Which is my favorite tree this year? Once you see what I am talking about you will understand why I selected the one I did. Every year for the past ten years I have taken my grandchildren to see the big trees in Chicago. The first one is always the Marshall Field’s (Macy’s) tree in the Walnut Room. We ooh and ahh about the beauty of the thing, have breakfast, take pictures, tour the store, and then view the windows on State Street.
I thought the last two Macy’s trees were outstanding, one done by Martha Stewart, and the other by Tommy Hilfigger. This year, the Macy’s designers did the tree themselves. In my opinion, Martha and Tommy should hang it up. Macy’s outdid themselves with a stunning design that makes previous year’s pale in comparison.
Macy’s theme ornamented the tree with four words, “Dream, Imagine, Believe, Wish.”
A short walk west, and we arrived at the Daley Plaza to visit the Kris Kindle Market and the Chicago Christmas tree.
It drizzled the whole time, but our Christmas spirit was not dampened. Usually, the Chicago tree is a huge live-artificial tree. It is constructed on site by inserting dozens of cut trees into steel tubes on the steel stem. When it is completed it is outstanding. This year, the Mayor insisted on a cut tree. It is a fifty five foot tall spruce, cut from a yard within the city. Are you missing a tree? If so, you can view it in the Daley Plaza. It is adorned with red, white, and green LED lights. The Santa House is still there, but the G-scale train layout gave way to more market space.
The market which is a German tradition and filled with vendors from Germany has given way to new vendors from South America. Somehow, the market just wasn’t the same.
My grand daughters love to chase the pigeons from the eternal flame, but this year, they were mysteriously missing. What? No pigeons in downtown Chicago? Whose idea was that?
Our next journey was a short walk to Michigan Avenue to pay respect to the “Bean.” It’s real title is Cloud Scape, but no one calls it that. Because of the clouds, and the drizzle the reflections were surreal.
We parked under the Bean, and retrieved the car with a mere twenty-six dollar parking fee. I think the Mayor taught the president everything he knows about how to steal from tax payers. I digress.
The slushy ride home brought me to the next cheery Christmas tree, the one decorated by Peggy. Next to Macy’s I like it best, but it is still not the winner of my “Best Christmas Tree” contest.
The winner is the one created by my beautiful little grandaughter Jenna Rose. She crafted a card with love and addressed it directly to me. She knows me all too well; here it is. . .
MERRY CHRISTMAS
Grumpa Joe
Filed under: Birds, family, Memories, Travel, Warm and Fuzzy | Tagged: bean, believe, Chicago, Christmas Tree, cloud scape, Daley Plaza, dream, Eternal Flame, G-Scale Train, grandchildren, Imagine, Kris Kindle Market, Macy's, Martha Stewart, Michigan Avenue, Millenium Park, Pigeon, Santa, Spruce Tree, State Street, Tommy Hilfigger, Walnut Room, Wish | 1 Comment »
Wow! What a fabulous time Peg and I had last week. My friend Lou and his wife Delores, came in from Dahlonega, Georgia to visit family. We were lucky enough to hook up, so we traded news and recalled old times. Lou is the same guy who joined me on a bicycle trip to Nova Scotia (you can read the account of our trip on my Page titled “Nova Scotia.”) We worked together for some twenty years before he moved to a warm climate for health reasons.
