This morning, we got a late start. All night long, Monica was tormented by regret over not buying the clearance luggage she'd found at Macy's. She was worried that if we didn't get it first thing in the morning, someone else would get it, and her life would never be the same. Unfortunately, Macy's doesn't open until 10 a.m., nor do any of the other stores on Michigan Avenue, so there was no point in going out any earlier.
Once the new luggage was purchased and dropped off at our hotel, we walked out to Navy Pier. Navy Pier is currently undergoing some massive reconstruction, so that future tourists - not us - will have lots to see and do. For the current crop of tourists, it's a bit of an obstacle course of construction cones and barricades.
However, we picked up our Go Pass voucher for five free rides. First ride was on the big Ferris Wheel. If you know your Chicago World Fair history, you know that the first-ever Ferris Wheel was at the Chicago World Fair. (Yes, I knew that before I got here, because I read "The Devil in the White City.")
Anyway, Monica thought she might get nervous as it was a pretty big Ferris Wheel. But we were sitting across from each other, and although it was tall, it moved very slowly, so it was just a pleasant ride with some nice views and chilly winds blowing through the plexiglass panes of the doors. The next ride was a little less alarming - we went on the merry-go-round. It was free. We like free things!
Enough carnival rides for now. We wandered over to the shoreline and picked up tickets for the Architectural Boat Tour. For once, luck was with us, and we were able to get the next available boat tour. As the tour started, the sun peeked out from behind the clouds, and even the tour guides seemed hopeful that it might clear up, but no - it seems that frowny cloudy Chicago is going to be the persistent mood of the day.
The Architectural Boat Tour is pretty much a Chicago tourist must-do. I discovered that there are way more films shot in Chicago than I realized. A number of buildings were used for The Dark Knight, including the supposed "Wayne Industries" (I don't know what the actual building name is - will have to look it up). There's an eclectic mix of architectural styles, but it all pulls together nicely. Probably my favourites are the older ones like the Wrigley Building and Chicago Tribune, but the newer mirrored skyscrapers obviously reflect the buildings and at sunlight can light up the buildings in interesting ways. There was one older building, the Hotel Intercontinental, that had a little onion-shaped bulb on top. That's actually a blimp docking station, because way back when it was built, they anticipated that the people of the future (us!) would use blimps to travel a lot more than we actually do (just the Goodyear people, during football games). Post-Hindenburg, there was a lot less dirigible traffic than expected. However, if you are directing your dirigible to Chicago, you'll find there is parking available. I don't know if there's a blimp-authorized parking attendant on hand, but I'm sure you'll figure something out.
Monica was alternately irked and amused by two Russian tourists nearby. Long hair, impeccable makeup, and their phones mounted on selfie-sticks, so that they could take endless photos of themselves. And they did. Smiling identically each time, because you know they practiced in front of the mirror. Chicago landmark, head-tilt, smile. I'd love to see their photo albums. "Here's my giant head - don't I look nice? - and behind me is the Trump towers. Oh, and this one has the 'corn cob' towers behind my giant head - don't they look nice with my perfect chiclet teeth?"
Irritating passengers notwithstanding, the boat tour is about 75 minutes long, and really quite interesting, plus you get some fabulous panoramic shots of the city from the river. It was a cool, somewhat windy day, which had the advantage of driving some of the passengers down below to shelter (and the bar).
After tour, we headed briefly back into the downtown and had lunch at a Whole Foods market. Returning to Navy Pier, we had planned to rent some bicycles and ride along the lake shore. But although there were plenty of bikes to be seen, the rental kiosk was empty. No "I'll be back in 10 minutes" sign, nothing. We hovered around for a little while, along with another tourist group, but eventually gave up and left.
Unfortunately, this left us with "walking" as an option. Monica figured it wasn't that far to the Planetarium, Field Museum and Shedd Aquarium - I was of the opinion that it was far away. I don't know if you know this, but walking is always slower than biking. Oh well.
