March 2021

Built between 1839 and 1861, the Ohio statehouse is one of the oldest working capitol buildings in the United States; in the foreground is the William McKinley Monument, which honors and remembers the Ohio governor and 25th U.S. president

Arnold Schwarzenegger won the Mr. World body building contest here in 1970; in 1976 he founded what would become the annual Arnold Sports Festival here in Columbus

Chris Evert; the Columbus Park of Roses is one of the largest public rose gardens in the US with 12,000+ rose specimens

Originally built in 1895, the Franklin Park Conservatory is on the National Register of Historic Places; it is surprisingly small and not nearly as impressive as others I've visited

Topiary Park is designed to depict figures from George Seurat's 1884 painting, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte; it is the only park known to be based entirely on a painting

This sleek, 100 ft high, cherry-red installation bridges the street behind the Columbus Museum of Art; a student at the nearby Columbus College of Art and Design had originally joked about the school needing a giant ART sign which led to this piece

The Columbus Zoo is home to more than 7,000 animals representing 800+ species and sees 2.3+ million visitors annually; it was absolutely packed on a beautiful Saturday in November

When the LeVeque Tower opened in 1927 it was the 5th tallest building in the world; today the building houses offices, a 150-room Marriott hotel, 68 apartments, 12 condos and 2 penthouses

Mister Lincoln; there weren't many roses blooming in November despite the warm weather at the 13 acre Columbus Park of Roses which was founded in 1953

Having just seen the original painting of A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte in Chicago it was amazing to see a park created out of topiaries to mimic the painting; sculpted in 1989, this is one of the most unique parks I've ever seen

Sunset Chandelier; famous people from Columbus include Jack Nicklaus, Simone Biles, Archie Griffin, Jesse Owens and Dave Thomas (the first Wendy's was in Columbus)

Queen Elizabeth; when the park opened, the American Rose Society moved its headquarters here (but in 1974 the headquarters relocated to Shreveport, LA)

To this day, Franklin Park Conservatory is the only public botanical garden in the world to own a signature collection of Chihuly's magnificent glass artworks, which represents 3,000+ pieces of glass

The Thinker, Auguste Rodin, 1880; this is one of the 28 full-size castings of the Thinker and was placed outside the museum entrance when it was completed in 1927

Self-Portrait, Vincent Van Gogh, 1887; this work was purchased in 1922 and was the first painting by Van Gogh to enter an American public collection

The Detroit Industry Murals, Diego Rivera, 1932; commissioned by Edsel Ford and now a National Historic Landmark, these frescoes are considered the finest modern monumental artwork devoted to industry

Melancholy Woman, Pablo Picasso, 1902; this portrait (during Picasso's blue period) of a young woman sitting in a Paris prison is an expression of human misery

Red Ware Bowl with Painted Mountain Goats, 5500-4700 BC, Iran; the museum is part of the city's Cultural Center Historic District listed in the National Register of Historic Places

Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata, El Greco, 1586; the armor collection of William Randolph Hearst lines the main museum entry way to the grand court

Teapot, Paul Revere II, 1790; despite his reputation as an outstanding silversmith, Revere is best known for his midnight ride to alert the colonial militia in April 1775 to the approach of British forces before the battles of Lexington and Concord

Something You Can Feel, Mickalene Thomas, 2008; this artist paints strong Black women who are in tune with their own audacity and beauty in such unique ways

Girl and Laurel, Winslow Homer, 1879; the extensive American paintings collection is ranked third among museums in the United States

Center Table, Isaac Vose and Son, 1818; I was very impressed with the quality and selection of works on display at the museum (and admission was free!)

Benjamin Franklin, Jean-Antoine Houdon, 1778; the sculptor met Franklin in Paris with Ben persuading him to come to America where he created busts of George Washington

Self-Portrait with Monkey, Frida Kahlo, 1938; as part of the settlement of Detroit's bankruptcy, museum ownership was transferred back to Detroit Institute of Arts, in December 2014, returning the museum to its pre-1919 status as an independent non-profit

Reticulated Tea and Coffee Service in the Chinese Style, Sevres Porcelain, 1842; this exceptionally rare service was originally owned by Louis, duc de Nemours, son of the king of France

Dona Amalia Bonells de Costa, Francisco Goya, 1805; x-rays of the painting show that she was originally painted standing, wearing a brightly colored dress (but her father died and she went into mourning)

