Smith Museum of Stained Glass
Later that afternoon, I headed out again. By now the rain had mostly stopped, though everything was still wet. I waited along State Street on an uncomfortably narrow sidewalk to catch the free “trolley” bus to Navy Pier.
Navy Pier
Navy Pier is the top tourist attraction in Chicago, a bland, uninspiring tribute to commercialism and the average American’s unspoken desire for sameness. My guidebook appropriately noted “everything in sight is sponsored to within an inch of its life, usually by McDonald’s.” The only feature worth seeing, except perhaps the Chicago Children’s Museum, is the Smith Museum of Stained Glass.
Smith Museum of Stained Glass
To call this a museum is a bit of a misnomer, since it is scattered along corridors and entries to the exhibition halls. Each stained glass window is housed in a wood cabinet with fluorescent tube backlighting. The collection is organized into four styles: Victorian, Prairie, Modern, and Contemporary. Most are from local churches, office buildings, and houses. There are windows designed by Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright, and other architects, but most of the earlier pieces are of unknown origins. Some of the more notable works were designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany.
Before leaving Navy Pier, I stopped to take some photographs of the downtown skyline, half obscured by fog. On a clear day, it’s probably a good vantage point.
dinner... or not
On my way back to the hotel, I planned to eat dinner at Giordano’s, one of the major contenders for the best deep-dish pizza in Chicago. Undaunted by the people standing outside, I headed in to see the hostess. “It’s an hour and fifteen minutes to get a table.” She said. “Uhhh, never mind.” No pizza could be that good.
Art Institute of Chicago