Britton and I would both probably say that we are not the “cosmopolitan” types. We much prefer smaller areas where you can just park for free or ride your bike from your inexpensive abode than deal with throngs of people, crazy driving and parking and constantly look at maps (or GPS). So, it was a little out of our comfort zone to visit downtown Chicago. We had been enjoying ourselves in the west Chicago suburbs, but we knew that we would probably only have one shot to check out the great city of Chicago and so we designated Friday to be that day.

 

First stop: Navy Pier Ferris Wheel

We parked near the Navy Pier for a daily fee of $25! Navy Pier is like a carnival setting with park rides and boat tours that leave from there. We decided to take the ferris wheel as well as the architectural boat tour that we had been recommended by friends to take.

 

View from the ferris wheel

The ferris wheel ride was nice, but the architectural boat tour was probably the highlight of the trip. I love being on the water, and the huge Lake Michigan is like being in the ocean. We went up the river and then did a little speedboating on the lake before returning.

On the Sea Dog

We saw many buildings on the tour such as the Sears Tower and Trump Tower. 

 

We learned about the history of many of the buildings and found out that the Sears Tower is no longer officially named that: it is now called the Willis Tower. However, everyone in Chicago pretty much still calls it the Sears Tower. We also learned about the Dave Matthews’ Band bus incident where they dumped their human waste off one of the bridges on the heads of a group of architectural tourists like us! Thankfully that didn’t happen to us. :-p

We also learned what “The Chicago Way” means. Basically, it means the corrupt way regardless of what anyone else thinks. And how the “Chicago Way” has made the river and lake very polluted though they have made strides to clean it up in recent years. Still, the guide said if people accidentally fall into the river, they would have to go to the hospital for toxic chemical exposure! People are also discouraged from eating Lake Michigan or river fish because they are so poisoned. Yuck!

Next and last on our tour of Chicago, we decided to check out the city from a skyscraper. We chose the Hancock Building because we had seen the Sears Tower from the boat tour. We took the free trolley bus to Michigan Ave where there were many upscale shops and lots of people walking.

Almost there! Hancock Tower is just to the right

It was a very hot and humid day and there were these little biting flies that wouldn’t leave us alone so it felt good to sit down and cool off by having a drink at the Signature Lounge in the Hancock Building.

 

The Hancock Building from street view

Our seat by the window 95 floors up overlooking Chicago!

The drinks were expensive, but it was cheaper than going to the overcrowded observatory and you got to have a drink in your hand! We hung out there for a while and took in the spectacular views.

At the Hancock Tower Signature Room. As you can tell, we got a little burned from all the outdoor fun!

We then walked back to Navy Pier rather than getting crammed into the hot trolley like sardines again. By the time we found our car, we were just plain exhausted. It was an awesome day and a huge contrast from the nature preserve we had visited a few days before. Pretty amazing that all this is in just one small corner of the midwest.