Open House Chicago

Andy and I went downtown this morning for Open House Chicago. Our first stop was the BMO Building. Here we ate on the 49th floor terrace.

View to the west...

and east. The Willis (Sears) Tower was close by.

Our second stop was the Chicago Board of Options Exchange's trading floor.

Jackets the traders wear.

Third stop was the Wintrust Bank Building grand hall.

Beautiful details.

Fourth stop was 333 S. Wabash, the former CNA Building. You can see boats in the harbor.

Andy at the bar in the building's food court. They were handing out free hotdogs and drinks on the building's first floor but we decided not to wait in line.

It was an absolutely beautiful fall day to be walking around the city.

Fifth stop was St. James Cathedral, an Episcopal church. This is the church's Civil War memorial alter that survived the Great Chicago Fire. Abraham Lincoln worshiped here the morning after his nomination for the presidency in 1860.

This baptismal font, carved out of Carrara marble, was given to the church by a woman in memory of her infant daughter who died in the Chicago fire.

The altar.

Stunning windows. Our church is in the midst of a $350,000 capital campaign to renovate our kitchen and fellowship hall. This church wants to raise $16 million in a capital campaign to fix the exterior of their building, roof and other things. Wow.

Sixth stop was Fourth Presbyterian Church.

The church, completed in 1914, after the 1869 Old Water Tower complex, is the oldest structure north of the river on Chicago's Magnificent Mile, Michigan Avenue.

Beautiful stained glass windows.

The altar. The church seats about 1,200 when the balconies are full.

See the angel? There are 14 seven-feet-tall handcarved angels atop the side aisle piers.

The main building is so old. This is their chapel in a newer, adjoining building. Quite a contrast. Interesting that is has a labyrinth in the floor.

Seventh stop was Holy Name Cathedral.

The colors of the stained glass windows, made in Milan, go from blues in the back of the santuary ...

to reds and golds near the front of the sanctuary. This symbolizes moving from darkness to light, from sin to salvation.

The altar. The Resurrection Cross, from Italy, is made from a single piece of linden wood.

The cathedral can seat 1,100.

A stunning space.

The Virgin Mary.

That was a lot of walking in Chicago so we drove to Oak Park and stopped in at the historical society, housed in what used to be a fire station. I've been there before, but it was Andy's first time.

He found his picture in the yearbook.

Awww.

On the second floor, they preserved the hole where the firefighters would slide down. Now it's a window to see from the second to first floor.

They've done such a nice job with the exhibits. This was an exhibit of local Girl Scout troops.