Chicago – Day 3 – Michael's Piece of the Web

March 2016

Day 3 was a busy one. After a walk around Millennium Park and Grant Park and a walk around the city, we headed to the Wrigley building to board one of the famous Chicago architecture boat tours. The architecture in and around the Loop is incredible. It's hard to know what to snap a photo of first. Then it was lunch at Lou Malnati's (another idea from listening Eric & Kathy) to try another deep dish pizza. After a long wait, we rode up to the observation deck at the Sears Tower to get another view of the city. As the sun was setting we headed up the Magnificent Mile to the other popular observation deck at the John Hancock Center. We got to see the Windy City from above at twilight and after dark. Wow, what a view. Then we stayed near the Mag Mile and had another incredible dinner at another famous Chicago name's restaurant. This time it was at Mike Ditka's. Chicago is most certainly a food city!

3-002 Billy Goat Tavern — The Billy Goat Tavern was seen on SNL before my time (the 70’s)

3-003 The Bean — It blends in with the surroundings, but there’s The Bean

3-004 Pritzker Pavilion — Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park

3-005 Millenium Park Sign — Entering Millennium Park

3-006 The Bean — The Bean (aka Cloud Gate) at Millennium Park

3-007 The Bean — The Bean (aka Cloud Gate) at Millennium Park

3-009 The Bean — Under The Bean (aka Cloud Gate) looking up

3-011 Michael Reflection in The Bean — A deformed self portrait in The Bean

3-012 Mom & Michael Reflection in The Bean — My mother’s and my reflection in The Bean

3-013 The Bean — The Bean (aka Cloud Gate) at Millennium Park

3-014 Skyline — The skyline along Michigan Avenue from Millennium Park

3-015 Prudential Plaza — Prudential Plaza

3-016 Pritzker Pavillion — The Great Lawn at Pritzker Pavillion in Millennium Park

3-017 Skyline — Checking out the skyline from the BP Pedestrian Bridge designed by Frank Gehry

3-018 Prudential Plaza & Aon Building — Prudential Plaza & the Aon Building

3-019 BP Pedestrian Bridge — The BP Pedestrian Bridge was designed by Frank Gehry

3-026 Adler Planetarium — Adler Planetarium

3-027 Skyline — The skyline from the lakefront

3-028 Abegweit — Abegweit is a training vessel

3-032 Skyline — Another view of the skyline from Maggie Daley Park

3-035 Buckingham Fountain — Buckingham Fountain has not yet been turned on for the season

3-038 Buckingham Fountain — Buckingham Fountain seahorses waiting to be turned on for the season

3-039 Buckingham Fountain — Buckingham Fountain has not yet been turned on for the season

3-044 Congress Parkway — Looking up Congress Parkway

3-046 Exhaust Pipe Sculpture — Hmm, apparently exhaust pipes are art.

3-047 Flower — This flower looks gigantic on its own, but… see the next photo.

3-048 Mom & Flower — This flower looks even bigger when you put my mother next to it for scale!

3-050 Skyline — Looking north from the Congress Parkway bridge over the Metra rails

3-053 Congress Hotel — The Congress Plaza Hotel has been open since 1893

3-054 Window Washers — These window washers on the Roosevelt University Building are way more brave than I am.

3-055 Roosevelt University Building — These window washers on the Roosevelt University Building are way more brave than I am.

3-057 Harold Washington Library — Harold Washington Library

3-058 Harold Washington Library — Harold Washington Library

3-059 Red Line Station — Down in the Red Line at the Harrison station

3-060 Red Line Signs — Down in the Red Line at the Harrison station

3-061 Red Line Train — Here comes our ride, the Red Line

3-062 Nathaniel Hale Statue at Tribune Tower — Nathaniel Hale statue at Tribune Tower

3-063 Tribune Tower — Close up at the Tribune Tower

3-064 Tribune Tower Entrance — To say the entrance to the Tribune Tower is ornate would be an understatement

3-068 Carbide & Carbon Building — The Carbide & Carbon Building was built to resemble a bottle of champagne

3-069 Chicago PD Car — Anyone a fan of NBC’s Chicago PD?

