Day 25: Rest day
Welcome
Yesterday we had a rest day in Chicago.
Tristan and I began our day with a run along the Lakefront Trail, right on the edge of Lake Michigan. It was another clear day with temperatures reaching up into the eighties. Our route took us through Millennium Park and we were fortunate enough to witness the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra having a morning blow.
The Jay Pritzker Pavilion, with the famous bandshell designed by Frank Gehry.
After covering a small part of the waterfront we returned to our hotel by way of another of Frank Gehry’s masterpieces, the BP Bridge. Named after energy company BP which donated $5 million to its construction, the bridge is notable for being the first piece of public pedestrian infrastructure in the US to incorporate elements of stealth technology into its design and construction. Constructed in 2004 the bridge’s snake-like form has a total length of 285 metres, and carries pedestrians over the busy Columbus Drive. The structure is an internal box girder with a stainless-steel skeleton to form the distinctive geometric shape. The skeleton is completely clad in anechoic tiles to prevent detection from most mid-frequency active sonar systems, and the continuous curvature of the shape, made possible by advances in computational fluid dynamics, reduces the radar cross section of the BPB to the size of a small step ladder.
Checking if anyone is home.
The activity for the afternoon was a cookout, which in New Zealand we call a Barbeque. We have some great friends in Chicago and they belong to a band named Ratboys. When we arrived at their place in the northern neighbourhood of Montclare the grill (we also call this a barbeque) was fired up and Dave was manoeuvring a small group of brats to better fit some fresh corn. After we had all caught up we got straight into the food for we were famished by this time. I constructed a hot dog with a bratwurst, mustard, mayonnaise, onions, capsicum, and Marconi brand Giardiniera Relish. Next to this I had a piece of grilled corn generously lathered with sun-kissed butter.
This was our chance to begin celebrating Jonathan’s birthday which in the indecision around whether to observe it on the New Zealand or US date will be celebrated for two full days. Liz ordered a beautiful cake and we enjoyed the summer sun in this idyllic back yard.
The mid-afternoon heat making everyone look a bit hazy.
The day was filled with superb food and even better conversation but as the sun began to set it was time to leave the Ratboys to their rehearsal and head back to the hotel.
Our Uber ride back into downtown Chicago provided me with my first experience riding in a Tesla. It was also the loudest I have ever heard music played in a car. Our driver was a very friendly man who at the beginning of the ride asked us what our favourite song was. While some people struggle with this question it was a no-brainer for me and I told him: Am I honest With Myself Really? By Chas Jankel. We started driving and then he began blasting it, close to full volume for the next fourteen minutes. The Tesla seemed to possess a fine sound system as well as a sophisticated radar display for showing the locations of neighbouring vehicles and approaching obstacles.
The final birthday activity was a waterfront walk so we headed down to the Lakefront Trail after dark and watched the lights of all the boats enjoying their night cruises. Jon’s birthday fireworks arrived exactly on time at 9pm. The display was long and impressive, mesmerising us with a huge golden shower at the peak of its powerful climax.
