There's no more handsome stretch of urban road anywhere in the world than Chicago's Lake Shore Drive. Heading south, luxury apartment buildings overlooking Lake Michigan line up like sentries before the skyscrapers of Downtown. Lincoln Park embraces the freeway in lush green as the buildings ahead loom larger. Navy pier with its iconic 150-foot high FerrisWheel – an homage to the world's very first Ferris wheel constructed for Chicago's 1893 World Columbian Exposition – marks the heart of "The Loop" as the city's downtown is known. Another great green swath appears at Millenium Park, itself a part of the even larger Grant Park and most recognizable by the grand, rococo, Buckingham Fountain, a Chicago landmark for nearly 100 years.
If Grant park is, as locals say, "the lawn of the city" then Buckingham Fountain is its front door and that makes it as good a time as any to get off Lake Shore Drive and enter this dynamic city. Chicago began life as a transportation hub and it's still a crossroads. The city's O'Hare International Airport, one of two international airports that service Chicago, has reclaimed its title as the world's busiest airport for the first time since 2004. The CTA or Chicago Transit Authority is the second largest public transportation system in the United States and Union Station is the third-busiest rail terminal in the United States.
With all of the people and goods from all around the world coming and going it's no wonder that the city has grown into such a hotbed for arts, culture and food. A good day in Chicago is often spent soaking up some culture then chowing down on some great food.
Seeing everything there is to see at the Art Institute of Chicago would be a full time job, the institution's vast collection includes over 300,000 artworks and artifacts from around the world. The best bet is to pick a period, American Art before 1900, say, subject, Impressionism, maybe or medium, photography, perhaps and dig deep into that collection. Afterwards dig deep into a deep-dish pizza, a Chicago classic.
There is no consensus on who makes the best deep dish in the city and trying out all the various offerings would be a bigger challenge than studying everything at the Art Institute! With pizza, however, as with art, it's hard to go wrong with one of the classics. Lou Malnati's, Pizano's or Gino's East all build them thick and deep with an almost criminal amount of mozzarella and plenty of delicious, chunky tomato sauce.
Science and art combine at the Adler Planetarium where the Sky Theater offers visitors a virtual-reality trip through time and space. The first planetarium in the Western Hemisphere, the Adler is home to one of the best collections of astronomical instruments, telescopes and sundials in the world including some items that are nearly 1000 years old.
Science and art also combine to delicious effect at Alinea, one of only nine three star Michelin restaurants in America. 2015 marks the restaurant's 10 anniversary, but the restaurant still feels incredibly new. Modern, avant-garde dishes like "Black Truffle Explosion," and "Hot Potato Cold Potato," a kind of soup that combines elements of the kid's game, "Kerplunk" with paraffin wax and Danish Lurpak butter. Just try it.
Although the nearest salt water is 800 miles away, the Addler museum houses nearly an oceans worth of sea creatures. With 25,000 fish and 1500 species of marine mammals, birds, snakes, insects and amphibians it's no wonder this is the most visited attraction in the city.
Sea creatures of the edible variety are abundant at GT Fish and Oyster, a new style American seafood restaurant that draws inspiration from around the world. Award winning chef, Giuseppe Tentori, offers a sharing menu that runs the gamut from sunfish ceviche with chimichurri to grilled oysters with corn mousseline on a menu that's half traditional and half modern, much like Chicago itself.
This content was produced by The Globe and Mail's advertising department, in consultation with Cadillac. The Globe's editorial department was not involved in its creation.