3-070 Tribune Tower — Tribune Tower’s architecture is beautiful from every side

3-072 Wrigley Building — The Wrigley Building, the building chewing gum built

3-074 Flags — US, Chicago & Illinois flags

3-075 Wrigley Building Sign — The Wrigley Building, the building chewing gum built

3-076 Wrigley Building Entrance — Through the golden doors into the Wrigley Building

3-077 Chicago River — The Chicago River and the boat we’ll be boarding in a minute for our architectural tour

3-078 Wrigley Building Entrance — Through the golden doors into the Wrigley Building

3-079 Intercontinental Hotel — The Intercontinental Hotel

3-080 Chicago Tribune Sign — Tribune Tower

3-081 Tribune Tower — Tribune Tower features some amazing architectural details

3-083 Flags — US and Chicago flags outside the Wrigley Building

3-084 Wrigley Building — The Wrigley Building is the former headquarters of the Wrigley Chewing Gum

3-085 Wrigley Building — The Wrigley Building is the former headquarters of the Wrigley Chewing Gum

3-086 Skyline — Waiting by the river for our architectural boat tour

3-087 Chicago River — Ready to head out on the Chicago River for our architectural boat tour

3-089 Wendella Boat Rides Sign — We chose the Wendella for our architectural boat tour. It was great.

3-090 London Guarantee Building — The London Guarantee Building

3-091 Wrigley Building Detail — No detail is spared on the Wrigley Building

3-093 London Guarantee Building & Mather Tower — London Guarantee Building & Mather Tower featuring the narrowest skyscraper in the city

3-095 Marina City — Parking at Marina City is not for the faint of heart

3-096 Whirlpool Clock — The Whirlpool clock

3-097 Merchandise Mart — Merchandise Mart was once the largest building in the world

Merchandise Mart was once the largest building in the world

3-100 Chicago Sun-Times Building — The Chicago Sun-Times Building is not quite as magnificent as Tribune Tower

3-101 Chicago Sun-Times Building — The Chicago Sun-Times Building is not quite as magnificent as Tribune Tower

3-102 L Train — The iconic L trains serve as a reminder that this is Chicago

3-104 Montgomery Ward Building — The Montgomery Ward Building has no corner offices because Mr. Ward wanted it that way

3-105 Montomery Ward Building Statue — The Montomery Ward Building is topped off by a statue called The Spirit of Progress depicting the goddess Diana

3-106 Chicago Tribune Sign — The Chicago Tribune’s printing plant

3-107 Merchandise Mart — Merchandise Mart was once the largest building in the world

3-108 Trains Under Buildings — Amtrak trains pass under the skyscrapers along the river

3-111 Old Post Office — Chicago’s old main post office is massive due to Chicago’s past as the capital of mail order catalogs

3-114 New Post Office — Chicago’s new main post office is much smaller and clearly more modern than its massive predecessor

3-115 Chicago River — The north branch of the Chicago River was quite calm

3-118 Sears Tower & 311 South Wacker — The Sears Tower & 311 South Wacker

3-121 300 South Wacker — 300 South Wacker has the largest map in the city in case you don’t know where you are

3-123 Sears Tower Ledges — We’ll be out on those ledges on the Sears Tower later in our trip

3-124 Civic Opera Building — Passing the Civic Opera Building on our architectural tour

3-126 OneEleven Tower — OneEleven Tower sort of looks like it’s made of Legos

3-127 Jeweler's Building — The Jeweler's Building

3-128 Wrigley Building — Passing the Wrigley Building where our tour started

3-130 Wrigley Building — Passing the Wrigley Building where our tour started

3-131 Fire Boat — Chicago Fire Department boat

3-135 Skyline — Looking back on the skyline from near the Chicago Lock near Lake Michigan

3-136 Ferris Wheel — They’re almost done the new ferris wheel at Navy Pier

3-138 Lake Point Tower — Lake Point Tower is the only building east of Lakeshore Drive thanks to a legal loophole

3-140 Pizzeria Uno Sign — The original Pizzeria Uno

3-141 Pizzeria Due Sign — What comes after Pizzeria Uno? Pizzeria Due, of course!

3-142 Pizzeria Uno — The original Pizzeria Uno

3-143 Lou Malnati's Sign — After years of hearing about it on Eric & Kathy (morning radio show in Chicago on Mix 101.9), we had to try Lou Malnati’s deep dish pizza.

3-144 Lou Malnati's Sign — After years of hearing about it on Eric & Kathy (morning radio show in Chicago on Mix 101.9), we had to try Lou Malnati’s deep dish pizza.

