Chicago: Architecture River Cruise

What an amazing city Chicago is! From its cloud-piercing skyscrapers to the Art Deco lanterns adorning its older buildings, from its lakeside sandy beaches to its multi-bridged river, from its kerbside horse statues honouring the city’s fallen heroes to its image-altering Cloud Gate, from fun-filled Navy Pier to wildlife-friendly Lincoln Park, Chicago really does have something for everyone.

So, if you only have two and a half days to experience the city, what to do? One of my choices was the Official Architecture Foundation River Cruise with Chicago’s First Lady Cruises and, if you’re ever visiting the Windy City, I highly recommend you go on one of these cruises. The service was efficient, the volunteer guide was incredibly knowledgeable and shared interesting facts and stories, being on a boat provided a different perspective to the ubiquitous double-decker-bus-ride city tours, and, on an extremely hot Illinois day, the breeze and the refreshment service on the boat were most welcome!

Here are some of my photos. I’m not even going to attempt to provide a commentary on what I saw. Instead, I'll just add a few captions here and there. So, grab a cool drink, make yourself comfy, and enjoy the ride!

Though I find the man objectionable, I rather liked Trump Tower

In the downtown area there are 18 movable bridges across the Chicago River 

The Carroll Ave / Kinzie St railroad bridge has been permanently open since 2001 - a great opportunity to see underneath

The bridge tender houses caught my eye for their variety of shapes and sizes

The old water towers stand out like a sore thumb amongst all the modern constructions

Dating from 1929, pure Art Deco, with the second-largest opera auditorium in the USA

On the right, the Rivercity Condominiums, &, in the centre, the tall dark building is the 1451 ft Willis Tower

Loved all the towers, especially the dark green & golf leaf champagne bottle on the Carbide & Carbon building, far left