All in the Details

While nephew Tom was here visiting we took a ride in to Chicago to see the Museum of Science & Industry.  I'll write more about some of the exhibits in my next post, but first I'll share some of the fine work that was done on "The Great Story" which tells the story of the importance of trains to our culture and economy in this case by a model railroad that whisks you from Chicago to Seattle along its rails.

Hey!  It's the 40 story tall Carbon & Carbide building on the left, you can't miss that dark beauty which I've talked about on my blog before.  On the far right is the London Guarantee building with the circular temple on top that I visited in January with my friend Andy.  So cool!

From the city streets of Chicago the 20 trains pass through the Rocky Mountains on their way west.

Seattle is actually someplace I've never been, though I hope to get there someday.

Informational boards are displayed which told me that in the center is King Street Station, which was built in 1906 and apparently underwent some massive remodeling just a few years back so I will definitely put that on my must-see list.

You couldn't drag the kids away.  Such a cliche, but the little boys were fascinated and a few parents told me they had been there over an hour.

The big boys were hard to drag away too.  Wayne was intent on every detail and was disappointed not to find a moose among all the animals in the countryside.

Wayne and his nephew Tom, just boys at heart

After they pointed out that I was missing out on the details I slowed down and took another look.  I was more interested in the tiny people than the animals.

From hanging out their laundry to walking their dogs they were busy.  No one was riding the mechanical pony outside of the storefront, but a fella was pushing along on his scooter.

Outside of Chicago city folk flocked to the Dunes in Indiana to get a break from the summer heat.  Remember when Sharon and I met there?  Look, maybe there's the train station, though not the Beverly Shores one that we visited.

We could spend all day dissecting the details of that exhibit, but let's move on and see some of the details on the actual city streets of Chicago.

There isn't much green space in a city of the kind of density Chicago has, but even in the fall folks make an effort to keep flower beds and window boxes full of interesting things.

We parked a few blocks from The Drake and walked, and though it was breezy and cool the fairly fresh air out by the lake was nice.

Inside The Drake there was more greenery, and pink blossoms too!

My mother goes to The Drake at least once a year for high tea but this was my first visit.  I've been inside much nicer hotel lobbies and restaurants in my opinion, but their floral arrangements sure did impress.

Back out on the street we went, making our way down Michigan Avenue to Water Tower Place.

It's the time of year that everywhere I go I see scarecrows.  These ones in front of Starbucks were done up like Cubs players.  I'd give more detail except I know absolutely nothing about any sports teams, however they were amusing to say the least.

Also fun was the life sized Lego man inside Water Tower Place. 

The storefront was a scene depicting Chicago's buildings, our second of the day!

And Wayne and Tom consented to a silly portrait with a Storm Trooper, I couldn't believe I talked them into it so easily!

As promised, more about the museum in another post!