The city of Chicago was established in 1837. When the Great Chicago Fire broke out in 1871, the wooden buildings burned and the city was rebuilt with steel skyscrapers, including some of the tallest in the world at the time, and four of the tallest in the United States currently. Millennium Park, a green oasis amidst the skyscrapers, opened in 2004 at the former site of parkland, parking lots, and rail yards. It is now one of Chicago's most-visited attractions and includes gathering spaces, public art, gardens and more.
photo credit: Choose Chicago & City of Chicago

Welcome back to Chicago's McCormick Place, where the ASLA Expo is being held from November 6-9. Chicago has proven itself to be a landscape architect's town, as this is the second time in six years that the show has been held here.

The city of Chicago was established in 1837, just 34 years before Mrs. O'Leary's cow allegedly knocked over the lantern that sparked the Great Chicago Fire. The historic water tower on Michigan Avenue is one of the few surviving buildings from the city as it was in 1871, before 3.3 square miles burned to the ground. When the city was rebuilt, it rose from the ashes and took the form of steel skyscrapers, including the Sears Tower (now officially known as Willis Tower), the John Hancock Center and more. The "White City" hosted the 1893 Worlds Fair, confirming to the world that Chicago was indeed born again.

Since then, Chicago has grown to a population of over 2.5 million, making it the most populous city in the Midwest and the third most populous city in the U.S. Temperatures during this year's ASLA Show, based on historical averages, should be between 38 and 53???(R)???AE? F. November averages 3" of snowfall each year, though the snow usually doesn't appear until later in the month. Wind chill may play a part in the temperature, but don't put too much stock in it being windy: it's said that the "Windy City" may have received its nickname due to numerous politicians blowing hot air!

When it comes to getting from here to there, the elevated train, also known as the "L," and the bus system are quick and convenient choices. Bicycle rentals are available throughout the city, and walking is always encouraged. For longer distances, taxis are relatively inexpensive and easy to find. Within the city, driving is not recommended unless absolutely necessary due to heavy traffic and potential parking difficulties.

As Frank Sinatra sang, "bet your bottom dollar you'll lose the blues in Chicago." With the variety of events and attractions Chicago has to offer – museums, art, music, sports, theater, festivals, nightlife, parks – everyone can find a way to lose the blues. Unique events are happening all the time across the city. Here's a brief look at a few of the highlights of the city and some of the special events happening in Chicago during the ASLA show.

Museums and Historical Sites
Located on the outskirts of Millennium Park, the Chicago Cultural Center is a wise first stop for Chicago newcomers. The Visitor Information Center located within has a variety of resources available for tourists, including volunteer Chicago Greeters who will give free on-the-spot tours of the city. On Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 1:15 p.m., the first 20 visitors to arrive can take a free, guided tour of the building, which has the world's largest Tiffany stained-glass dome.

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The Chicago Cultural Center is a great first stop for newcomers to Chicago. In addition to housing a Visitor Information Center, volunteer Chicago Greeters at the center offer free on-the-spot city tours. On Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 1:15 p.m., free, guided tours of the building are available for the first 20 people to show up. Tour participants have a chance to learn about the marble and mosaic building interior as well as the building's dome, which, at 38' in diameter and over 1,000 square feet total, is heralded as the largest Tiffany stained-glass dome in the world. www.chicagoculturalcenter.org
Photo credit: Choose Chicago & Adam Alexander Photography

After picking up some visitor guides at the Cultural Center, it's time to start checking out some of Chicago's museums. And, it just so happens that the weekend of the ASLA Expo is a Bank of America "Museums on Us" weekend, meaning that Bank of America and Merrill Lynch cardholders can visit eight Chicago area museums for free (Adler Planetarium, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago History Museum, Illinois Holocaust Museum & Educational Center, the Morton Arboretum, Museum of Contemporary Art, National Veterans Art Museum, and Shedd Aquarium). Visit museums.bankofamerica.com for more information and details about the participating museums.

