Day 2: Chicago

We started the morning with a fantastic breakfast at the Gwen. It was Sunday, so they had a special brunch buffet available. This typically costs $30 per person, but was included as a Platinum benefit. There was a variety of high quality brunch foods, complete with Mimosas.

Yesterday, we explored the northern part of Downtown Chicago, so today we ventured south. Right along the Chicago river was the flagship Michigan Ave Apple Store, which had a large open layout looking directly onto the river.

We took some pictures along the river and then continued heading down towards Millennium Park. This city is lined with skyscrapers, which made me very happy as an architecture nerd.

Millennium Park is a beautifully landscaped part of the larger Grant Park that runs along the Lake Michigan coast of Chicago. One of the city's most famous landmarks is located here - Cloud Gate, also known as the Bean.

A bit further down was the Chicago Institute of Art - a highly respected art gallery with many famous works.

Outside the Art Gallery, there is an interactive public art sculpture called Crown Fountain. This was like a large waterfall with projections of different facial expressions.

By now it was mid-afternoon and we were pretty hungry. We had a few rolls from a nearby sushi restaurant to tide us over until dinner. My girlfriend loves the mango sushi rolls.

After our afternoon snack, the sky had cleared up so we continued to explore Grant Park. It is pretty cool to have this green oasis in the midst of all the skyscrapers.

At the center of Grant Park was Buckingham Fountain - a massive and stunning water feature.

We walked back along the lake shore, which was lined with numerous boats, ferries, and yachts.

We cut through Maggie Daley Park, which has these beautiful and contemporary walkways.

This led us to Jay Pritzker Pavillon which often hosts musical performances.

One last look at the Bean as the sun begins to set.

We ended the day with a great dinner at a nearby Thai restaurant.

It was really nice spending the day at Grant Park. There was so much to do and see in such a compact area. We are really impressed with Chicago so far.