Cupboard, Kaspar Klein, 1677; an early inspiration for IKEA, Klein's masterpiece required that it be built in pieces that could be taken apart and then reassembled (probably with no instructions)

The Nut Gatherers, Adolphe-William Bouguereau, 1882; this stunning work is, by some accounts, the most popular painting in the collection

Gamin, Augusta Savage, 1930; the style of this sculptor, associated with the Harlem Renaissance, can be described as realistic, expressive, and sensitive

View of Le Crotoy from Upstream, Georges Seurat, 1889; at Robert Hudson Tannahill's death (Hudson's Department Store) in 1970, he bequeathed a large European art collection (works by Cézanne, van Gogh, Gauguin, Degas, Seurat, Matisse and Picasso)

Ewer with Ginseng Leaves, 1100-1200, Korea; the DIA collection is regarded as among the top six museums in the United States with an encyclopedic collection which spans the globe from ancient Egyptian and European works to contemporary art

The Transparent Simulacrum of the Feigned Image, Salvador Dali, 1938; the Detroit Institute of Art (DIA) had its genesis in an 1881 tour of Europe made by local newspaper magnate James E. Scripps

Ewer with the Medici-Habsburg Coat of Arms, 1575; Europeans strove to recreate China's translucent white porcelain with this piece, created in the Medici workshop in Florence, being one of their first

The Wedding Dance, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1566; this joyous painting celebrates Flemish traditions during a time when the country was ruled by the Spanish Habsburgs

Rounded Flower Bed, Claude Monet, 1876; In 1949, the museum was among the first to return a work that had been looted by the Nazis, when it returned Monet's The Seine at Asnières to its rightful owner

The Window, Henri Matisse, 1916; this work was purchased in 1922 and was the first painting by Matisse to enter an American public collection

One of the biggest attractions in Chicago is the Bean (technically it's named Cloud Gate) in Millennium Park; normally visitors can walk underneath it but with Covid precautions a barricade kept people at a distance

Each year, 1+ million people visit the Willis Tower observation deck, the highest in the US, making it one of Chicago's most popular tourist destinations; United Airlines has its HQ in the building

In 2014, the laminated glass flooring of one of the boxes in the Willis Tower shattered while visitors were inside but there were no injuries; cost to visit is $26

I was disappointed with the Lincoln Park Zoo since all of its indoor spaces were closed due to Covid; many of the exhibits were lacking the animals supposedly living there and it was small and dated

The John Hancock Center is a 100-story, 1,128-ft skyscraper located in the Magnificent Mile district; it is currently the 4th tallest building in Chicago

Lyman Frank Baum, author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, was a resident of the Lincoln Park area in the 1890s; today, Oz Park honors him with statues of his memorable creations

Built in 1869, the Chicago Water Tower is the 2nd-oldest water tower in the country (after Louisville); the tower was the only public building to survive the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, and is one of just a few of the surviving structures still standing

Businesses along the Magnificent Mile were boarded up as a precaution against looting following the election (which was the next day); this is Chicago's busiest shopping district with endless expensive stores

At completion in 1973, Sear's Tower surpassed the World Trade Center to become the world's tallest building, a title held for 25 years (also the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere for 41 years, until One World Trade Center surpassed it in 2013)

Completed by Augustus Saint-Gaudens in 1887, Abraham Lincoln: The Man has been described as the most important sculpture of Lincoln from the 19th century; it is located, of course, in Lincoln Park

Sichuan Takin; the Lincoln Park Zoo was founded in 1868, making it one of the oldest zoos in North America; it is also one of a few free admission zoos in the US

This view is looking north along Lake Michigan and Lakeshore Dr from the John Hancock Tower; in addition to offices, the building has 700 condos; cost to visit the top was $25 but was included with the City Pass

The statues in 14 acre Oz Park were all designed by John Kearney; located in the Lincoln Park neighborhood, Oz Park is another place in Chicago I somehow missed on previous visits

The Navy Pier is one of the top tourist attractions in Chicago but was closed due to Covid; I had visited it before and found it too touristy and thought there were much better places to visit

Bactrian Camel with deformed hump; Marlin Perkins, who gained fame as the host of the television program Wild Kingdom was director of the Lincoln Park Zoo from 1944 until 1962

