A Day in The Loop
Morning
Start early with breakfast at the charming Atwood Café in the lobby of the historic
Hotel Burnham
, with its beautifully reconstructed interior. Then stroll a block west to Daley Plaza to see the giant unnamed Picasso sculpture, stopping off at the Hot Tix booth at
78 W Randolph Street
, to get half-price, same-day tickets to a Loop theater performance. Continue along Michigan Avenue, past the
Chicago Cultural Center
, and south to The Art Institute of Chicago. A whirlwind tour of the highlights ,
all conveniently located on the upper level, can be done in a couple of
hours, though you may want to come back for a second helping.
Afternoon
Either have lunch in The Art Institute’s outdoor café or head west along State Street to eat at
Macy’s
legendary seventh-floor Walnut
Room, a Chicago fixture since 1907. Then burn off the calories by
shopping your way around the vast store and along the famous street that
it’s situated on. For pre-theater dining, try the sophisticated
Rhapsody
, convenient for the
Symphony Center
Or, on weekdays, try the all-you-can-eat buffet at
Trattoria No. 10
.
Evening
After the show, hop a quick cab ride to stylish
Nine
for a cocktail or some dancing late into the night in the slick second-floor Ghost Bar.
Architectural Sites
-
Monadnock Building
At
16 stories, this Holabird and Roche designed building (1891) is one of
the world’s tallest all-masonry high-rises. Inside, there’s a
magnificent wrought-iron staircase .
-
Marquette Building
Holabird and Roche also built this 1895 Chicago School structure with a steel skeleton and decorative ornamentation.
-
Reliance Building
Daniel H. Burnham’s stunning glass-and-white-glazed-terra-cotta building (1895) is now the Hotel Burnham.
-
Fisher Building
Another
Chicago School edifice with a steel structure, this 1896 neo-Gothic
building is also by Daniel H. Burnham. Aquatic motifs on the façade
honor the building’s first owner, L. G. Fisher.
Fisher Building
-
Carson Pirie Scott Building
Eye-catching
cast-iron swirls on part of the exterior of this building (1899 &
1903) express architect Louis H. Sullivan’s love of elaborate detail.
-
Santa Fe Center
Daniel
H. Burnham designed this elegant high-rise in 1904: its carved building
signs are from Chicago’s days as a railroad hub. The ground level
houses the Chicago Architecture Foundation.
-
Chicago Theater
The red marquee of this Beaux Arts-style theater is a symbol of Chicago. Built in 1921, today it is a performance venue.
Chicago Theater
-
One North LaSalle
This
1930-built, 49-story building was Chicago’s tallest for 35 years, and
is one of the city’s best surviving examples of Art Deco architecture.
One North LaSalle
-
Inland Steel Building
One of the first skyscrapers to be built (in 1957) on steel, not concrete, pilings. It predated the John Hancock building in using external supports.
-
Federal Center
Flanked
by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s federal buildings, this plaza (1959–74)
contains Alexander Calder’s striking statue Flamingo (1974).