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Millennium Park Review

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Millennium Park

Address: Bounded by Michigan Ave., Columbus Dr., Randolph Dr., and Monroe St., Loop, Chicago, IL | Map It
www.millenniumpark.org

Category: Parks
Location: The Loop

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Fodor's Review:

The Bean, the fountains, the Disney-esque music pavilion—all the pieces of this new park quickly stole the hearts of Chicagoans and visitors alike. This is one of our favorite places to spend a sunny day.

The showstopper here is Frank Gehry's stunning Jay Pritzker Pavilion. Dramatic ribbons of stainless steel stretching 40 feet into the sky look like petals wrapping the music stage. The sound system, suspended by a trellis that spans the great lawn, gives concert-hall sound outside. So what can you see on this beautiful stage? Take your pick. There's the Grant Park Music Festival—a free classical-music series—as well as the city's popular free summer concerts, including the jam-packed Chicago Blues and Chicago Jazz festivals.

Hot town? Summer in the city? Cool off by letting George W. spit on you. Okay, it's just a giant image of him and a bunch of other faces rotating through on two huge (read: 50-foot-high) glass block-tower fountains. The genius behind the Crown Fountain, Spanish sculptor Jaume Plensa, made an opening where the mouths are on the photos, and water comes shooting out at random intervals. Kids love it, and we feel like kids watching it. It's at the southwest corner of the park.

You've seen the pictures. Now go, take your own. The Cloud Gate sculpture, otherwise known as "the Bean," awaits your delighted ooohs and aaahs as you stand beneath its gleaming seamless polished steel. It's between Washington and Madison streets. Go on, get camera happy.

If you're feeling artsy, you can find out if there's a show playing at the indoor, underground Harris Theater for Music and Dance, behind the Jay Pritzker Pavilion.

In summer, the carefully manicured plantings in the Lurie Garden bloom; in winter, the McCormick Tribune Ice Rink is open for public skating.