Chicago!

“Chicago! Chicago! That toddlin' town...”

What a great city! It is definitely on my list of favorite cities now.

We stayed in The Loop, at a nice boutique hotel called The Silversmith Hotel, just a block back from Michigan Avenue and Millennium Park. After checking in on the first evening, we took a walk over to the park to see some of the public art there, and then we had a light dinner at a nice sushi place. 

(Click on photos to enlarge, then hit back button to return.)

This tall video tower (one of two) in Millennium Park are ever changing photos of locals, reflected in a huge wading pool.

The back side of those photo towers.

The famous Cloud Gate Sculpture.

On our only full day in the city, we walked along the lakeside footpath next to the marina where hundreds of boats were docked.

The day before we arrived, waves caused by high winds, almost washed some people off of this pathway!

Then we took a 90 minute river boat cruise on the Chicago River, with a docent from the Chicago Architect Foundation. It was very informative and I will never look at tall buildings in the same way.

The following photos are various building we saw on our river cruise.

 

A little fun with my fisheye lens.  :-)

Looking back at the Chicago skyline from the lake.

I took this photo for my grandson, Evan, and my Sac-City-firefighter-son-in-law, Stephen.

After the cruise, we had a late lunch at a riverside cafe, with the Trump building towering above us from across the river. It was Monday, and the cafe's special of the day was half off a bottle of wine... and we can't pass up a bargain – especially when it involves wine! 

This is Sam's "authentic" Chicago hot dog lunch.

This is the little riverside cafe, where we had lunch.

Of course, that bottle of wine slowed us down a bit, so after freshening up back at the hotel, we hopped on the “L” for a short ride, and headed to the Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower). When we arrived about 5:15, there was practically no line, so we were able to get to the 103^rd floor, where we could see the entire Chicago area at about 1450 feet above the ground. It was spectacular! Up there, they have three (or four?) all-glass boxes that jut out about 3 feet from the outside wall, called The Ledge, so you can stand on the glass and feel like you're “floating” 103 stories above the street below. At least that's what it's supposed to feel like, but not surprisingly, it is the most popular part of the experience, so you have to share the space with all the other people who all want to take pictures of themselves “floating” high above Chicago. We stayed at the top of the Willis until well after sunset, so we could see the buildings and streets light up, which was very dramatic! 

These are my feet standing on the glass "ledge," looking down 103 stories to the street below!

Sunset from the Willis Tower.

The only downside of our visit to the windy city (although it was not windy during our stay), was that we didn't have enough time there. The purpose of our 5 week road trip is to visit family & friends, and see cities, parks, & sites we've never been to before. We figure we can come back to places we want more of later. Chicago is certainly one of those places!

There is so much to do in Chicago that we didn't have time for: the Art Institute, the House of Blues, Second City Comedy, etc., etc., etc.. We have to return, and I think we will probably do it by train from Sacramento, which should be a really fun trip to look forward to!