Day 2: Afternoon among the Skyscrapers

During my blogging session at Ghiraradelli’s ice cream heaven – yes I have a problem – a friend of mine iMessaged me from New York telling me to go do the boat tour of Chicago. I had looked into this and spotted the boats moored by the river earlier in the day but kinda thought, “well you’ve seen most of them at this stage”. So as I headed down Michigan Avenue looking at all the expensive stores few if any regular people ever get to shop in, I walked into the Apple Store (just because I can’t seem to help myself!). This was strange as I had no compunction to purchase anything – I’m still holding out for the iPhone 5 or the iPad mini to be announced later this month. Walking further down the Magnificent Mile I came to admire this tall building with a clock tower at the top (the Wrigley Building) and then decided to just do the boat tour and learn more.

I chose the Chicago’s First Lady cruises (cruisechicago.com) – I’d read already that they were the official tour of the Chicago Architecture Foundation and it looked like all their competitors were doing was racing up and down the river while the First Lady cruises seemed to linger and take their time. I was right (naturally) and had a superb time. The guide was a volunteer from the Chicago Art Institute and knew his lines. We (me and about 200 others) slowly moved up the Chicago river learning all about the famous skyline and the some not-so-famous buildings along the river. It was really nice to let someone else show you around for a bit.

After that I began to feel the effects of the early morning wandering. I headed further down Michigan Avenue to the front of the Chicago Public Library and headed toward the lakeshore. Getting lazier at this stage I headed into the Millennium Park and up through the fantastic pedestrian bridge to the Cloud Gate (AKA “The Bean”) again to see it in daylight. It is a fabulous piece of structural art and a huge draw for tourists and wedding photographers.

That completed, I decided to head back to the hotel to freshen up and charge my now dead MiFi. That’s when the laziness took hold – plans to go for a steak dinner fell by the wayside as I spent some more time wandering around the East Loop around Willis Tower a bit more before devouring a poorboy sandwich and catching a good night’s sleep.