  We really enjoyed our cabin that was reminiscent of traveling in the 60’s or 70’s.  Not much had changed but it was really comfortable and right there amidst all that beauty.