It was, indeed, unfortunate that we had to drive into Chicago early in the morning for a tour. It's Friday. There is no easy way into Chicago that doesn't involve a 10 mile bumper to bumper drive. So, relax, put on a little music, and enjoy the skyline of the city as you drive in.
The "L" as they call it here in Chicago is an elevated train. In a city that built bigger and bigger buildings because they had no more floor space they had no place to put a train but on stilts.
Our 9am architectural tour would be held above the traffic on these trains. How original.
The tour guides on these tours love their work so much they do it for free. They have fire in their voices as they explain the designer of the building and the style and how it fit into the time frame of the city growing up.
The LOOP in Chicago is an oval of tracks within the busiest section of downtown Chicago. We climbed the stairs and hopped on a train and then got off at the next station. While standing on the platform we learned about the important architectural styles and what era they belonged to.
The building fronts on the left are every bit as fake as any Disneyland building. They are merely facades to hide a parking garage.
We saw the original Sears Building and then the new, tallest building, Sears Tower that they built to put all of their Chicago people in.
On a train, off a train, on a train, off a train. Building after building we saw and learned a little more about each. It was entertaining, educational, and it helped to make the city seem more personable.
The entire waterfront here is lined with park after park after park, Burnham, Grant, Millennium, and a children's park named after deceased Major, Maggie Daley.
We wandered into Grant Park and took pictures of the Versailles-inspired Buckingham Fountain.
In Millennium Park the highlight is to get your picture taken with the BEAN. So many people, so many pictures taken.
We toured around Navy Pier and really wanted to see the Stained Glass Museum but the majority of the display had just been boxed up. It was a major bummer.
At the end of the Pier I was able to tell Dr. Bob how upset we really were. I think it fell on deaf ears.
After dinner on the Pier we went up into the 4th tallest building in town, the John Hancock Center. Out intent was to see the lights of the city come on from someone up high. 100 floors up was a great vantage point for this.
Going from window to window we took more and more pictures as more and more lights illuminated the city.
The city looked great from up here.
There was a "thrill factor" thing to do up here. You stand in a window box and they tilt the top part of the window out while you are standing in it. First a little tilt, then out to a 45 degree angle, hanging out over the street below. Fun stuff. Great way to end the evening.
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