3-145 Lou Malnati's — After years of hearing about it on Eric & Kathy (morning radio show in Chicago on Mix 101.9), we had to try Lou Malnati’s deep dish pizza.

3-146 Lou Malnati's Pizza Slice — After years of hearing about it on Eric & Kathy (morning radio show in Chicago on Mix 101.9), we had to try Lou Malnati’s deep dish pizza.

3-147 Lou Malnati's Slice — After years of hearing about it on Eric & Kathy (morning radio show in Chicago on Mix 101.9), we had to try Lou Malnati’s deep dish pizza.

3-148 Merchandise Mart Entrance — Merchandise Mart was once the largest building in the world

3-149 Willis Tower Sign — The Sears Tower is now called the Willis Tower. I didn’t actually hear anyone calling it that though.

3-151 Route 66 Sign — This is the second vacation in a row where we ran across Route 66

3-152 311 South Wacker — 311 South Wacker has a huge light on top that actually once impacted bird migration by posing as the moon

3-153 Sears Tower — Waiting in line at the Sears Tower

3-154 Sear Tower Ledges — Waiting in line to go get out on the ledges atop the Sears Tower for ourselves

3-155 Lego Sears Tower — Massive Lego model of the Sears Tower in the lobby of the real thing

3-156 View from Sears Tower — The view from the 103rd floor of the Sears Tower

3-157 View from Sears Tower — Looking out over Lake Michigan from the 103rd floor of the Sears Tower

3-161 Adler Planetarium — The Adler Planetarium as seen from the 103rd floor of the Sears Tower

3-162 Shed Aquarium — The Shedd Aquarium viewed from the 103rd floor of the Sears Tower

3-163 Carbide & Carbon Building — Carbide & Carbon Building and its champagne bottle top as seen from the 103rd floor of the Sears Tower

3-164 View from Sears Tower — Looking south from the Sears Tower

3-165 View from Sears Tower — The Aon Building and Prudential Plaza as seen from the 103rd floor of the Sears Tower

3-166 View from Sears Tower — A panoramic view looking north from the 103rd floor of the Sears Tower

3-169 John Hancock Building — The Hancock Center is where we’re headed next for another sky high view of Chicago

3-170 Boeing Building Clock — The Boeing Building

3-171 Channel 7 Helicopter — Channel 7’s helicopter passes by the Sears Tower

3-172 Mom on Sears Tower Ledge — My mother out on the glass ledge on the 103rd floor of the Sears Tower

3-173 View from Sears Tower Ledge — Looking down 103 stories below my feet on the ledge at the Sears Tower

3-174 View from Sears Tower Ledge — Looking down 103 stories below my feet on the ledge at the Sears Tower

3-175 Michael on Ledge — Out on the glass ledge on the 103rd floor of the Sears Tower

3-176 Abe Froman T-Shirt — We did not actually meet Abe Froman, the sausage king of Chicago.

3-177 John Hancock Building — Headed up our next skyscraper, the John Hancock Center

3-178 View from John Hancock Building — We got to the 94th floor of the John Hancock Center just as darkness fell and the city lit up.

3-181 View from John Hancock Building — We got to the 94th floor of the John Hancock Center just as darkness fell and the city lit up.

3-184 Navy Pier — Looking out over Navy Pier and Lake Michigan from the 94th floor of the John Hancock Center

3-186 View from John Hancock Building — Looking north from the 94th floor of the John Hancock Center

3-187 View from John Hancock Building — Looking down 94 stories to the beach below the John Hancock Center

3-189 View from John Hancock Building — Looking down on the Palmolive Building from the 94th floor of the John Hancock Center

3-190 View from John Hancock Building — We got to the 94th floor of the John Hancock Center just as darkness fell and the city lit up.

3-191 View from John Hancock Building — The view of Chicago at night from the 94th floor of the John Hancock Center is nothing short of spectacular.

3-192 View from John Hancock Building — The view of Chicago at night from the 94th floor of the John Hancock Center is nothing short of spectacular.

3-194 Intercontinental Hotel — The Intercontinental Hotel seen from the 94th floor of the John Hancock Center

3-195 Sears Tower — The Sears Tower and 311 Wacker’s bright white light seen from the 94th floor of the John Hancock Center

3-196 Chicago Water Tower — The Chicago Water Tower was one of the few structures to survive the Great Fire in 1871

Da Coach watches over us from the window as we enjoy a great meal at Ditka’s

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