Day 129 - Chicago (Part 2), IL

Our second day in Chicago was our only full day in the city, so we knew we had to blitz as many of the must-see attractions as we could. We had done loads of research, had multiple (different) recommendations, and done numerous sums. We had already been gifted a city pass for a wedding present, so opted for the Go City 1-day all-inclusive pass. This gave us a massive selection of things to do and, provided we did 3 or 4 of them, it worked out cheaper than individual tickets.

To get our bearings, the first attraction was the hop-on hop-off Big Bus. This took in all of the major sights in the city, and gave you the flexibility to build your own itinerary as you went along. The guides on the buses were informative yet fun, and incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about this great city.

We jumped off near where the Architectural City Boat Cruise left from by Michigan Avenue Bridge. This was another personal recommendation, and we're so glad we did this. We arrived just before the boat departed, so dashed on board, got a drink from the bar, and relaxed in the sun on the upper deck. The boat takes a leisurely 80-minute tour up and down the forks of the river that snakes its way through the vast concrete and glass caverns of downtown Chicago. Again, the knowledgeable and fun guide compounded your wonder as you gazed up at some of the most impressive buildings in the US. We were told that we had been particularly lucky with the weather that day, and for me, this tour was one of the highlights of the whole road trip.

We jumped back on the bus and headed towards the parks. Chicago is particularly proud of the green spaces it has set aside, and given the towering vastness of this city, this is fully justified. We of course had to visit The Bean to take some reflectoselfies, and then wandered to Buckingham Fountain. We then walked along the lakeshore for a bit, saying hello to the geese there, before heading back inland to wait for the bus.

We hopped off again at Navy Pier, and wandered down to the fairground rides, which were included in our passes. The ride on the Millennium Wheel was very cool, but then my confidence got the better of me and we headed onto the swing ride.

The ride lasted a lifetime. I could hear Sam behind me giggling and gleefully shouting "weeeeeee", but all I could do is grip the chains as tightly as I could and recite the Periodic Table to take my mind off the fact that I might die here and now.

Getting off, I thanked the higher powers that my time had not yet come, and we headed to a bar on the pier for a beer and some high-calorie pizza to calm me down. We completed our trip to the fair with a ride on the merry-go-round: a much more sensible form of amusement!

Back on the bus, we were on our way to Chicago 360. This is one of two high-rise observation decks in Chicago, both of which our passes have access to. We decided to do one in daylight and then one at night, to give us two different perspectives of the city. It was really cool seeing the city from up that high. There were no queues and we were up and down in probably about half an hour.

Dinner time was fast approaching, and we had been told by various people that we had to try a Chicago Deep Dish Pizza, so we headed to Giordano's to try one  We had both imagined this to just be a thick crust pizza, but when it arrived it was more like a pie made from pizza dough, stuffed with ingredients and covered in a herby tomato sauce. It was delicious! We are so glad we only ordered a 5-inch individual, as we were both stuffed!

Drifting into a pizza coma, we headed back to the hotel for a snooze and to wait for nightfall. Reluctantly hauling ourselves out of bed, we grabbed an Uber to Sears Tower, the site of the other observation deck. Yes, it may now be officially called Willis Tower, but all the locals still refer to the name it had for 24-years and so we're sticking with that too.

Again there were no queues and we were straight up there. The views of the bright lights of the city were awesome, if a little worrying from a light pollution perspective. My main gripe was that you couldn't get a decent picture of the vista due to all the reflections from the lights inside the observation deck. It would be really good if they had a couple of dark rooms you could go into to take some decent pictures, without your camera instead focusing on reflections of the delightful groups of tourists faffing around behind you.

After a long day on our feet, we wandered back to the hotel via the Riverwalk and a couple more bars before heading back to our welcoming hotel bed.

Chicago is a city that I would love to come back and spend more time in. It feels safe, has loads to see and do and in my very personal opinion, blows New York NY out of the water - although, granted, I haven't visited in a while. It definitely gives my other favourite cities of this road trip - Austin TX, Nashville TN, Scottsdale AZ and San Diego CA - a very close fun for their money. I'll need to visit them all again just to make sure :)