Ginger Adams Otis
Chicago in winter still has a lot to offer — especially when it comes to architecture and food.
The Windy City’s been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons of late.
First, there was the release of long-suppressed dash-cam video of the police shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald — and the demonstrations that ensued.
Then came the movie “Chi-Raq” from Spike Lee this month, which compared the violence in the Chicago neighborhood of Englewood to that of Iraq.
It sparked a heated back-and-forth between the filmmaker and Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who hates the film’s title.
Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel
Radisson Blue Aqua’s wave balcony design is a Chicago landmark, and a top-notch hotel.
Amid the ongoing upheavals — not to mention the threat of the city’s infamous bitter-cold temps — this seemed exactly the wrong time to visit Chicago, especially for a first-timer.
Yet as I found on a recent visit — armed with all kinds of wooly clothes that, thanks to El Nino, I didn’t need — the orderly and friendly city hums along even as it grapples, like many other municipalities, with 21st-century social change.
And its architectural beauty shines year round — even in winter.
The immediate goal of our long weekend was to soak up all we could about Chicago’s celebrated architecture — so we chose to stay in bustling downtown, full of soaring steel and glass towers and eye-catching Art Deco buildings.
In fact, I’d timed our visit to catch the 2015 Chicago Architecture Biennial, a three-month exhibit of some of the world’s best designers that runs through Jan. 3 — and that’s where we headed first.
We spent an afternoon touring the downtown Cultural Center, where many exhibits were housed, and then set off to find the remaining exhibits, which were packed into kiosks scattered around Chicago.
It was a great way to acclimate to the city’s huge sprawl, and it’s charmingly low-rise skyline outside of The Loop (the central business district). Working-class neighborhoods full of single-family homes with backyards and mom-and-pop shops flashed by as we rumbled along in the easy-to-navigate “El” trains.
courtesy of the Gage
The Gage offers nice food and drinks, and is a location popular among locals for happy hour.
Later, we toasted to the city at The Gage (thegagechicago.com), a warm and boozy gastropub on Michigan Ave. crowded with locals there for happy-hour.
According to our waiter, there was only one way to truly appreciate the city’s love of architecture: an Ohio River tour.
So the next day, we signed up with Chicago’s First Lady Cruises (847-358-1330; cruisechicago.com). We lucked into a gloriously balmy day, and everybody piled onto the upper deck for the gentle, 90-minute trip ($ 42) along the water ribboning through the city.
Ginger Adams Otis
The First Lady River Cruise allows for great views of all the city’s best architecture.
To our delight, our amusing guide didn’t just direct our eyes at the city’s structural splendors — although there were plenty. He also shared new history about Mrs. O’Leary’s cow and that infamous Great Chicago Fire of 1871, and even the flow of the river we were on, which was actually reversed in the early 1900s in a marvel of modern engineering.
Along the way we spotted a familiar building — our hotel.
The Radisson Blu Aqua is considered one of Chicago’s standouts thanks to the wave-like shape of its undulating balconies, a special design feature incorporated by its Chi-town architect. We certainly loved its eclectic look — not to mention its cozy lobby and the upstairs lounge full of free snacks and drinks.
The relaxing river tour seemed more like nine minutes than 90, and it was with some reluctance that we returned to land. But it was time to find some authentic Polish food.
Armed with a recommendation from a Chicago-born buddy, we jumped on the “El” to Division St.
Our destination was Podhalanka (1549 W. Division St.; 773-486-6655), a family-run joint inside a small building with an unprepossessing drab brown exterior.
Ginger Adams Otis
Podhalanka Polish restaurant in Chicago.
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Ginger Adams Otis
The pierogies are delicious at Podhalanka, but having room for them after the Zurek soup proved difficult.
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Podhalanka Polish restaurant may seem unassuming, but offers delicious homemade food — at an even better price.
Greg Jamka, the nephew of the owner, set down two steaming bowls of hearty soup for us as soon as we walked in the door.
“It’s Zurek, with leeks and some sausage,” he said. “You’ll like it.”
That turned out to be an understatement — but the soup itself was so filling we barely had room for the pillowy Ruski pierogies Jamka later brought out. Our inability to put down a full farmer’s lunch disappointed his aunt, who emerged from the kitchen to give us a despondent wave.
When the bill came, we called Jamka over to ask if there was a mistake. It was $ 12. We’d already figured out Chicago was much more affordable than New York City — and winter Chicago even more of a bargain — but this seemed unreal.
