Navy Pier

Navy Pier looks strangely different under the falling rain at ten o'clock of a Saturday night. Walkways normally filled with people are empty, lights shimmering across the pier. The empty wheel was turning as I turned and drove the car away.

Lake Michigan Cruise

Labor Day weekend was a great time to cash in one of our Groupons, and we did. A great bargain gave us tickets on Mystic Blue, a Lake Michigan dinner cruise ship, and we loved the entire event. The food was excellent, the coffee was great, a nice glass of wine was included, and the staff on board was friendly and efficient. The two hours went by quickly, and the star of the show was downtown Chicago.
We boated south from Navy Pier just beyond Adler Planetarium and Soldier Field, then we turned around and headed back. Perhaps five miles in two hours, all in perfect view of the skyline of Chicago. We will look at some of the views in the next several posts. Here we see Mystic Blue at the pier before boarding and the creative logo I developed from one of the photos I collected. We will look at more in the next post.

Back on the Pier

Back on Navy Pier, we saw a quartet of service men enjoying some free time on a Saturday afternoon. The four men look relaxed, but there is a wistful touch of lonely involved here, possibly excepting the third from the left, who seems to be sending a text message.

Lake Point Tower was still shrouded in a misty fog as we hit the bus to head home.

Fog Lifting

As the Tall Ship Windy returned to dockside, a bit of the fog began to lift. Here we see another shot of the rigging of the ship with a narrow sail in place.

The image of the Navy Pier Ferris Wheel and Skyline Stage was taken a bit later, as we left the Pier and the fog finally dissipated. Might have to take another Tall Ship cruise to see the skyline of the city!

Cannon Aboard

The rigging and the sailwork on the Tall Ship Windy was quite interesting. All the sails are operated in a modern fashion, by pulling the lines from the deck. No one climbs up into the rigging, taking life into hands, anymore.
The instructional talk on our cruise was the history of the tall ships in Chicago, so the cannon on the starboard side was not used. I do understand that some of the cruises talk about the history of pirates on the Great Lakes, and that the cannon is fired at that time.

Foggy, Misty Morning

Our day on the Tall Ship Windy was mostly foggy. Still an enjoyable cruise but not including any great Chicago skyline shots. Here we see the Grand Ballroom at the east end of Navy Pier shrouded in the mist. The other photo, at the breakfront, was a bit clearer as we look at the traditional lighthouse.

Tall Ship Windy

Last week we went down to Navy Pier, plunked down two coupons, and picked up two tickets to a cruise on the Tall Ship Windy. Well, not a coupon, actually, but a Groupon.

Of those not in on the secret, it is no longer a secret. If you join at groupon.com you will get a nice email each day offering an event, a sale, a ticket. I attended a Cub game from a rooftop on my first Groupon trip, and this week we enjoyed an hour on Lake Michigan on the four-masted tall ship.

Here we see the Windy coming in to the dock to pick us up, and then us leaving the dock for our visit. We will look at the sights in the next few posts.

Time Out for the Bard

After spending a wonderful afternoon on Navy Pier in Chicago, I thought we would take a timeout from our Alaska postings for a word about the Bard.

It was my good fortune to locate a young Chicago company called Shakespeare Repertory Theatre in 1991 and enjoyed watching the group grow and expand over the years. Eventually plans were announced for a theatre company on the Pier, a wonderful building was constructed, and the renamed Chicago Shakespeare Theatre came into being. Regular opportunities for all audiences including interested students to see world-class drama and comedy.

Of course, we all know that Macbeth is not only one of Shakespeare's most popular tragedies, it is the shortest and thus the one that careens down the track at breakneck speed. The 2009 mounting, directed by Artistic Director Barbara Gaines, features Ben Carlson and Karen Aldridge as the doomed Macbeth couple. They are as powerful and as well-presented as any couple I have ever seen in these roles. Set in modern times and featuring air power in the wars, video reports from the media, and airport waiting while flights are cancelled. But beneath the updating of details, the tragedy looks into a man who becomes lost in his ambition and his wife, how loses her mind when she loses his loving attention. For Chicagoans, this is a must-see.

The Scottish play has been featured here several times, including a 1992 mounting starring Kevin Gudahl and Susan Hart. That version was highlighted by music by Lloyd Broadnax King, pounding his chest, screeching and using various tools and items as instruments. More recently, a Short Shakespeare production covered the complete tragedy in 75 minutes and a Kabuki-style presentation featuring the character of Lady Macbeth. A highly-creative version was Marionette Macbeth, in which all actors were 3-4' tall marionettes controlled by a series of master puppeteers, featuring the Colla Family from Italy. As they manipulated the actors, the lines were provided by seven actors sitting in a chorus format.

The Wednesday matinee had an informative post-production session with several audience members asking some probing questions. Three of the actors including Karen Aldridge (Lady Macbeth) joined the discussion with Marilyn Halperin, Director of the Education Department. Season after season, production after production, the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre provides topnotch professional theatre for the people of Chicago. Thanks for the wonderful afternoon and we will return to Alaska tomorrow.