The next neighborhood we visited was Bridgeport. I never knew Chicago had a maritime museum, but there it was! The building where the Chicago Maritime Museum is located is a former Spiegel Catalogue Warehouse, on the banks of Bubbly Creek (Now, it’s a Bridgeport Art Center, and the Maritime Museum is in the basement).
The museum is wonderful; honestly, it’s a pity it is so far from the Loop! If it were closer, I would take more people there :).
One of the curators explained to us how the large ships could not sail in the Chicago River because it has so many bendsShip model building shopAnd same as in Tallinn, you could try to tight a sea knotLooking out of one of the museum windows: that’s where Chicago River starts
Our next stop was the Bubbly. This building (Chicago Sustainable Manufacturing Center) was the first one transformed by Bubbly Dynamics, prior to The Plant. They host several artists and fabricators, and they have all imaginable and non-imaginable tools and machines. Lots of interesting information, along with the history of the Industrial District, can be found on their website.
Tool library
Next, we went to the Chinatown, where we visited the Chinatown Community Center Pui Tak. That was the only site where they checked the temperature upon entry :). We could see very few parts of the center, and we listened to the speaker who talked about the history of Chinatown and the history of the building.
A view from the building balcony
Our final stop was in the Garfield Park neighborhood, where we went to the 345 Art Gallery. Igor was there before, and he knows the owner. I really enjoyed this artistic oasis in an unexpected place 🙂
A very touching story on displayThe Gallery’s outdoor spaceParts of the Elevated Chicago project
That was long and intense day, and I am glad I’ve spent it that way!
My name is Henrietta (Hettie) Dombrovskaya. I was born in Saint-Petersburg, Russian (actually, back then – Leningrad, USSR) in 1963, and immigrated to the United States in 1996.
I love Saint Petersburg, the city I was born and raised in, and I think it’s one of the most beautiful places in the world. Similarly (but differently) I love Chicago, and can’t imagine myself moving somewhere else in the observable future.
I have three children, Igor, Vlad and Anna, all adults living on their own, and one (so far) granddaughter Nadia. I also believe that my children are the best thing that happened in my life.
As for my professional life, I am working in the field of Information Technologies. When I was twenty, I’ve declared that the databases are the coolest thing invented and that I want to do them for the rest of my life. Thirty plus years later, I still believe it’s true, and still, believe that the databases are the best. These two statements together imply that I think a person can have it all, and indeed, I think so! Keep reading my journals to find out how I did it.
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