Day 14: It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses….

We woke this morning and headed into the city. Our first stop of the day wasn’t exactly in Chicago, but a bit outside the city in the town of Oak Park which is just about 10 miles outside of the Chicago Loop. It is here that Frank Lloyd Wright lived and worked for the first 20 years of his career. Visitors are able to tour the home and studio on the property.

It is an interesting estate to walk through, primarily because the home served as Wright’s own laboratory as he experimented with ideas of space, aesthetics, material, etc. Take for example, the family room. Wright wanted to have the grand piano, but not sacrifice the space it would consume, so he cut a hole in the wall, shoved the piano through and only the keyboard is visible protruding from the wall. The rest of the piano is suspended by a metal hook over the stairs and the sound returns to the living room through a series of strategic vents.

The home also reveals Wright’s desire for grandeur. The entrance to his studio is exquisitely decorated with a stork and tree of knowledge motif and the porch is flanked with two sculptures portraying wisdom drawing from earth what is good.

The neighborhoods of Oak Park are also known for their architectural features, including at least 56 homes designed by Frank Lloyd Wright’s Studio. Carl and I began a walking tour of the area, but were soon chased back to our car by a summer thunderstorm.

Our next destination was supposed to be the Chicago Institute of Art; however, the trailer proved to be extremely unfit for the city. Sadly we could not steal Cameron’s Dad’s Ferrari like they did in “Ferris Beuller’s Day Off,” so we had to compromise. With no parking options, Carl was sweet enough to drop me off in front of the museum and circle the block a few times. This, of course, didn’t give me enough time to view the galleries, but I was at least able to snap some shots of the lions out front, walk in, visit the gift shop, and stroll through the sculpture garden and part of Millennium Park.

When Carl caught up with me, we drove a bit deeper into the city, passed historic Wrigley field (and there was even a game going on while we were there!) and fight evening traffic out of the city.

The one good thing about driving around the city looking for parking was that we were able to get a good view of Lake Michigan and the parks, beaches, boats and lighthouses that can be found along its shore.

I have to admit, when Carl and I think about Chicago, we tend to think about the Blues Brothers. However, we soon learned that there is NO WAY that Jake and Elwood could have gotten anywhere in Chicago as fast as the movie makes it appear. First off… traffic was pretty bad, and people obviously make up the traffic rules and parking spaces as they go. Second, Chicago has got to be the toll capital of the U.S. we were broke by the time we got out of the city. Back to the highway we made tracks for our final destination, Detroit. One city to another… we’ll see how this goes!