Chicago

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We arrived in Chicago on a beautiful, sunny Saturday.  Just a short hour and a half cruise from Hammond, Indiana. 

Gyp C approaching Chicago; photo taken by another ‘Looper’ who we haven’t yet met in person!

We docked at Burnham Harbor which is right beside Soldier Field.

Soldier Field is the round building in the foreground

We were not in Chicago an hour when I was asked if I was Irish – I was a little startled but responded that I am Canadian.  I guess my Maritime accent is noticeable at times!

We immediately set out to do some sightseeing; we walked until we found a water taxi to take us to Navy Pier and jumped on an architectural boat tour of downtown Chicago.

We learned some fascinating things:  1.  It was not Mrs O’Leary’s cow that started the Chicago fire of 1871 – that is just a story – and they do not really know how the fire started. 2. The fire burned for three days. 3. The city rebuilt rapidly to much improved building codes and included green space as a priority in their planning.  Seeing the skyline from the water you do not realize how many parks there are – walking around the downtown and the riverfront was enlightening.  Chicago is a beautiful city.

note the reflection in this glass building

You will note that the building below is longer on one side of the clock tower than the other. When it was built it was equal on both sides. They had to remove part of the left side of the building when they widened the street!

Their light rail trains run on top of the streets.

making it very loud when they pass overhead

Northerly Island is located very close to the marina and has a concert venue.  The winds were so favourable on Saturday night that we were able to hear, with perfect clarity, the whole concert set of Flogging Molly, a Celtic Irish band, while sitting on our sundeck.  Then, to top off the evening, we were treated to a spectacular display of fireworks from Navy Pier.  We felt very welcomed to Chicago!

Having never been to Chicago before, we did the typical touristy things:

Checking out the Skydeck at the Sears Tower on the 103rd floor. It was amazing to stand on glass and look down on tall buildings. The Sears Tower is the tallest building in Chicago at 1450 feet tall (110 stories). It was completed in 1973 and was the tallest building in the world for 25 years.
Although the day was a bit hazy, the views were well worth the elevator trip that goes up so fast your ears pop! In this picture you can see the marina where we were docked. Our boat is behind the tall buildings (not that you could see it anyways!)
Cloud Gate was named by artist Anish Kapoor  for a simple reason — 80 percent of its surface reflects the sky. Look closely and you can see me taking the picture. This is called the Bean by Chicagoans.
this is what the Bean looks like from underneath – there are reflections everywhere. We are in this picture (three times) – see if you can spot Jacques’ hat.
Buckingham Fountain
this big guy was hanging out at the museum

Uber was our friend but we did a lot of walking too.  We also hailed a bicycle rickshaw so we could get to the riverfront which was a little too far to walk.  We sampled some Chicago cuisine:  deep dish pizza and Chicago style hot dogs at places we wouldn’t have found if we hadn’t had asked the locals.

We have enjoyed our time here but have certainly not done the city justice. There are tons of theatres, museums, and restaurants – we would need several visits to take it all in.

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