The next day was Friday and we found the streets with people already on the holiday mode. We made our scheduled bus journey to Navi Pier. Navy Pier is a 1,010 m long pier on the Chicago shoreline of Lake Michigan built in 1916. Built primarily as a cargo facility for lake freighters, it was also designed to accommodate warehouses and provide docking space for passenger excursion steamers. Latter on it became a major tourist hub with recreational facilities like picnicking areas, dining pavilions, a dance hall, auditorium, and children’s playground. Today the pier has a 46 m tall Ferris Wheel ( 15 storey tall), an IMAX theater with a seat capacity of 440 persons , the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Amazing Chicago’s Funhouse Maze, the Chicago Children’s Museum , the Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows along with fast-food kiosks and shops. In the large front lawn are numerous larger-than-life public art sculptures and an interactive animated fountain.
The pier continues to be used as an embarkation point for tour and excursion boats.
The Ferris wheel, named after George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr. a Pennsylvania bridge-builder provides a food view of the Lake Michigan and the Chicago skyline. The slow pace of movement of the wheel with each box having a seat capacity of four seats is a worth while ride for the $ 14 ticket.
Chicago Architectural boat tour; the tour starts from the Navi Pier and extends for about an hour. A guided tour in a boat which is mostly less crowded takes one through the river Chicago deep inside the town. One can see the landmarks of Chicago – 77 West Wacker Drive , Sears’s tower, Tribune Building, Trump International Hotel & Tower, Lake Point Tower, Marina City Towers, Carbide & Carbon Building, Smurfit-Stone Building, Park Tower, AT&T Corporate Center, John Hancock Center, Chase Tower, to name a few and numerous architectural landscapes during the boat tour. One of the most fascinating aspects of the tour is that one can see the Chicago Railways which passes beneath those giant building. The inhabitants of those buildings are not disturbed by the noise of the trains running underneath them. Also one can see the vehicles parked in the Marina City Towers. One has to pass under various iron bridges, numerous riverside cafes which makes the tour really a worth while visit. It is rightly said that a tour to Chicago is incomplete without the ‘Chicago Architectural boat tour.’
This 90-minute cruise highlights 53 historic and architecturally significant sites including: the Trump Tower, Merchandise Mart, 333 W. Wacker, the Wrigley Building, the Tribune Tower, the Sears Tower, River City, Marina City and the site of the Spire. Offered aboard Chicago’s First Lady Cruises, it is led by trained volunteer docents. Cruises depart from the lower level/southeast corner of the Michigan Ave Bridge at Wacker Dr. Individual tickets are available by phone at 312-902-1500, or online. Snacks/beverages may be purchased.
KMART is a departmental store more suitable for budget travelers like us for marketing.
Lake Michigan — the primary source of fresh water for the city is the fifth largest lake in the world. It is 494 km long, 190 km wide with a shoreline of 2,633 km. The lake’s average depth is 85 m with maximum depth of 281 m. The volume of water is 4,918 km³ and water surface is about 176 m above the sea level. It is believed that the French explorer Jean Nicolet was the first non-Native American to discover Lake Michigan in 1634 or 1638 and the first permanent settlement on the Lake Michigan shoreline was made in 1779 at the site of present-day Chicago by Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, who had been born in Santo Domingo.
In 1855, Chicago constructed the first comprehensive sewer system in the U.S. Chicago’s water and sewage systems were publicly managed, a model soon followed by other cities. In 1900 the problem of sewage was solved by reversing the direction of the River’s flow with the construction of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal leading to the Illinois River.
Weather -June to September is the best time to visit Chicago with temperatures ranging from 40 degree F to 90 degree F. From November to March winter starts and the temperature comes down with an average of 30 inches of snow.
Trivia: On December 2, 1942, the world’s first controlled nuclear reaction was conducted at the University of Chicago as part of the top secret Manhattan Project.
How to get there: Air India operates directs flights from Kolkata, New Delhi to Chicago. Jet Airways also has a flight to Chicago. All other major airlines have good connection to Chicago. One has the option for a direct flight or a stopover flight.