Thith Fountain'th The Besssth!

Pipkin's hope for a grassy spot to nap was a bust, but continuing his hop south in Millennium Park he came across Crown Fountain, which, in his opinion, is the best fountain ever!

Two 50 foot (15 m) tall glass brick towers oppose one another across a shallow granite pool. Images of Chicago residents are displayed on LED screens while water pours over the structure. After a few moments, the faces begin spitting out a stream of water!

Pipkin loves art that is accessible, that fits in with its surroundings and is interactive and fun, and he enjoyed seeing diversity in the faces of Chicago. This place isn't just great on a hot summer day for splashing around, but it's a lot of fun for people watching! Tourists will walk by and stand in front of the towers to take photos, unaware that they are about to get a soaking.  It's fun to people watch and watch the people watching other people.

Most fountains you can't even splash around in. The fountain is surrounded by benches for tired parents to sit on while their kids run around burning off some energy. Juame Plensa did a fantastic job designing this fountain, and the city park provided a wonderful place for people to enjoy Chicago. Well done!

Crown Fountain is located in Millennium Park between Cloud Gate and the Art Institute of Chicago. The fountain runs, weather permitting, from May to October.

Oh, the Places Pip'll Go!

There's a place where you won't often find Pipkin - the Mall. Pipkin made an exception on his recent trip to Chicago, because at the Water Tower Place on the Magnificent Mile (magnificent for the amounts of money people spend there) there was a short exhibit of some of Dr. Seuss' bronze sculptures.

Scattered throughout the mall were six bronze sculptures of characters from Dr. Seuss' books. The first one Pipkin found was The Cat in the Hat.

Who can forget this face? You were scared about missing Christmas as a kid, weren't you?

Pipkin offered this dog a bone but the dog seems to think he's a reindeer.

Unless we care for the trees, it'll just be malls, everywhere!

Horton hears who? Not Pipkin. Pipkin's totally being ignored.

Pip's hanging with Yertle, the Top Turtle (for now). From up here Pipkin's thinking, "Wow, it really is turtles all the way down."

This turtle doesn't know which is worse: Yertle's thirst for power or the smell coming from A&F?

This turtle doesn't know which is worse: the smell from A&F or the smell from all these butts in his face?

Yup.
Turtles.
All the way down.

Sam offered up some Green Eggs and Ham but they turned Pipkin's stomach. He's not a meat eater anyway. He'd rather be eating at Do-Rite!

The sculptures were only on display until May 5th, 2014 (which is when Pipkin saw them) but if you're in the Chicago area and you're in the Water Tower Place mall, you can visit The Art of Dr. Seuss Gallery on the second floor. The Grand (re)Opening Celebration of the gallery happens this Father's Day Weekend, Saturday June 14, 2014 from 11 AM - 3 PM. The small gallery is packed with illustrations, sculptures, sketches and lots of unpublished work from Theodore Geisel AKA Dr. Seuss.  If you're a fan of his work, it's not to be missed.

Buckingham Fountain

In the last post, Pipkin and Domo were at the observation deck on the 103rd floor of the Willis Tower. From there, they could see Chicago in all directions. Looking west, they saw this:

It's Lake Michigan and the waterfront parks. Just beyond the red CNA building is a partial view of Buckingham Fountain. The photo at the top of this post is a view in reverse! Pip's at the fountain, with the red CNA building, and the tall, black, bundled tower structure in the back is the Willis Tower.

Buckingham Fountain is one of the world's largest fountains, built in the late Baroque "Rococo Wedding Cake" style. It reminds Pipkin of the fountain at the Palace of Versailles.

Located in Grant Park, the fountain operates from mid-April to mid-October, from 08:00 to 23:00. On the hour, the fountain's peak will shoot water to a height of 150 feet (46 metres). In the evenings, the water show is choreographed to music and lights.

Domo and Pipkin didn't have time to visit the park again at night, but if you can manage it, visit at dusk to see it during the day and at night when the lights come on in the city. It is incredibly pretty!

Nice try, Pip!