The Marquette Building (1895) was one of the early steel frame skyscrapers, and is considered one of the best examples of the Chicago School of Architecture; the building was named after Father Jacques Marquette, the first European settler here

This view from the Sear's Tower (I'll always know it by its old name) shows the Adler Planetarium, Shedd Aquarium and Field Museum along with Grant Park

The John Hancock Center, at 100 stories, doesn't seem so big when viewed from the Sear's Tower; the restrooms on the 103rd floor of the Sear's Tower, at 1,353 ft high, are the highest (relative to street level) in the Western Hemisphere

The Chicago Board of Trade Building, completed in 1930, is known for its art deco architecture; when President George W. Bush toured the agricultural trading floor in 2006, he was hailed from the corn trading pit with Hook 'em, Horns

The Wrigley Tower, completed in 1921, was designed using the shape of the Giralda tower of Seville's Cathedral combined with French Renaissance details; the tower was Chicago's first air-conditioned office building

The Bean is Anish Kapoor's first public outdoor work in the United States, and is the work by which he is best known in the country; his Cloud Column in Houston is in front of the Glassell School of Art and is nicknamed El Frijole

Famous people from Chicago include Hemingway, Lorraine Hansberry, Raymond Chandler, Walt Disney, Pat Sajak, Robin Williams, Michelle Obama, Betty Ford, Hillary Clinton and Siskel and Ebert

I look forward to returning to Chicago to visit the Barack Obama Presidential Library which will be housed at the University of Chicago in Hyde Park

Pritzker Pavilion, designed by Frank Gehry, serves as the centerpiece for Millennium Park and is the home of the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and the Grant Park Music Festival, the nation's only remaining free outdoor classical music series

Sister cities of Chicago include Warsaw, Milan, Osaka, Prague, Toronto, Lucerne, Athens, Busan, Sydney, Belgrade, Bogota, Mexico City, Shanghai, Durban and Hamburg

Created by Augustus Saint-Gaudens, this bronze statue of Abraham Lincoln is situated in Grant Park while there is a monument to Ulysses S. Grant in Lincoln Park

Maya Angelou, Bridget Lacombe, 1987; in 2011, President Obama honored her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom; one of my favorite authors, in her later years she taught at Wake Forest University, about 20 miles from Greensboro

Lily Tomlin, Annie Leibovitz, 1986; this Detroit native, won a Tony for The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe but her role that I'll always remember is of Violet Newstead in 9 to 5

John Lewis, Michael Shane Neal, 2020; Lewis was one of the 13 original Freedom Riders in 1961, an organizer of the March on Washington in 1963 and a key figure in the Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches in 1965

The Four Justices, Nelson Shanks, 2012; this monumental portrait (it measures 9 1/2 ft by 8 ft framed) sits in the second floor rotunda of the museum and was one of the most popular works

Billie Jean King, Lynn Gilbert, 1979; winner of 39 Grand Slam titles, King was the first president of the WTA in 1973; she is largely responsible for the Slams having equal prize money for men and women

Babe Didrikson Zaharias, Harry Warnecke, 1947; she founded the LPGA and won 82 tournaments but also, at the 1932 Olympics, won gold medals in the javelin and 80 meter hurdles; she professionally competed in figure skating, cycling, swimming and more!

Chester Nimitz, Dean Cornwell, 1944; born in Fredericksburg, TX, Nimitz was commander of the Pacific Fleet in WW2; 42 people were killed when the double-decker Nimitz Freeway collapsed in the Bay Area 1989 earthquake

John Muir, Orlando Rouland, 1919; this Scottish-born naturalist founded the Sierra Club and became America's leading conservationist; he played a decisive role in protecting Yosemite, the Grand Canyon and the Petrified Forest

Michael DeBakey, Peter Shapiro, 1998; born in Lake Charles, the doctor helped develop the Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) units and his surgical innovations included coronary bypass operations and artificial hearts

Once the largest room in America, the Great Hall was where the Declaration of Independence was displayed from 1841-1871; from 1854-1857, Clara Barton worked here as a clerk to the Patent Commissioner, the first woman federal employee to receive equal pay

Marjory Stoneman Douglas, Menden Hall, 1993; President Clinton awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her pioneering work in saving the Everglades; today, we remember the shooting at the school named in her honor