Along the way, we stopped by Buckingham Fountain. It is a big giant fountain that probably wouldn't look out of place by Buckingham Palace. We skirted through a number of city parks by the lake shore. Although the flowerbeds on Michigan Avenue are currently overflowing with tulips, the city parks are still a bit sparse - I'm not sure if they haven't planted this year's crop of summer flowers, or if they simply bloom later. However, there are city workers hauling around wheelbarrows that have the definite whiff of manure-based fertilizer.
We finally arrive near our destination, and decide to skip the Field Museum today due to time constraints, and so we head toward the Shedd Aquarium.
Upon entering, there are a million options, but we headed first toward the big Caribbean tank. There's a big giant sea turtle - named Nickel - who is swimming weirdly, paddling head-down with its butt in the air. That doesn't look right. Turns out Nickel was brought to the museum after being hit by a boat propeller. Her shell was damaged on the back end, and though they patched her up as well as they can, she obviously can't be returned to the wild. However, it looks like Nickel has a pretty good deal at the aquarium. (She got her name from the Nickel they found lodged in her throat when they had her x-rayed while diagnosing her injuries.)
My thoughts on fish? Seahorses are cute. Seadragons are weird. Leafy Seadragons are even weirder. Otters are cute. Anemonies are interesting, but kind of gross and disturbing too. Penguins are comical when they waddle and totter about on land, but they are very quick and agile in the water. Dolphins are like peacocks, they like to show off.
The aquarium closes at 5 p.m., and by 4:30, we were tired of walking, so we sat and watched the dolphins and belugas underwater for a while, and with about 15 minutes left, we wandered up top to watch them there and see if they'd surface. The dolphins just whisk up occasionally. The belugas were circling around and would surface and blow air and water from their blowhole.
I noticed that they seemed to circle around in a pattern, and one big white beluga kept circling and then started rolling sideways to look at us as it passed. Around and around, and it kept coming back, and then it actually popped its head up a few times. There was hardly anyone left, and the staff was already roping off areas, but we stayed by the railing, watching the beluga go around. We were about to leave, and it popped out of the water again, and began grunting and squeaking at us. High-pitched whale squeaks. OMG, the beluga is talking to us! So adorably cute!
By the time we left, we had to explain we were taking so long because the belugas were talking to us, and they obviously didn't want us to go. The staff member asked which one it was, the gray or the white one? The white one. That's the mama beluga - the gray one is her child. She likes to talk, and the gray one has learned it from his mama.
Apparently belugas are actually quite sociable, but they're shy - so they only come up to talk when there's very few people around. So that was awesome. Definitely the highlight of the aquarium visit.
It was now after 5 p.m., so the big attractions are all closed, so we walked back to the downtown loop through the park. Monica took me to see the exterior of the Chicago Public Library, which appears to have elaborate carvings of owls on the roof. We consider that they may be a front for a Harry Potter-esque facility of magic.
Anyway, here we are at the train station. We're about to climb up to the platform when we are approached by a man who wants to ask us something. He begins to tell us the sad and difficult story of his life. I hand him some money. "No, I'm not asking for money," he says, while pocketing the money. "You know what I would like? I would like someone to buy me a piece of pizza; I'm just so hungry." He is very woeful, and apparently very hungry.
Monica agrees to buy him a slice of pizza. "Thank you so much. I'm just so hungry: I wish - I wish it could be two pieces." There is a Sbarro just around the corner. The man peruses his options, and I see some massive slices of pizza in there. He is considering two pieces, and the clerk tells Monica that will be $12. She says that's too much. He decides on one piece of pizza. The clerk goes to get it, but wait, now, he doesn't want that. "No, I don't want that at all. I just want what I want. Why doesn't anything ever go my way? I wish I could have some lasagna!" There is no lasagna. He has to settle for Chicken Parmesan, which Monica pays for, and then we beat a hasty retreat to the train station, where we catch the Red Line before he can track us down and ask for dessert.
