Chicago – Highlights

Would Chicago be my kind of town? Absolutely!

Here are some recommendations/highlights of our recent visit to the Windy City.

1. Architecture river tour

Many guide books recommend that you start your visit with a boat tour to discover the history of Chicago’s stunning skyline, so on our first morning we dutifully walked up the Magnificent Mile (which incidentally does live up to its name), to join our pre-booked tour. Several companies offer this but we had chosen the Chicago Architecture Foundation River Cruise and the trip was outstanding. For an hour and a half we cruised around the river, under the 1920s bridges discovering the history of some beautiful, fascinating buildings and we learned how many of them were designed to fit in with others around them, which I had not realised before. Highly recommended!

2. The John Hancock Center – 360 Chicago and The Tilt

We visited the John Hancock Center for fantastic views of Chicago instead of the Willis tower purely because it was closer to where we were staying, closer to the lake and because we were tempted to experience the Tilt. The 94th floor observatory provided breathtaking views, informative displays and the Tilt was a bit of extra fun. You stand at a floor-to-ceiling window and hold onto the handrails as you are tilted 30 degrees to enjoy the view directly below! I’m pleased I did it – strange but not too scary.

3. Signature room on the 95th floor

We returned to the Hancock Center in the evening to enjoy a cocktail on the 95th floor, one floor above the Observation deck, and to see if the view from the Ladies room was one of the best bathroom views in the world as we had been told! Indeed it was! The ladies room was almost as busy as the bar with lots of people vying for the best position for a selfie! All great fun! My husband was disappointed that the men’s room had no windows but the main bar had the fabulous views too.

4. Watching the Cubs at Wrigley Field

Our first visit to a baseball game was a real highlight! The atmosphere was amazing. It was a real family day out with babes in arms and fans of all ages in the crowd. We particularly enjoyed the hot dogs, beer and ice cream served in a mini plastic baseball cap. The Cubs seized a late victory too – what more could you ask?

5. Millennium Park and the Art Institute of Chicago

We spent almost a whole day enjoying Millennium Park and the Art Institute. I was expecting to really love Cloud Gate/The Bean but Millennium Park had an amazing revelation at every turn.

6. Navy Pier

An excellent place to spend a sunny summer afternoon!

Apparently Navy Pier is the most visited attraction in Chicago and there is certainly plenty to keep the visitors busy, such as the Ferris wheel, the Children’s Museum, the IMAX theatre and the Funhouse Maze. We enjoyed seeing the WW2 anchor, the vast array of boats ready to whisk you onto the lake for a tour and we had a delicious lunch at the Riva Crabhouse overlooking the lake. There were lots of gift shops with handmade local products and souvenirs. Truly something for everyone.

We were fortunate to be able to see the Saturday night fireworks at Navy Pier from our hotel room. Spectacular!

As usual, our visit ended all too soon and I still have a long list of things I would like to do in Chicago which will have to wait until next time, for example, Lincoln Park and the Museum of Science and Industry, to name just two.

Back home we watched “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” and “While you were sleeping” with a greater understanding of the Chicago locations – a great way to keep the holiday going just a bit longer!