Twenty-Four Hours in Chicago

This trip actually happened right before our Mexico vacation!  I had to travel to The Windy City for work and I was there for about 24 hours.  I did not have a lot of time for sight-seeing but I made the most of it!  The weather was perfectly spring-crisp, which was great for hustling around on foot.

After checking in at my hotel on the Magnificent Mile I decided to walk north and see what the shopping scene was all about.  Let's just say that my wallet almost burst into flame.

This store sells thousand-dollar down coats

I wasn't planning on going to the top of the John Hancock Tower*.  I was just going to walk to the base and also look at an old Gothic Revival water tower that is about a block away.  The lobby looked empty.  I could not believe my luck.  I went inside and walked up to the ticket counter and the employees told me that there was no wait for the 1,000-foot elevator ride.  I said "take my money!" and wandered through miles and miles of rope-enclosed hallways with informative exhibits that keep visitors entertained during peak visitor times.

Having been also to the top of the Willis Tower, I think the views from John Hancock are far superior.  Maybe it was because I was visiting at sunset but the views of the Gold Coast to the north and brilliant blues of Lake Michigan were spectacular.  I also recommend their bar.

 

At the end of the night I was tired so I enjoyed a party-of-one with some beer that I purchased around the corner and had Lou Malnati's delivered to my room.  So. Worth. It.

The next morning I had some time to kill so I went for a long walk to Millennium Park, bummed around downtown, and then went to my work thing.  By the early evening it was time to head back to the airport so I walked back to the hotel to collect my bag.  Here are some photos from that day:

Outside of The Rookery (1888), former offices of Architectural Company Burnham and Root 

Interior, showing a portion of original ironwork.  When Frank Lloyd Wright was commissioned to remodel the lobby all of the iron was encased in gilded marble.  What were ya' thinking, Frank!?

** Within the last year the John Hancock tower was stripped of its name for...legal reasons, as far as I can tell.  It is officially named only by its street address but Chicagoans refuse to drop the old name (I'm sure there are still a few Sears Tower fans out there).