That night, we use our Go-Passes to return for an evening view from the John Hancock Center. The skyline is quite beautiful by night, with a lot of the buildings lit up in different colours - some of the spires have blue lighting, and some have pink or purple. And, of course, all of the big office buildings have some lights on, not to mention the streetlights and traffic, so it's quite a display. Over at Navy Pier, you can see the Ferris Wheel and carnival rides lit up. I think they have fireworks displays there at night in the summer, but I don't think they consider it summer yet.
Anyway, it's a nice way to end the day.
:-)
Once the new luggage was purchased and dropped off at our hotel, we walked out to Navy Pier. Navy Pier is currently undergoing some massive reconstruction, so that future tourists - not us - will have lots to see and do. For the current crop of tourists, it's a bit of an obstacle course of construction cones and barricades.
However, we picked up our Go Pass voucher for five free rides. First ride was on the big Ferris Wheel. If you know your Chicago World Fair history, you know that the first-ever Ferris Wheel was at the Chicago World Fair. (Yes, I knew that before I got here, because I read "The Devil in the White City.")
 |
| Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier |
Enough carnival rides for now. We wandered over to the shoreline and picked up tickets for the Architectural Boat Tour. For once, luck was with us, and we were able to get the next available boat tour. As the tour started, the sun peeked out from behind the clouds, and even the tour guides seemed hopeful that it might clear up, but no - it seems that frowny cloudy Chicago is going to be the persistent mood of the day.
The Architectural Boat Tour is pretty much a Chicago tourist must-do. I discovered that there are way more films shot in Chicago than I realized. A number of buildings were used for The Dark Knight, including the supposed "Wayne Industries" (I don't know what the actual building name is - will have to look it up). There's an eclectic mix of architectural styles, but it all pulls together nicely. Probably my favourites are the older ones like the Wrigley Building and Chicago Tribune, but the newer mirrored skyscrapers obviously reflect the buildings and at sunlight can light up the buildings in interesting ways. There was one older building, the Hotel Intercontinental, that had a little onion-shaped bulb on top. That's actually a blimp docking station, because way back when it was built, they anticipated that the people of the future (us!) would use blimps to travel a lot more than we actually do (just the Goodyear people, during football games). Post-Hindenburg, there was a lot less dirigible traffic than expected. However, if you are directing your dirigible to Chicago, you'll find there is parking available. I don't know if there's a blimp-authorized parking attendant on hand, but I'm sure you'll figure something out.Monica was alternately irked and amused by two Russian tourists nearby. Long hair, impeccable makeup, and their phones mounted on selfie-sticks, so that they could take endless photos of themselves. And they did. Smiling identically each time, because you know they practiced in front of the mirror. Chicago landmark, head-tilt, smile. I'd love to see their photo albums. "Here's my giant head - don't I look nice? - and behind me is the Trump towers. Oh, and this one has the 'corn cob' towers behind my giant head - don't they look nice with my perfect chiclet teeth?"
Irritating passengers notwithstanding, the boat tour is about 75 minutes long, and really quite interesting, plus you get some fabulous panoramic shots of the city from the river. It was a cool, somewhat windy day, which had the advantage of driving some of the passengers down below to shelter (and the bar).
After tour, we headed briefly back into the downtown and had lunch at a Whole Foods market. Returning to Navy Pier, we had planned to rent some bicycles and ride along the lake shore. But although there were plenty of bikes to be seen, the rental kiosk was empty. No "I'll be back in 10 minutes" sign, nothing. We hovered around for a little while, along with another tourist group, but eventually gave up and left.
Unfortunately, this left us with "walking" as an option. Monica figured it wasn't that far to the Planetarium, Field Museum and Shedd Aquarium - I was of the opinion that it was far away. I don't know if you know this, but walking is always slower than biking. Oh well.
