Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Day 15 of the Seaver Family History Mystery Tour

...
I had another day with absolutely no genealogy, other than writing two blog posts.  I did think about it quite a bit, though!  I fear that I'm having withdrawal pains...and turning to drink.

We left the hotel in Schaumburg at 9:30 a.m. and headed for East Wacker Drive in Chicago (28 miles) to take a Chicago river cruise.  Driving through downtown Chicago (Eisenhower Expressway to East Wacker Drive) was difficult - too many cars/cabs/buses/trucks, too many obstacles, too many road repairs.  We parked at 111 East Wacker Drive ($26 for more than two hours, yikes!) because it was close to 112 East Wacker Drive.  However, we had to hike down about 36 stairs to the river level to buy the tickets and take the boat ride.  That was hard on Linda, but she made it.  We took the Chicago Architectural Foundation River Cruise (90 minutes, $35 each).  We were able to get on the 11:30 a.m. cruise. 

This cruise goes up the river, then up the north branch, turns around and goes down the South Branch, turns around and goes back to the main section and goes out as far as Navy Pier, but not through the locks to Lake Michigan.  The narrator was a professional architect who seemed to know everything about every building.  She must have described 80 to 100 buildings on the tour.  The most impressive, for me, was the Trump International Hotel and Tower next to the Wrigley Building.  It was a beautiful day, the temperature was about 75F, with little wind, and mostly sunny.  We sat in the bow area on the entry level, rather than sit on the second deck in the sun. 

After the cruise, we hiked back to the car pack building and ate lunch at Houlihan's in the building.  Linda enjoyed her corned beef salad and I had a French Dip sandwich.  We retrieved our car from the car park, and drove north along Lakeshore Drive in Chicago, then cut across town on the way back to our hotel.  I think that Maggie, the Magellan GPS Unit, found a new "shortcut" to get from highway I-290 East to I-90 West. 

We rested for a bit, Linda swam in the pool for an hour, and I worked on the laptop.  We went down at 6 p.m. for our free drink in the hotel, then struggled to find the Jimmy John's in the Woodfield Mall for dinner.  Then it was back to the hotel.  We took everything out of the car in an effort to weed out the trash and get our suitcases and carry-on bags ready to go on the airplane on Wednesday.

We need to get the rental car (about 1,500 miles so far in two weeks) back to Alamo by 2 p.m. but our flight on Southwest isn't until 5:40 p.m.  I wonder if Midway Airport has free wi-fi?

5 comments:

Thomas MacEntee said...

I am so glad you took my advice on the Architectural Boat Tour - my main concern was accessibility for Linda. I hope you felt it was worth it - even as a local here in Chicago I am still amazed at the rich architecture to see downtown.

Safe travels!

Anonymous said...

I love Chicago and visit it often. Hope you return. When I go into the city I take the fabulous train! Then hopping a cab to the boat. Keep that in mind for future trips.

Toshiba Laptop Repair said...

Great recipe! I have noted it and shared with my friends.

CD Replication said...

It is another piece of your great work. Your site is very interesting and I read your posts each time something new appears. Thanks for your work.

joomla web designs said...

Very interesting subject , appreciate it for posting .