Snapshot | Chicago, Illinois

Despite the fact that we had flown through Chicago several hundred times, my partner Paul and I had never actually been to the city itself. So for our anniversary last year I surprised him with a weekend trip: First class airfare, a room at the lovely Hotel Monaco and an unforgettable dinner at Alinea, probably the most cutting-edge restaurant in the country. But the city of Chicago was its own star. After perusing the Leather Archives and Museum, we took a bus back downtown and enjoyed the amazing public art in Millennium Park. Almost everyone instantly recognizes the gleaming contours of the Cloud Gate sculpture, affectionately called "The Bean," but only when you're there can you walk underneath it and stare up into the fun-house images cast by the concave underside. Here, we had a moment of reflection.
--Sean Timberlake, San Francisco

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