Along the way, we stopped by Buckingham Fountain. It is a big giant fountain that probably wouldn't look out of place by Buckingham Palace. We skirted through a number of city parks by the lake shore. Although the flowerbeds on Michigan Avenue are currently overflowing with tulips, the city parks are still a bit sparse - I'm not sure if they haven't planted this year's crop of summer flowers, or if they simply bloom later. However, there are city workers hauling around wheelbarrows that have the definite whiff of manure-based fertilizer.
We finally arrive near our destination, and decide to skip the Field Museum today due to time constraints, and so we head toward the Shedd Aquarium.
Upon entering, there are a million options, but we headed first toward the big Caribbean tank. There's a big giant sea turtle - named Nickel - who is swimming weirdly, paddling head-down with its butt in the air. That doesn't look right. Turns out Nickel was brought to the museum after being hit by a boat propeller. Her shell was damaged on the back end, and though they patched her up as well as they can, she obviously can't be returned to the wild. However, it looks like Nickel has a pretty good deal at the aquarium. (She got her name from the Nickel they found lodged in her throat when they had her x-rayed while diagnosing her injuries.)
 |
| The saddest fish in Chicago. Cheer up, little guy! |
The aquarium closes at 5 p.m., and by 4:30, we were tired of walking, so we sat and watched the dolphins and belugas underwater for a while, and with about 15 minutes left, we wandered up top to watch them there and see if they'd surface. The dolphins just whisk up occasionally. The belugas were circling around and would surface and blow air and water from their blowhole.
I noticed that they seemed to circle around in a pattern, and one big white beluga kept circling and then started rolling sideways to look at us as it passed. Around and around, and it kept coming back, and then it actually popped its head up a few times. There was hardly anyone left, and the staff was already roping off areas, but we stayed by the railing, watching the beluga go around. We were about to leave, and it popped out of the water again, and began grunting and squeaking at us. High-pitched whale squeaks. OMG, the beluga is talking to us! So adorably cute!
 |
| My two favourite belugas kept surfacing to chatter at us! |
Apparently belugas are actually quite sociable, but they're shy - so they only come up to talk when there's very few people around. So that was awesome. Definitely the highlight of the aquarium visit.
It was now after 5 p.m., so the big attractions are all closed, so we walked back to the downtown loop through the park. Monica took me to see the exterior of the Chicago Public Library, which appears to have elaborate carvings of owls on the roof. We consider that they may be a front for a Harry Potter-esque facility of magic.
Anyway, here we are at the train station. We're about to climb up to the platform when we are approached by a man who wants to ask us something. He begins to tell us the sad and difficult story of his life. I hand him some money. "No, I'm not asking for money," he says, while pocketing the money. "You know what I would like? I would like someone to buy me a piece of pizza; I'm just so hungry." He is very woeful, and apparently very hungry.
Monica agrees to buy him a slice of pizza. "Thank you so much. I'm just so hungry: I wish - I wish it could be two pieces." There is a Sbarro just around the corner. The man peruses his options, and I see some massive slices of pizza in there. He is considering two pieces, and the clerk tells Monica that will be $12. She says that's too much. He decides on one piece of pizza. The clerk goes to get it, but wait, now, he doesn't want that. "No, I don't want that at all. I just want what I want. Why doesn't anything ever go my way? I wish I could have some lasagna!" There is no lasagna. He has to settle for Chicken Parmesan, which Monica pays for, and then we beat a hasty retreat to the train station, where we catch the Red Line before he can track us down and ask for dessert.
That night, we use our Go-Passes to return for an evening view from the John Hancock Center. The skyline is quite beautiful by night, with a lot of the buildings lit up in different colours - some of the spires have blue lighting, and some have pink or purple. And, of course, all of the big office buildings have some lights on, not to mention the streetlights and traffic, so it's quite a display. Over at Navy Pier, you can see the Ferris Wheel and carnival rides lit up. I think they have fireworks displays there at night in the summer, but I don't think they consider it summer yet.
Anyway, it's a nice way to end the day.
:-)
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