Alexander von Humboldt, Rembrandt Peale, 1812; this Prussian travelled the Americas from 1799 to 1804, describing them for the first time from a modern scientific perspective; he was the first person to describe human-induced climate change and its cause

Chris Evert, Al Satterwhite, 1973; one of the last major champions to use a wooden racquet, America's Sweetheart won 18 Grand Slam titles and reached 34 Grand Slam singles finals, more than any other player in the history of professional tennis (Serena now has 33)

Carl Sandburg, William Smith, 1961; he was forever dedicated to enriching popular appreciation for his country's democratic experience whether through his 6 volume biography of Lincoln or his poem Chicago about the slaughterhouses

Wilma Rudolph, George Silk, 1960; a native of Clarksville TN (like my dad), Rudolph was the first woman to win 3 gold medals at a single Olympiad; one of the busiest streets in Clarksville is named after her

Mia Hamm, Rick Chapman, 2001; at 15, she became the youngest player on the US Women's National Soccer Team; in 2013, this native of Selma AL, became the first woman inducted into the World Football Hall of Fame

Nelson Mandela, Robert McCurdy, 2009; the first time Mandela ever voted, in 1994, he voted for himself for president; he advocated for HIV/AIDS after one of his sons passed away from AIDS-related illness

Lorraine Hansberry, David Attie, 1959; in 1959, Hansberry's play A Raisin in the Sun opened on Broadway to glowing reviews; the 29 year old became the first African American writer to win the prestigious New York Drama Critics' Circle Award

Toni Morrison, Deborah Feingold, 2008; awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama, Morrison also won the Pulitzer and Nobel Prizes for Literature; this photo graced the cover of Time magazine in January 1998

The 1991 Japanese Courtyard Garden; admission to the Phipps Conservatory is $19.95 but I felt the Phipps was a much better experience than the Franklin Park Conservatory in Columbus at the same price

The Broderie Room, which translates to embroidery of earth in French, is modeled after the formal gardens of French chateaux during the reign of Louis XIV; this elegant display space is a popular setting for intimate wedding ceremonies and photo shoots

Paintbrushes, Dale Chihuly, 2007; there are several outdoor gardens including an edible garden and a Children's Discovery Garden that would be nice in summer

Opened in 1902, species in the Desert Room include the Joshua tree, saguaro, palo verde, fire barrels, cape aloe, tortoise shell plant, bushman poison bulb, African tree grape, sunrise tequila agave, and shaving brush tree

Oncidium Sweet Sugar orchid; the conservatory complex is an extremely green facility in more ways than one; the Center for Sustainable Landscapes is housed here which produces all of its own energy

Goldenrod, Teal and Citron Chandelier, Dale Chihuly, 2007; following the close of the Conservatory's 2007 Chihuly exhibit, several pieces from the show were purchased and are on permanent display

Phipps Annual Winter Flower Show started the week after my visit; with a canopy of twinkling lights, fragrant decorated trees and thousands of poinsettias it would be a bargain for the same admission price I paid

Cattails, Dale Chihuly, 2007; the gardens were founded in 1893 by steel and real-estate magnate Henry Phipps as a gift to the City of Pittsburgh

The Tropical Forest Conservatory has a different national theme every 3 years; currently, Cuba has the honor with most of the plants inside being endemic to the island nation

Chinese juniper bonsai, 1985; famous authors from the city include David McCullough, Gertrude Stein, Willa Cather, Michael Chabon and Rachel Carson

Phipps has a large indoor miniature railroad exhibit called Rails and Trails; there is a Columbus-based company that is installing these exhibits to encourage more families to visit conservatories

There weren't many plants blooming in November but this was my favorite yet it had no identification; generally the species were well-identified with informative signage

Desert Gold Star, Dale Chihuly, 2007; Pittsburgh has been consistently rated one of the most livable cities in the US and I was impressed during my first visit to the city

At daybreak on February 2, Punxsutawney Phil awakens from his burrow on Gobbler's Knob (near Pittsburgh), and famously decides if the US is going to have 6 more weeks of winter

Maybe some of my botanist friends can identify this attractive species for me; Pittsburgh is a sister city with Wuhan, China but I haven't seen that promoted anywhere on this visit

Celadon and Royal Purple Gilded Fiori, Dale Chihuly, 2007; unlike many older conservatories, Phipps did not have a sense of decay despite the age of the greenhouses