Catch Our Lines: Chicago

We finished Lake Michigan at Hammond, Indiana and stayed there several days. We rested some, worked on the boat some and spent a day in Chicago. The marina was very nice, but the only thing to do within walking distance was the very large floating Horseshoe casino. Yes, we went in and donated $20.

The floating Horseshoe Casino at Hammond Marina.

Discussing our plans for Chicago with Fruitcakes, El Nido, Dede and Ocean Breeze. We rented a car with Fruitcakes and El Nido and toured downtown Chicago.

Chicago has 2.7 million residents, the 3rd most populous city in the U.S. The metro area is home to some 9.5 million residents. The downtown area is the largest that we've actually been in that we recall.

In the morning we took the boat architectural tour of downtown Chicago buildings. The building below is the old Marshall Field building, which is on the National Historic Register and occupies an entire city block.

Old and new buildings side by side.

The tour guide said the two buildings below are called the 'corn cob' buildings. See the cars in the parking garage. All cars are backed in, offices / condos are on the floors above.

Many of the buildings, like the one on the right below, follow the curvature of the river.

This is the Wrigley (chewing gum) Building. Originally, Wrigley's made baking powder and soap and included as a promotion one piece of chewing gum with each purchase. People were buying the baking power and soap just to get the gum, so the baking powder and soap production were stopped and gum took over. A bit of an optical illusion, the windows go from large to progressively smaller toward the top of the building.

Trump Tower in the center.

Two pictures below are the oldest buildings in Chicago. They survived the great Chicago fire of 1871 that wasn't really started by Mrs. O'Leary's cow.

Getting lunch in Chicago was an experience. This is a combination Italian and BBQ restaurant that we all enjoyed. It is very popular and crowded.

After lunch we were on another tour - a get on- get off trolley. More Chicago sites! The streets with tall buildings went on and on.

Upstairs jazz club on the millionaire mile. Great Chicago-style atmosphere.

Must stop to see The Bean! We are in there somewhere.

After touring all day it was time to go to a pizza party. Woody and Ellen Sutton are the Chicago harbor hosts for those of us on the Great Loop. They had invited Loopers to come to a Chicago style dinner complete with deep dish Chicago pizza ( 3 kinds), Italian beef sliders, chopped salad and cheesecake! Wow, was it a wonderful evening. The view from their 15th floor condo that overlooks Lake Michigan, Soldier Field and Lake Shore Drive was spectacular, complete with a spectacular sunset.