Thursday morning was one of the Hubsters highlights of our holiday, as he got to tour Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs baseball team. For those of you not in the know, the Cubbies are like a less successful version of Man Utd back home. They have a similar history to the club and a legion of lifelong fans, but they have not won their championship for 100 years.
I don't pretend to know the first thing about Baseball and to be perfectly honest, I find it pretty boring. But even I enjoyed this tour and found it interesting. The Hubster is one of their loyal fans and so he was enthralled. One of the things the Cubs are best known for, is the often celebrity led sing-a-long of 'take me out to the ballpark' during the 7th innings stretch.
When we first knew they were going to be out of town the week we were there, he was not sure about doing the tour. But I convinced him it would be very worthwhile, having done a similar tour of Old Trafford and been thrilled myself. It was however hotter than haides the morning we did it, with crazy humidity and the first part was almost like a torture as we sat in the bleachers for a talk!
The humidity under the stadium was unbearable, as they had spent the morning hosing the walkways down! So it was a major relief to get up into the Press Box (despite the climb!) and finally find some kind of breeze. The view from here was great and I advised the Hubster that if we ever come to a game, we need to be either in there or a cheap seat in the shade!
He got to visit the team locker room, where alot of their personal stuff is on display in their lockers. Even I was impressed by how much was shared on the tour and the personal aspects.
Here he is in the home team dugout, waiting to be called into bat!
The last remaining manually operated scoreboard in the league. Apparently on game day, they will have 16 staff inside it making sure everything runs smoothly. The only air-conditioning is the open vents on either end!!
Our tour ended with a few piccies outside, including this one next to the statue of the famous Cubs commentator Harry Carey, he of those glasses!
After the Hubster squeezed in a quick geocache find back at the Museum Campus, we headed to the Chicago Art Institute.
We had a quick look around the new 'Modern' wing, but to be honest we're neither of us big fans of modern art.
So we headed off into the more traditional galleries to see some of the wonders of the art world. Here is Van Gogh's self portrait, it seemed like his eyes followed you wherever you moved!
A fabulous piece of Sevres pottery, of which I have always been a big fan and this vase was huge and so vibrant.
And then we had a gallery of Monet paintings, I could have put in a dozen pictures here, but 'Water Lillies' is my personal favourite. But seeing them close-up we were enthralled by the tiny brushstrokes and luminosity of his colours - just stunning.
This magnificant Indian Chief headress was from the Cheyenne tribe and originated from our neck of the woods.
And finally a beautifully designed English silver art deco rose bowl caught my eye.
We only managed a short visit to the Art Institute after our very energy sapping visit to Wrigley Field. We headed back to our room to finish the pizza pie and have an early night in preparation for our final day.
He got to visit the team locker room, where alot of their personal stuff is on display in their lockers. Even I was impressed by how much was shared on the tour and the personal aspects. 
Our tour ended with a few piccies outside, including this one next to the statue of the famous Cubs commentator Harry Carey, he of those glasses! 
After the Hubster squeezed in a quick geocache find back at the Museum Campus, we headed to the Chicago Art Institute. We had a quick look around the new 'Modern' wing, but to be honest we're neither of us big fans of modern art. 
So we headed off into the more traditional galleries to see some of the wonders of the art world. Here is Van Gogh's self portrait, it seemed like his eyes followed you wherever you moved! 
A fabulous piece of Sevres pottery, of which I have always been a big fan and this vase was huge and so vibrant. 
And then we had a gallery of Monet paintings, I could have put in a dozen pictures here, but 'Water Lillies' is my personal favourite. But seeing them close-up we were enthralled by the tiny brushstrokes and luminosity of his colours - just stunning. 
This magnificant Indian Chief headress was from the Cheyenne tribe and originated from our neck of the woods. 
And finally a beautifully designed English silver art deco rose bowl caught my eye. We only managed a short visit to the Art Institute after our very energy sapping visit to Wrigley Field. We headed back to our room to finish the pizza pie and have an early night in preparation for our final day.
But all have lifted water from beneath the earth to provide for a homesteader's garden or a rancher's cattle. Each one has it's own story and a book can be found in the little authentic Mercantile Store, containing the history of each one.
The focus of the park is not only the windmills, but also shows how homesteaders lived when they first came to this area, and why the windmill was so important.
Included in the Park is a small half-dugout soddy (sod-house) which was moved from 7 miles south-west of town. It was reconstructed to give a glimpse of how many of the early settlers lived. All year round visitors are encouraged to record the temperature in the soddy in a logbook. It is fascinating to see how the temperature holds relatively steady inside, whatever the weather outside!
In 1997 the one-and-a-half storey homestead house was moved into the Park. The restored home typifies the frame structure that an early family would have built, once they had moved up from their "soddy". A local family raised their four children in this particular homestead. The home consisted of a lean-to, living-dining room and the parent's bedroom. Up the very narrow staircase was a large open attic, where the children would sleep.
The gates of Windmill Park are made of Oklahoma red granite, are seven feet tall and depict two of the earliest windmills. They anchor a brick wall showing the names of many of the local homesteaders, ranchers and merchants, and the date of their arrival. It is facinating to read these names and recognise the grandparents and parents of local people I know now.
But there probably aren't enough superlatives to describe the stunning beauty and skill involved in the production of Chihuly blown glass. This is the permanent exhibit at the museum and was just awe-inspiring and has that "WOW" factor. 
His work has been influenced by his life; his plant life forms are reminiscent of his mothers garden in Tacoma, Washington. His boats filled with coloured glass orbs and seaforms reflect his love of the sea, 
I fell totally in love with his glass ceiling, the reflecting coloured light was just magical and I wanted to just lay down right there on the floor and gaze at it in wonder. I thought it would make a stunning setting for a music video. If we ever win millions in a lottery, I will be commissioning him to make me a room with a glass ceiling I can escape into!
The hubster loved the plant forms and the free flowing wall designs, that were so intricate it's hard to take it all in. We were both constantly asking "how", this is truly an exhibition that makes you think and question. 
The largest exhibit is the tower of glass stunningly placed for full effect in the glass entrance to the museum. It is huge and as the hubster stated a few times during our visit, "I would hate to be responsible for moving and setting up these displays"! 
In the museum shop they had 2 original small pieces that were $6,600! So it may be a long time before we can afford to own any, but I know we'd jump at the chance if we ever find ourselves rich suddenly. Guess we'd better start playing the lottery!
