USA Holiday 3, October 04 (A Grant Day Out)

Today I realised that Nike Free are also not suited for large amounts of walking, or perhaps that I just have really bad foot problems, or maybe even both... Started the day at Millenium Park which has that silver bean, some weird looking pavilion (that looks like a better version of our music bowl) and other public art stuff.

The creatively named Millenium Park monument.

Cloud Gate.

Jay Pritzker Pavilion.

Continued walking south down beyond Grant Park which took forever, there was also a whole lot of temporary construction being put together for the Chicago Marathon coming up on the weekend, it seemed like about ten times more construction than you should need to host a marathon. It also meant being stuck on the sidewalk most of the time, instead of being able to walk through the park itself. At the end was Soldier Field which did not appear to be open and several other buildings with aquariums and museums and the like. A decent view of Chicago from this end of the park was some consolation.

The Field Museum.

Soldier Field.

Chicago skyline.

Took the train back up to the other end of the city to the Hancock Observatory, since it was way too far to walk. It cost like $15 to go up and double that for an express (jump the queue) ticket, but some woman gave us a spare voucher from her city pass so we only had to buy one. The express ticket would not have made any sense because there was only about five people lining up anyway. At the top of the fastest elevator in North America (I think that's what it said) it's just the standard observatory deal, walk around 360 degrees and see the skyline. I'm not sure if this is better than going to the top of Sears (Willis) Tower but the location seems better. You can go outside at one point, but there is a big metal mesh fence so you can't get any good photos from there.

Chicago shoreline and Navy Pier.

Chicago downtown.

North Chicago.

Chicago downtown again.

The observatory is at the top of Michigan Avenue which is the major shopping street for Chicago, mostly high end fashion stuff though. Went into Water Tower Place which is more like a shopping centre, but they also had a food court where I finally got to try out the famous deep dish pizza. The size of the crust looks very daunting, I thought I would feel like I had just eaten an entire loaf of bread at the end of it, but to my surprise it was very light and tasty. I'm not sure if I would say it is superior to a regular pizza, it would at the least be a good alternative to have sometimes.

Deep Dish pizza.

Continued walking down Michigan Avenue and checked out a few shops, before reaching Navy Pier. Most places with these piers seem to have the same stuff, a big wheel, an entertainment area for kids and some restaurants. So this pier was pretty much up to standard then. Jason wanted to go on a boat tour down the Chicago River but I wasn't so sure it would be any good so I just got one ticket for him. The boat was just about to depart, only I was stuck behind this stupid woman trying to buy a ticket with a voucher. The conversation went something like this:

Woman: What can I get with this two for one voucher?
Sales Woman: That's probably for our cheaper cruise, it's buy one get one free
Woman: So I can get two rides?
Sales Woman: Yes, you pay for one ticket and another person can ride for free
Woman: So I only have to pay once?
Sales Woman: *Confused and rewords previous message*
Woman: So I could go once now and then again later this afternoon?
Sales Woman: No, you need to have a second person use the other ticket
Woman: *Walks off annoyed*

I'm not sure how good the tour was but here are some photos.

Navy Pier.

Moments later, the end of Navy Pier.

I'm not on a boat #1.

I'm not on a boat #2.

I'm not on a boat #3 - Willis Tower.

I'm not on a boat #4.

I'm not on a boat #5.

Before the end of the day I caught one of the elevated trains over to the United Centre, home of the Chicago Bulls. Had to walk a bit after getting off the train, and the neighbourhood was kind of average. There was about a million parking spaces around the arena, so I'm guessing not many people take the train and walk the rest of the way at night like we did. There wasn't much to see as it wasn't a game day, just a Michael Jordan statue but nothing for Scottie Pippen that I could see.

On the way to the United Centre.

I think it's supposed to be Jordan jumping over two people.