Day 4 in Chicago - History, great food and neighborhoods

Still cloudy this morning, around 55 deg F/12 C. We enjoyed breakfast in the hotelbefore we headed out through the  affluent Gold Coast neighborhood - with very elaborate Halloween decoration - and on through Old Town to the Chicago History Museum. 

 

Gold Coast

Old Town

Love the history museum, always did, but now they had new exhibitions and became even more attractive. Our fav departments were "City on Fire" - the Great Fire in Chicago in 1871 destroyed most of the city –, and "Chicago: Crossroads of America" - a series of galleries that illustrate Chicago’s history. The iconic L car no. 1 greets visitors at the entrance, and then the exhibition is divided into five thematic areas, history from the beginning to the present, about the different ethnicities and neighborhoods, about innovations, economy, politics, music and much more.

 

 

 

The West Loop of Chicago is not really a main tourism destination yet, though there is a heap of restaurants of all types. We got a chance to explore a couple of them (including samples) on our Chicago Food Tour this afternoon. On a stroll down Randolph Street - one of Chicago's best "Foodie Streets" we got to know this culinary hub better, from meatballs to dumplings, cupcakes to pizza.

 

Cupcakes at Molly's

Time Out Food Hal

But, besides food, the West Loop has to offer great murals and spectacular architecture:

 

Tour ended at 4 pm, the sun was out in the meantime. We took an Uber over to Bronzeville, an African-American neighborhood, formerly part of Chicago's "Black Belt". It still showed true: Seemed like we were the only white people walking the streets to check out the surroundings of Bronzeville Winery. This restaurant in a new building was bustling with a dressed-up, colorful high-end black clientele. 

 

 

 

The Bronzeville Winery does a great job in bringing the art of good food and beverage to a neighborhood which is not really "fancy" yet, and, is aiming at functioning as an incubator for the neighborhood - as we got to know talking with the General Manager of this black-owned wine restaurant (left photo). 

First, we felt a little "out of place" -being the only whites (besides two other women) in a room with 50+ African-Americans , but then, we felt really welcome. Chef, GM and server were very hospitable and we had a great time with a wine flight and delicious little plates. Food was probably the best we've had so far (together with Chef Paul's at Big Jones), and, it was highly interesting to watch people.

 

 

 

Lobster Crackers

Cod fritters with aioli

  

What a great ending of a much too short stay! Wish we would have had more time to explore this fantastic city further. It's been the first time that we used Uber all the time to get from point A to B, it helped to get around more comfortable and quicker, but, on the other hand, still love to walk the neighborhoods in our own pace, and, to take the trains and get the "vibe" of the city. We'll be back for sure and do it again!