Days Events:
[today we will both be commenting and mixing together]
We walked over the bridge, along the Lakefront bike/walk path, about 1/2 mile, to Navy Pier to grab a tour boat for the Chicago River Architectural Tour. It was excellent, lasting 75minutes; the boat was open, about 1/4 full so lots of room, and the guide was a young guy who must be an architectural student presumably. Lots of photos taken and put in a separate folder for review. We can't remember the names of the buildings, except for Trump Tower and that's because he put his name in 30' high letters on it! Some extremely impressive structures.
All along the river is the river front walk which is well used by the public and has lots of shopping and eating opportunities. An attractive place to wander.
We called an Uber to return - it was getting hot and humid.
Admirals Comments: Hi. Decided to write separately. Seemed easier.
This was an impressive tour. The mix of new and old architecture is beautiful. And having a knowledgeable tour guide point out the differing styles, history behind each was fascinating. I started out expecting to mainly like the older styles but now I have a much greater appreciation of the beauty of the "glass skyscrapers". Many are stunning. We tried our best to get photos, and we got a few pretty good ones. But 1400+ft is hard to capture. Besides, we were busy gawking! And my neck hurts from looking up.đ. The history of the river is also very interesting.
The tour also showed us what to expect tomorrow when we head into the river. It wasn't as busy as we expected, only one small tow/barge and the rest were slow moving tour boats like ours. There could be more commercial traffic closer to where the N and S forks meet.
Another interesting boat sighting. Absolute Navetta 64. Italian and very similar to the Sirene we saw a few days ago. $$$$ but weird looking.
Time to say goodnight. We plan to leave early tomorrow. Our entry into the Chicago river is thru a lock.
Photos:
See the folder of all the buildings along the river.
One of the Chicago Harbor Lock - we will be in it tomorrow a.m. when we begin our trip downriver toward the Mississippi.
Plans:
Leave early tomorrow down the Chicago/Illinois River hoping to reach Joliet City Dock, 41 miles.
Comments:
Deedee ⢠21 Jul, 2021 - Great pics! Love Chicago!
Bernie ⢠21 Jul, 2021 - So glad you could do the architectural tour. We have done it and have seen many of those buildings, but it looks like there are some newer and eye-catching ones. Good luck heading inland.
Ernie R ⢠21 Jul, 2021 - Very neat, you all will have to do a presentation at TP when you get back!
Janice ⢠21 Jul, 2021 - Look forward to cruising through your photos with morning coffee! We are back at the lake as of yesterdayâŚ. Our scenic tour wasnât as awesome as yours. Lots of burnt forest along the 106. However, the last of the 4 fires us now contained and it back to the business of summer at the beach. Take good care you two!
Helen ⢠21 Jul, 2021 - Hoping you can take some more awesome photos going through the Chicago downtown river today. Was extremely smoky driving back to Fargo and today is worse. There are air quality alerts all across ND and MN. Looks like bluer skies in IL.
Tom W ⢠21 Jul, 2021 - We got a tour of the Trump tower when they just opened the hotel portion & before the commercial floors were ready for occupancy. Actually met Trump's son-in-law in the lobby and had to look up at an NBA player as he got off the elevator. It's a beautiful building !
Robert & Margaret ⢠22 Jul, 2021 - Glad you are safe and back at home. We are getting smoke and haze from the west and the north.
Take care.