Second City

Well....second DAY in the city perhaps.

With a full day at our disposal, we took full advantage of our three-day pass and used a combination of walking and open-top buses to further explore Chicago. The light drizzle of the previous evening gave way to clear blue skies and sunshine. We started the day with 360 Chicago, a viewing area on the 94th floor of the John Hancock Building. Though not quite as high as the Skydeck on the 103rd floor at the Willis (formerly Sears) Tower, the 360 was closer and apparently not nearly as prone to long lineups. At that height....not sure you really notice the difference. Gorgeous panoramae of the city (and apparently three other States) in all directions.

We checked off "Chicago-style hot dog" from our epicurean manifesto at Downtown Dogs, on the recommendation of a local. Also very good. As luck would have it, the Irish Pub next door was owned by the same folks, so we washed them down with a crisp pint in late morning. For the record, it was past noon back home in Eastern Standard Time.

Appetites quenched, we set off to investigate more architecture, shopping, Millenium Park and Grant Park, full of happy people and sculptures and greenery. Similar to Central Park in New York (or so I would imagine), though Chicago has cleverly protected their waterfront from development and the green space is linked to the waterfront and They The People have access to it all. Very well done.

We were so impressed with the deep dish pizza, we thought we'd try another. A helpful gent at Rock Bottom Brewery recommended another place, extremely near to our hotel, so we opted for Pizzeria Due - that's "due" (doo-eh) as in two in Italian, not "due" as in "about damned time the pizza is ready". As good as Lou Malnati's had been, we had to give the nod to Due.....which we washed down with a growler of Rock Bottom Kolsch.

Navy Pier jutting into Lake Michigan

Looking south from the Hancock Building.....

....and to the North towards Wisconsin

A great pair!

Our hotel - the Inn of Chicago - from the Magnificent Mile

...and if you look closely 4 windows down on the left, there is Jane waving from our 18th floor room

Chicago River from Michigan Avenue bridge

Millennium Park fountains on a hot day

"The Bean", aka Cloud Gate sculpture - if you look closely, we're both in there!

Lots of park space even right downtown!

The famous "L" or elevated train snakes through downtown

Pizzeria Due - can you tell which half has no cheese?