The Chicago History Museum, located at 1601 N Clark St., showcases collections detailing Chicago's past, present, and potential for the future. The museum is open seven days a week, from 9:30-4:30 Monday through Saturday, and 12-5 Sundays. Regular admission is $14, but free on the first full weekend of the month for Bank of America cardholders as part of the "Museums on Us" promotion. Current exhibits at the history museum include Chicago Authored, featuring a collection of works by contemporary and historical authors, and The Secret Lives of Objects, featuring seemingly ordinary objects that had an impact on history, such as the table from Appomattox Court House where Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant. Tours of historic regions of the city departing from or near the museum are available year-round. These include walking, running, bicycle, L trains and bus tours. www.chicagohistory.org

The Pullman Landmark District and State Site is the newest National Monument, designated in February 2015, and the first unit of the National Park Service in Chicago. Also known simply as the Pullman District, the neighborhood is the first planned industrial community in the United States, and is home to the Pullman sleeping car. The Historic Pullman Visitor Center is open Tuesday through Sunday, 11-3. While there, enjoy an introductory video on the neighborhood's history, which can be viewed before taking a guided or self-guided tour of the historic district. www.pullman-museum.org

The Driehaus Museum, located in the Gilded Age home of banker Samuel Mayo Nickerson on East Erie Street, opened in 2008 with the goal of influencing today's built environment by preserving the design work of the past. The building was restored over the course of five years, and is furnished with historically appropriate pieces. Currently, the museum is showcasing Maker and Muse: Women and Early Twentieth Century Art Jewelry. On the first and third Saturday of the month at 1 p.m., including November 7, the Mansions and Millionaires walking tour departs from the Driehaus Museum and leads participants through the River North district, formerly known as McCormickville, to the locations of still standing historical mansions. Guided by a local Chicago historian, participants will learn about the businessmen, families, public figures and artists who once occupied the homes of the area. www.driehausmuseum.org

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Millennium Park, part of Chicago's Grant Park, includes open space for gardens, festivals, and of course, public art. This well-known sculpture, "Cloud Gate," or, as it's more commonly called, "The Bean," was the first public outdoor work by artist Anish Kapoor in the United States. The reflective sculpture was inspired by liquid mercury and is composed of 168 stainless steel plates that were welded together and polished so no seams are visible. The center arch is 12' high in the middle, allowing visitors to walk underneath and view their distorted reflections. www.millenniumpark.org
Photo credit: Choose Chicago & Adam Alexander Photography

Parks and Outdoors
Millennium Park was recently recognized as a finalist in the Urban Land Institute's 2015 Urban Space Award competition. The "Cloud Gate" sculpture, more commonly known as "The Bean," is a fun photo location for hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, and Crown Fountain, which "spits" water from the projected faces of Chicago residents, provides entertainment for people of all ages. In celebration of the park's 10th anniversary, artist Jaume Plensa, who designed Crown Fountain, has created four large-scale sculpted portraits positioned to complement the thousand portraits on the fountain. Jaume Plensa: 1,004 Portraits will be on display in Millennium Park until the end of December. Also located within the park, Lurie Garden offers free self-guided tours year-round every day. The garden is considered part of the largest green roof in the world, as it is on top of the Millennium Park parking structure. Millennium Park is free and open daily from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.

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Crown Fountain, and its 1,000 faces that spit water at visitors, is another of the many pieces of public art within Millennium Park. (Read more about Crown Fountain at www.landscapearchitect.com/research/article.php/5410.) For the park's recent tenth anniversary, artist Jaume Plensa, creator of Crown Fountain, has sculpted four large additional portraits, designed to complement the faces of Crown Fountain that are spaced around Millennium Park. 1,004 Portraits will be displayed until the end of 2015.
Photo credit: Choose Chicago & Adam Alexander Photography

According to the Chicago Public Art Program, there are more than 700 public works of art across the city. (A 96-page public art guide, organized by neighborhood, can be downloaded from www.cityofchicago.org.) With so much public art to enjoy, visitors are sure to find a piece that speaks to them. In a new yearlong event, 30 statues around the city are using smartphones to literally speak to their viewers. Statue Stories Chicago runs from August 2015 to August 2016 at statues throughout the city – even Cloud Gate is participating. Swipe your smartphone on a tag near certain statues to receive a call from the statue, with history, mythology and humor. Learn more about the 30 participating statues and download a map of their locations at www.statuestorieschicago.com.