“That’s correct,” Jamka shrugged. “It’s fresh food, not expensive food.”
At Jamka’s recommendation we walked off the soup with a visit to the nearby Polish Museum of America, to wander among the paintings and folk art that told the history of one of Chicago’s most dominant immigrant group.
Ginger Adams Otis
Beautiful Millennial Park in downtown Chicago.
But the sunshine beckoned, and before long, we were back downtown at Millennium Park, using some Divvy Bikes (divvybikes.com) — the equivalent of NYC’s Citi Bikes — to wend our way through the bountiful public art that popped up in unexpected places.
Two of my favorite pieces were just steps from the second hotel we stayed at — the knockout Chicago Athletic Association. Formed in 1890, the beautiful limestone building was once a gentlemen’s sporting club — open only to the city’s elite. Founding members included William Wrigley, Jr., who later adopted the club’s C-shaped logo for his newly-purchased baseball team, the Chicago Cubs.
Thomas Hart Shelby / Goat Rodeo Productions
Chicago Athletic Association Hotel
Now the former gym and hangout has been transformed into a sleek and unique boutique hotel. But its origins haven’t completely disappeared: Designers incorporated the original gym equipment into the rooms and common spaces for an unusual sporty feel. Even the elevators were lined with old wood basketball flooring.
From my spacious room overlooking Millennium Park, I could see the huge marble sculpture “Looking Into My Dreams, Awilda,” by sculptor Jaume Plensa, and beyond that, the picturesque blue stretch of Lake Michigan.
Clayton Hauck
Chicago Athletic Association Hotel – Game Room
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Alan Shortall
Chicago Athletic Association Hotel
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The unique boutique Chicago Athletic Association Hotel was once a gentlemen’s sporting club, but was transformed into a hotel with an unusually sporty feel.
We also liked “Agora,” by Magdalena Abakanowicz, a strangely bewitching clump of headless steel legs big enough to walk through that we found while biking Chicago’s Mississippi Blues Trail (msbluestrail.org).
The trail reminded me that we couldn’t leave Chicago without a stop at Willie Dixon’s Blues Heaven Foundation at 2120 S. Michigan Ave. (bluesheaven.com, check the website for hours as they vary. Suggested donation of $ 20.)
Ginger Adams Otis
“Agora,” by Magdalena Abakanowicz, an art piece comprised of headless steel legs big enough to walk through.
The squat building — immortalized in a Rolling Stones song — was the main location for Chess Records, aka “America’s Greatest Blues Label.”
Ginger Adams Otis
Willie Dixon was one of the main producers, songwriters and arrangers at Chess, and now his nephew runs tours through the musical landmark.
Artists like Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Little Walter, Etta James, Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley made records there and blues great Willie Dixon was one of the main producers, songwriters and arrangers. His family restored the building and turned it into a non-profit museum. His grandson gives a short tour of the small space, but the anecdotes — why Chuck Berry slept in the basement and the time the Rolling Stones, young and cocky, showed up to record and forgot the words to their songs — are what make the visit worthwhile.
Inspired, we closed out our Chicago weekend with martinis and live music at Andy’s Jazz Club (andysjazzclub.com), marveling that we could revel in a top-notch performance for a $ 10 cover at the early show — yet another reason to visit the Windy City in winter.
Ginger Adams Otis
A trip to Chicago wouldn’t be complete without stopping by Andy’s Jazz Club.
***
If you go:
Getting there: We booked flights on American Airlines from LaGuardia Airport to Chicago’s Midway Airport for a one-way fare of $ 89; the flight’s roughly 2 hours.
Stay:
Radisson Blu Aqua : radissonblu.com; rooms start at $ 141.
Centrally located on Chicago’s Loop, beautifully-designed and spacious rooms, lobby and bar with a pool, game room and an executive lounge that serves free breakfast and cocktails.
Chicago Athletic Association: chicagoathletichotel.com; rooms start at $ 200
Across from Millennium Park, this refurbished hotel is a gem, retaining the handsome wood carvings of its days as a gentlemen’s club, with updated and large suites, plus a gorgeous rooftop bar and an on-site game room.
Eat:
Goose Island Shrimp House: gooseislandshrimphouse.com; Cash only at this late-night fried shrimp joint that the locals swear by.
Ginger Adams Otis
Chess Records Building, where artists like Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Little Walter, Etta James, Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley made records.
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travel ,
chicago
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