Fun in the Windy City
A Chicago adventure with Tauck and Ken Burns
In Chicago we felt a bit like Al Capone, Louis Armstrong and Frank Lloyd Wright.
We were part of a group of 120 guests who experienced The Tauck Chicago Event, organized by North America’s oldest touring company in cooperation with famed filmmaker Ken Burns. What he calls “The Most American of Cities” has been the focus of several Emmy winning PBS documentaries produced by Burns — “Prohibition,” “Frank Lloyd Wright” and “Jazz.” All focus on Chicago and its remarkable history, architecture, music and characters.
In spite of Chicago’s current reputation for murder and gun violence, the downtown seemed safe and we were very impressed by the city’s cleanliness, efficiency and friendliness.
The Chicago Event guests were broken down into four groups of about 30, each with its own historic name (we were the tough guys – the Al Capone group!) and a dedicated Tauck Director. To avoid crowding, the groups have a separate bus and itinerary each day and then come together most evenings for a gala dinner or special occasion.
The first evening set the tone with an all-guest gathering and dinner at the Chicago History Museum. Dating from 1856, it’s the city’s oldest cultural institution and includes exhibits about the Great Fire of 1871, the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition and even a copper still from 1920s Prohibition.
The following morning our group joined an open-deck cruise along the Chicago River. A volunteer from the Chicago Architecture Foundation implored us to look up, way up, and described the magnificent buildings that dominate the city skyline. There are several stunning
high rises from the 1920s with their Gothic-style towers and modern skyscrapers like the 110-storey Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower) and the 92-storey Trump Tower, a shimmering blend of stainless steel and glass.
In the evening we were treated to an illustrated lecture by “Get Capone” author Jonathan Eig about the notorious Chicago gangster. Known as Scarface, Capone controlled gambling, prostitution and the illicit liquor trade in the 1920s by bribing, threatening and sometimes killing police officers, judges, politicians and competing racketeers.
The lecture was the perfect introduction to our tour the next day of Chicago neighbourhoods that were notorious in the ’20s and ’30s for illegal activities and major crimes. We saw the spot, now a park, where seven mobsters from one of
Capone’s rival gangs were shot down on St. Valentine’s Day in 1929 and we passed the Biograph Theatre where bank robber John Dillinger was killed by the FBI in 1934.
We even visited two former, well-preserved speakeasies, the illegal (“stay quiet – speak easy”) but very profitable bars that flourished in Chicago during the 13 years of prohibition.
In the evening, the entire Tauck Tour group was bussed to the historic Chicago Theatre. Built in 1921 as a movie house, it’s a magnificent 3,800-seat showplace with a distinctive marquee, a palatial lobby, a Mighty Wurlitzer organ and a massive mural-covered auditorium. It was a jaw-dropping venue for a lively question and answer session with filmmaker Ken Burns and Tauck president Jennifer Tombaugh. Burns talked about his remarkable TV documentaries with special emphasis on his Prohibition, Architecture and Louis Armstrong Jazz films.
Our final day had a focus on the work of famed American architect Frank Lloyd Wright and his illustrious career in Chicago. He developed the Prairie School, the first uniquely American architectural style. It emphasizes flat prairie landscapes with lots of brown and tan colours and long horizontal lines with overhanging roofs. We visited the 1910 Robie House, now a National Historic Landmark, on the campus of the University of Chicago. Even the interior – light fixtures, windows and furniture – was designed by Wright.
In nearby Oak Park the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio is preserved as a museum that attracts thousands of visitors including many architectural students from around the world.
We took advantage of free time to visit the massive Art Institute of Chicago near Millennium Park (with its playful “Bean” sculpture). We were especially impressed by the wonderful Rembrandts and some of the best Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings outside of France. Especially well-known and stunning was “A Sunday on La Grande Jatte” by Georges Seurat.
We also dined on our own at two excellent restaurants close to our hotel on the Magnificent Mile. The Tre Soldi serves wonderful Italian cuisine (their grilled octopus and risotto were superb) while Joe’s was memorable for its crab cakes and prime beef.
The final day with Tauck ended in fine style with a “Prohibition Repeal Celebration” in the elegant ballroom of the Intercontinental Hotel. Many guests and most staff dressed in 20s and 30s outfits while enjoying a great banquet with Roaring 20s music by the Fat Babies Jazz Band. It was a great way to celebrate a remarkable era in Chicago history and an excellent, well-organized tour.
In 2017, among many other tours, Tauck will repeat its popular New York and New Orleans Events, with an itinerary also inspired by the documentaries of Ken Burns.