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Lurie Garden is considered part of the largest green roof in the world, as it is built over the Millennium Park parking structure. The 5-acre garden at the southern end of the park was designed by Seattle landscape architecture firm Gustafson Guthrie Nichol Ltd. The garden pays homage to the city's motto: "Urbs in Horto" (City in a Garden). The two plates of the garden, the light plate and the dark plate, are planted with a variety of perennials, bulbs, grasses, shrubs and trees, ensuring year-round beauty at the garden. There are free self-guided tours available. www.luriegarden.org
Photo credit: Choose Chicago & City of Chicago

Navy Pier is currently undergoing renovations for the hundred-year anniversary "Centennial Vision" in 2016, but there is still plenty to do on the pier. In fact, during the ASLA Show, the pier will be home to SOFA Chicago, an art fair dedicated to sculpture, objects, functional art and design. Year-round, you can visit the Driehaus Gallery of Stained Glass, an Imax theatre, the Landshark Beer Garden, the 1-acre Crystal Gardens botanical garden and more. Visitors can depart on one of many Chicago sightseeing or dinner cruises from the pier. Admission to the pier is free; rates for individual attractions vary. Recently, LASN featured Chicago's Navy Pier for landscape architecture firm James Corner Field Operations' efforts at ensuring the longevity of trees planted as part of the pier's revitalization project. Read about the work in progress at https://landscapearchitect.com/research/article.php/27514.

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Public art and sculptures can be found throughout the city. This untitled Picasso sculpture, located at the Richard J. Daley Center off Washington Street, is one of 30 statues in the city that are participating in the new yearlong "Statue Stories Chicago" event. By swiping your smartphone on a nearby tag, the statue will give you a "call back" and relate a story – some fact, some fiction or mythology, and some pure humor. Actress Deanna Dunagan, known for her recent role as the grandmother in M. Night Shyamalan's The Visit, loaned her voice to the Picasso sculpture for the event. www.statuestorieschicago.com
Photo credit: Choose Chicago & City of Chicago

If the urban jungle is too much, consider going back to nature at the Lincoln Park Zoo: it's free, and open 365 days a year, rain or shine. The newest arrivals at one of the oldest zoos in the United States include red panda cubs and several ornate box turtles that hatched in September. At the zoo, Nature Boardwalk is a natural ecosystem for native plants and animals to thrive, serving as a model for urban conservation and sustainability. Additionally, the Lincoln Park Conservatory, adjacent to the zoo, is home to lush, exotic plants from around the world as well as Illinois native plants in four houses surrounded by formal gardens. The conservatory was constructed in the 1890s, and has changed little since then.

Sports and Food
Chicago is one of only four U.S. cities to have teams from the five major American professional team leagues. The Cubs and the White Sox represent baseball; the Bears represent football; the Bulls represent basketball; the Blackhawks represent hockey; and the Chicago Fire represent soccer.

The Chicago Bulls will go up against the Minnesota Timberwolves on November 7 at United Center. The Blackhawks will play against the Edmonton Oilers that weekend on the 8th, also at United Center. College football will also take place over the weekend, with the Northwestern Wildcats taking on Penn State on November 7.

While at the game or exploring the city, take the opportunity to try one of Chicago's namesake food items. A Chicago dog is topped with yellow mustard, white onions, pickle relish, a pickle spear, tomato, sport peppers and celery salt on a poppy seed bun. Chicago is also known for its deep dish pizza, and the Chicago stuffed pizza: a "pizza pie" that has a layer of crust, followed by toppings, topped with another layer of crust, often drizzled with tomato sauce after it's been baked. A thin crust Chicago pizza is also popular amongst locals.

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Lincoln Park Zoo, one of the oldest zoos and one of the few free zoos in the U.S., is open 365 days a year, rain or shine. The zoo is an accredited member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, and is home to red panda cubs, chimpanzees, sloths, snow leopards, harbor seals and many more creatures. The Nature Boardwalk (pictured), which opened in 2010, is a pond habitat of native plants and wildlife. The boardwalk, constructed of recycled materials, wraps around the water for about a half-mile for maximum wildlife viewing. Slats were added underneath the bridge to encourage swallow nesting. www.lpzoo.org
Photo credit: Choose Chicago & Adam Alexander Photography

Special Events
The inaugural Chicago Architecture Biennial will be taking place across the city from October 3 to January 3, 2016. While the hub of the Biennial is at the Chicago Cultural Center, the various art and architecture installations, interactive exhibits, programs and more extend throughout the city in venues including Millenium Park, the lakefront and more. The Biennial invites anyone who interacts with architecture – whether they are architects, landscape architects, designers or the general public that experiences architecture in their daily lives without noticing it – to consider how design plays a role in arts, culture and society. The citywide displays aim to showcase The State of the Art of Architecture. www.chicagoarchitecturebiennial.org

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The Lincoln Park Conservatory is adjacent to the zoo. Formal gardens surround the conservatory, and four plant houses are on display: Palm House (includes rubber trees); Fern Room, or Fernery; Orchid Room (includes a koi pond); and the Display House, which showcases seasonal flowers. A greenhouse and gardens were built at the conservatory site in the 1870s, and the conservatory as it is today was built in the 1890s.
Photo credit: Choose Chicago & Adam Alexander Photography

The 20th annual Chicago Artists Month is from October 1 to November 15 this year, celebrating the City as Studio. Participating artists are showing off their new, innovative works that seek to increase public access to the arts. Working in harmony with the Architecture Biennial, Chicago will be showcased as a center of art, architecture, design and creativity. The celebration is an opportunity to meet and connect with artists throughout the city. There are different events happening each day as well as ongoing exhibits throughout the city – check out www.chicagoartistsmonth.org to learn more and find the special events happening during the ASLA Show.

Families with young, aspiring landscape architects can check out the Greatest Show on Earth (other than the ASLA Show, of course) – Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey will be presenting Circus XTREME daily from November 5-15 in Rosemont, Ill., just 20 miles outside central Chicago and adjacent to O'Hare Airport. For tickets, visit www.ringling.com.

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The 3,300' long Navy Pier is currently undergoing preparations for its 2016 Centennial celebration; however, that doesn't prevent it from operating as usual. The pier is home to the Chicago Children's Museum, an Imax theater, the 1-acre Crystal Gardens and more. Many of the city's sightseeing boat tours depart from Navy Pier. It is Chicago's number one tourist attraction with places to dine, learn and enjoy the best of what the city has to offer. As part of the ongoing renovations for the hundred-year anniversary, landscape architecture firm James Corner Field Operations is installing green infrastructure to protect newly planted trees along the South Dock. See LASN Aug. 2015 feature www.landscapearchitect.com/research/article.php/27514
Photo credit: Choose Chicago

Families looking for a less "extreme" and more historic Illinois adventure can visit Abraham Lincoln's home in Springfield, about 200 miles outside of Chicago. The visitor center is open daily except for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. Visitors are encouraged to arrive and get their tickets to tour the home early, as a limited number are available each day. Tickets are free and cannot be ordered in advance except for large groups. www.nps.gov/liho

Starved Rock State Park, only 100 miles outside of Chicago, has 13 miles of hiking trails and offers guided "Take a Hike & Lunch" tours from April through November. Located off of the Illinois River, there are multiple fishing areas in the park. Historic trolley tours are available and detail the history and legends of the state park. Visit www.starvedrockstatepark.org for more information and directions.

Whatever the Windy City blows your way, whether it is a new discovery or an old favorite, good times are guaranteed. Chicago is everybody's town, and with so much to see, do and explore, you're sure to lose the blues.