January 2010 – Page 5 – Andertoons Cartoon Blog

This weekend the Mrs. and I were treated to a nice weekend downtown. As a Christmas gift, Margie’s folks booked us a room and watched the kids for us.

Ahhhh… So. Nice.

Anyway, here’s the pics:

We stayed at the Hotel Burnam, which is the old Reliance Building.

To Chicagoans of the 1890s, the glass-covered exterior of this building seemed to almost defy gravity. A century later, it is internationally recognized as the direct ancestor of today’s glass-and-steel skyscrapers. Extremely narrow piers, mullions, and spandrels, all covered with cream-colored terra cotta decorated with Gothic-style tracery, divide wide expanses of glass and clearly delineate the interior steel framework that supports the building. The light and airy facade is almost entirely windows–both flat and projecting bays–of the type known as a "Chicago window:" a wide fixed pane with narrow movable sash windows flanking it. A flat cornice tops the 14-story structure. The severely deteriorated exterior was completely restored by the City of Chicago in 1996.

Just a fantastic hotel, and gorgeous architecture to see around every corner.

The hallway to our room.

First we checked out Adler Planetarium. And, while perusing telescopes and Mars rovers, I ran across what looked like a cartoon:

Daumier’s 1844 "Un astronome satisfait"…

"…pokes fun of the ‘satisfied’ astronomer, who eagerly describes his wonderful discovery to a shocked listened; ‘Yes, my dear friend, I have just discovered a comet, and according to my calculations, I have great hope that in 45 days, it will encounter Earth.’"

Sidney Harris it’s not, but fun to see!

That night we went to see a show entitled "A Very Merry Unauthorized Children’s Scientology Pageant" at A Red Orchid Theatre. Above is a quick shot of the set before the show.

The next day we spent the morning and some of the afternoon at the Art Institute: