Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
former three-car garage—which was highly unusual for the time in
which it was built. Allow 1 hour per tour, plus time to browse the
gift shop.
5757 S. Woodlawn Ave. (at 58th St.). & 773/834-1847. www.wrightplus.org.
Admission $12 adults, $10 seniors and children 7-18, free for children 6 and under.
Mon-Fri tours at 11am, 1, and 3pm; Sat-Sun every half-hour 11am-3:30pm. Book-
shop daily 10am-5pm. Bus: 6 or Metra Electric train to 57th St. and Lake Park Ave.
EXPLORING THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
Walking around the Gothic spires of the University of Chicago cam-
pus is bound to conjure up images of the cloistered academic life.
Allow about an hour to stroll through the grassy quads and dramatic
stone buildings (if the weather's nice, do as the students do, and veg-
etate for a while on the grass). If you're visiting on a weekday, your
first stop should be the university's Visitors Information Desk
( & 773/702-9739 ) on the first floor of Ida Noyes Hall, 1212 E.
59th St., where you can pick up campus maps and get information
on university events. The center is open Monday through Friday
from 10am to 7pm. If you stop by on a weekend when the Visitors
Information Desk is closed, you can get the scoop on campus events
at the Reynolds Clubhouse student center ( & 773/702-8787 ).
Start your tour at the Henry Moore statue, Nuclear Energy, on
South Ellis Avenue between 56th and 57th streets. It's next to the
Regenstein Library, which marks the site of the old Stagg Field
where, on December 2, 1942, the world's first sustained nuclear
reaction was achieved in a basement laboratory below the field. Then
turn left and follow 57th Street until you reach the grand stone Hull
Gate; walk straight to reach the main quad, or turn left through the
column-lined arcade to reach Hutchinson Court (designed by John
Olmsted, son of revered landscape designer Frederick Law Olmsted).
The Reynolds Clubhouse, the university's main student center, is
here; you can take a break at the C-Shop cafe or settle down at a
table at Hutchinson Commons. The dining room and hangout right
next to the cafe will bring to mind the grand dining halls of Oxford
and Cambridge.
Other worthy spots on campus include the charming, intimate
Bond Chapel, behind Swift Hall on the main quad, and the blocks-
long Midway Plaisance, a wide stretch of green that was the site of
carnival sideshow attractions during the World's Columbian Exposi-
tion in 1893 (ever since, the term “midway” has referred to carnivals
in general).
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