Chicago: The City of Big Shoulders

The Windy City. The City of Big Shoulders. The Jewel of the Mid-West. Chitown. Chicagoland. Hog Butcher for the World. Queen of the West. The Garden City. These are just some of the nick names for Chicago. We came to discover the world-renowned architecture of Chicago and left enchanted and in love with this modern, thriving, down-to-earth city.

At the end of a few very busy days in New York City, we flew to Chicago from LaGuardia airport. After an easy metro ride, checking into our hotel, and getting some laundry going, we went for a walk to explore our new surroundings. Our hotel was situated close to the John Hancock Tower and one street back from Lake Shore Drive which runs the length of Lake Michigan. The shore of the lake has been pedestrainised and people come here to run, walk their dogs and cycle; a real oasis in the city. Looking out across the lake it is hard to believe that it is not the ocean! The only one of the 5 great lakes to be completely in the States, Lake Michigan is 49 km long and 190 km wide with a shoreline of 2640 km making it the fifth biggest lake in the world. Chicago was settled on the South Western shores of Lake Michigan and is the third most populous city in the States. We continued walking along the shore down to Navy Pier.

Navy Pier was designed to mix the business of shipping on the lake with pleasure and entertainment but proved more successful as a public gathering place. It was built in 1916 but it was mostly used by the navy during World War I and II. Many fighter jets lie at the bottom of the lake, not because they saw action there, but because pilot training for aircraft carrier vessels were conducted here during WWII. The pilots were rescued from any failed take-offs or landings but not the planes! The Pier was redeveloped in the 1990s and today Navy Pier is Chicago’s number 1 tourist attraction. Popular attractions include the Chicago Children’s Museum, the Ferris wheel, an Imax theatre and many restaurants. We would visit again over the next few days for a stroll and Haagen Dazs ice cream!

View of Chicago from Navy Pier at sunset

The famous Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier

Haagen Dazs! 

The weather in Chicago was much cooler than anything we had experienced on our trip. So when the next day was forecast to be the warmest of our stay in Chicago, we made good use of it outdoors exploring the parks and the city!

The exploring started at Millennium Park where we saw the Jay Pritzker pavilion, an open amphitheatre-type concert venue; the silver Cloud Gate sculpture, also known as ‘the bean’; Crown Fountain with its massive digital screen featuring faces of Chicagoans with water spouting out of their mouths; and Boeing Gallery sculptures, some of which are also dotted around the city. We had heaps of fun taking photos of the reflections in the bean from all angles.

The whole length of the Chicago Harbour along the lake is dominated by green parks. We continued walking down through the parks past Buckingham Fountain, through Grant Park and onto Shedd Aquarium, the planetarium and Field Museum of Natural History.

The Cloud Gate Sculpture

Buckingham Fountain

View of Buckingham Fountain from Grant Park

Horse Sculpture near Shedd Aquarium

Dad Cross with Chicago and the harbour

The Jay Pritzker Pavillion in the evening

The Bean at sunset

The Old Water Tower at night

Time for a lunch break before heading into the city! The metro system in Chicago does not run underground but is elevated above the ground and has gained the nickname of the ‘eL’. All the lines form a circle around the city centre, or loop. We jumped on a metro and went around the loop a few times to enjoy the city from an elevated angle. The remainder of the afternoon was spent wandering around the city, discovering different pieces of art dotted around the city and enjoying the different styles of architecture along the river. Time to head back to the hotel but first: Haagen Dazs ice-cream at Navy Pier!

The reception hall at the Rookery

One of the Boeing Gallery Sculptures. Can you see what it is?

The Wrigley building 

The following day started with a Chicago Architecture Foundation River Cruise: yup, you guessed it, a guided boat cruise of the architecture lining the Chicago River. The best of the boat cruises on the river, the voluntary docents provide a knowledgeable narration of the buildings looming over the river. We really enjoyed the river cruise and highly recommend it to anyone going to Chicago.

Wrigley Building from the water

The rest of the day was spent wandering around the city oggling more buildings and art. Some of our favourites were the Wrigley building, the Trump buildings, the John Hancock Tower, the Old Water Tower and Pumping Station on the Magnificent Mile, The Willis Tower (previously known as the Sears Tower), Two Prudential Plaza and the Aon Center. We also loved some of the street names such as Wabash Avenue and Wacker Drive.

In the afternoon we stumbled upon the Temple Building, a tall sky scraper church which is the home of the First United Methodist Church of Chicago. The church owns the building but rents out most of the space. On the ground floor is a large church and the minister lives in the top floor of the building. We happened to arrive on time for a tour of the Sky Chapel. The uppermost level of the building was converted into an intimate chapel surrounded by 16 stained glass windows that overlook the city. As our guide for the tour Eric described it, it was an ‘unexpected joy’ in our day =)

The Sky Chapel at the top of the Temple Building

Dinner time called for trying out Chicago’s well-known deep pan pizza! And where else to try it than Gino’s East, the home of deep pan pizza! Our guide book recommended this restaurant, as did the friendly group in the bar of the hotel we stayed at in Washington and the queue of people outside waiting to be seated! Unlike thin-base pizza, deep pan pizza has a thicker more bread-like crust, is about 7 cm deep, and filled with typical pizza toppings but mostly cheese and tomato base. The boys ordered a standard pizza each, but we all had a chuckle when they didn’t even make it half way!

Our last full day in Chicago arrived fresh and chilly. It was time to go up the John Hancock Tower! We bought the Sun and Stars ticket which allowed us to go up once in the day and again in the evening. Wow, what a different experience to the Empire State Building in New York! No airport-like security check, no queue, no crowd at the top; the whole experience was very chilled and relaxed, it was great! We had to choose between going up the Willis Tower with its glass look-out box or the John Hancock Tower and chose the Hancock since we would have a view of the coastline as well as over the city. And we weren’t disappointed. The observation deck is on the 94th floor which the fastest elevator in North America reaches in just 40 seconds! There are 360ºC views over Chicago from the completely enclosed observation deck. It is seriously cool looking over the lake, along the coast, the city area congested with buildings and then the suburbs stretching out from the city into the distance. It was really great seeing the view in the day and coming back again at night. We returned just before sunset in the evening and watched the sun go down, the stars come out and the city lights come on. We loved the relaxed atmosphere and enjoyed a few drinks at the Espression Café. We really enjoyed our visit to the Hancock Tower and highly recommend it on your visit to Chicago!

View of Chicago city through the mesh of the open mesh-enclosed walk way at the observatory on the 94th floor of the John Hancock Tower

View of the coast of Lake Michigan from the Hancock Tower in the day......

......at sunset.....

.....and at night.

Travelling with two guys there hasn’t been much time for shopping of any kind, so Bron grabbed the opportunity of a few hours on the Magnificent Mile with enthusiasm! The rest of the afternoon between Hancock Tower visits was spent exploring the stores on offer while the boys went to Lincoln Zoo and just chilled. Favourite stores include Gap, the Disney Store and the Lego store! (Particularly the pick-a-brick wall!)

Seen around at the Lincoln Zoo

The next morning the airport shuttle bus arrived before the sun was up to take us to O’Hare airport and back to Boston for another few days with Lynne and Ralph.

Next time: our last few days in Boston and the last of our American holiday blog posts!

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