In brief, these posts serve to introduce new readers — and reintroduce regular readers — to photos from the early days of this blog and, occasionally, to photos from days before this blog came into existence.

The photos are from THIS SmugMug Gallery and are documented in THIS post. That post covers a 2008 very short trip to Chicago’s Millennium Park and The Bean (a. k. a. the Cloud Gate).

It might be worth reading the post since I’m writing this in a hurry as we prepare for a quick trip.

The gallery opens with the Crown Fountain.

Lots of people seem to enjoy wading in the shallow water, adults and kids.

The images are animated, and if you wonder what makes those fountains . . .

But, my main interest was The Bean . . .

It’s a striking sculpture drawing a lot of attention . . .

OK, here’s a bonus for attentive readers . . . many of all these photos are reproduced in monochrome and collected in another gallery HERE and documented in THIS post.

Anyway, a good number of Bean photos in the gallery, and because of the nature of the piece, I’m in some of the photos. Well, nearly all, but it’s easier to find me in some than others.

There are other sculptures and features in what, at the time, was called the AT&T Plaza …

There’s also a covered stage . . . and the covering is its own art piece.

From there, I walked to the Navy Pier, going by a marina . . .

The Navy Pier is another attraction that draws many people . . .

OK, maybe not huge crowds . . .

It has a neat enclose arboretum . . .

Anyway, I eventually ended up back at The Bean and the Fountain . . . .

I enjoyed my time there, and I might enjoy visiting again . . . except the idea of being in crowds in Chicago isn’t at all appealing. And that’s in addition to the hassle of getting there. Still, maybe someday.

Here’s the slideshow

Note: the transition is set to 2sec. If it’s too fast, move the cursor anywhere within the photo — you’ll see a pause button on the lower left, and, once paused, you can use the left and right arrows on both sides of the photo to navigate the slideshow.

I highly suggest watching the slideshow in full-screen mode, but that’s just me.

You’ll exit the slideshow and find yourself in SmugMug if you click anywhere in the photo instead of the pause button. You can then scroll through the photos or interact in other ways.

Slideshow of the Chicago – 2008 Gallery — (75 photos)

Oh, OK, here’s the bonus gallery for inattentive readers:

Slideshow of the Chicago – 2008 in B-n-W Gallery — (76 photos)

That’s it. This post has ended . . . except for the stuff below.

<><><><o><><><><><o><><><>

Note: if you are not reading this blog post at DisperserTracks.com, know that it’s copied without permission, and likely is being used by someone with nefarious intentions, like attracting you to a malware-infested website.  Could be they also torture small mammals.

Note 2: it’s perfectly OK to share a link that points back here.

<><><><o><><><><><o><><><>

If you’re new to this blog, it might be a good idea to read the FAQ page. If you’re considering subscribing to this blog, it’s definitely a good idea to read both the About page and the FAQ page.