Chicago. The single name says a lot. If someone hears the name, at least one thing will come to mind. Navy Pier? The Chicago Bears? The beautiful buildings? Pretty harbor? Well, yesterday, on October 13th, we came into, the Windy City.
On the ride, I had read Sun Tzu's The Art of War which is about war tactics and army moving. It was written 2,400 years ago, but people still use Sun Tzu's methods in sports, politics, business, and other things. But before we left, we actually got videos onto the iMovie! Yea!
On the road though, we saw that it (Chicago) was much, much bigger than Milwaukee and Atlanta. It also had a different air to it; I can't exactly describe it though.
We saw a lot of apartments, with balconies and fire escapes, and red brick design. We saw a lot of bustling cars and we saw also skyscrapers touching the sky. It took us less than a few minutes in traffic to get to the main city, and even when we were far away we saw the velocity of it. It was all city, and very, very crowded. We were stuck in the midday rush, where all workers and office men and women were pushing to get lunch. We also saw the Sears Building, and a whole other score of office buildings and clothing and design. We saw a building with 56 different kinds of sewing machines, and a goldish building with a watch on it. There were many many different kinds of architecture, but I was in for a whole lot more.
Chicago was beautiful and dazzling, not to mention big. And as we toured this mid western wonder, I was all eyes and cam (video cam, that is). When we parked in a parking garage on the thirteenth floor, Rebecca and I were very excited. Mom and Dad said we were going to eat lunch, and then go on the Navy Pier, and we might even go on a boat ride.
We got out of the parking garage, and then came into the city, going across pedestrian walks and getting closer to the pier. We finally went through a park and got by the water. Many boats were out, ranging from sizes of big to small. On the right of them, was a wide long walkway and many buildings and restaurants, and a big red and white Ferris wheel looming up behind them. It was really beautiful right on the water like that.
We ate at Harry Caray's, and when done we looked at the boat ride ticket booth. The next available boat ride was at 3:15, and incidentally it was exactly 2:15, and the available boat just left. We didn't buy tickets right at that moment, but we walked down the pier some more and saw a theater and other stuff. It was cool to see all the sailboats on the water of Lake Michigan. We got Mom a visor to block off the sun, and then got tickets and waited on a bench til the boat would come back. We got tickets for the architectural tour, where you see all of the buildings and you go through a river. It also has a speedboat part where it goes really fast and water splashes up. The boat we would be going on would be the Sea Dog.
Pretty soon only ten minutes remained for us to get on this open air yellow vessel with a cockpit at the back on top of you. It was not very long, not too big, and there was only one floor. After waiting in line, we walked in, and came into this threshold sort of thing where the captain cockpit is above you acting as a roof. If you walked further, you would come into the seating part, with the rows of chairs and the open air. There was a railing all around the little ship. The family and I showed our tickets, then got into four seats, with Rebecca at the window (well, I guess you can call it a window. It was really the open air.) Dad by her, Mom one seat forward them, and me with Mom by the window. A big mountain man introduced two young ladies as the captain and first mate, and then he introduced himself as Trooper. He did the routine safety rules, and then said whoever is "pregnant on this boat, congratulations! But get off." or "This is a speedboat ride, if you don't want to get wet, get off the boat." Or maybe even "Fasten your seatbelts. We don't want you in the lake." But anyway, after all these rules and regulations, the boat started off.
From this point, we went into a water lock, where the water lowered and we went through into the river. Trooper told us a great history lesson about the history of it, but by and by I started looking at all the buildings. It really was a nice picture, with all the buildings. One stuck to my eye though. It was a silver building with three curves, one facing the ocean, one left, and one right. They were like an oval that had a hump through the middle making it go two sides. It really did look cool.
Once we got out of the lock, Trooper told us about this building, saying it was designed by some guy (he said the name, I just forget) and twenty five years after his death his students made it for him. The curves were supposed to make the wind turn right so it wouldn't hit the building. Kind of cool.
We saw a bridge that a hobo lived in for four years before he was caught. He had tapped into the system and had a T.V., a microwave, a couch, and a game station. It was so funny.
When we got into the river, we saw all kinds of buildings. There was a building built in the prohibition era shaped like a whiskey bottle, and a building called the reflector which had grey at the bottom (side walk) green in the middle (river) and blue at the top (sky). It was built to make people look around them at the things they take for granted.
We saw a building built to look like the Sphinx, and one built to look like a throne chair which a man made for his wife, an opera singer. We also saw the Sears Tower, a colossal marvel of the city. Over things we saw included water front restaurents, hotels, old brick buildings, and offices. While he (Trooper) was talking, I was enjoying the breese of the windy city, and the green of the water. It was a kind of green like grass, but darker and more blue. It was so cool seeing all these skyscrapers, and it was beautiful also. I enjoyed it a lot.
As we returned back to the pier, I was very sad. But, the ride was not over yet. "Please secure all items and get buckled up. Now is the speedboat portion. You're gonna get wet.
I got my jacket on, and then I prepared for the worst. Music came on, and the Sea Dog zipped across the water into the horizon. It was so nice seeing the shoreline of Chicago, and very beautiful altogether. The waves came up high, and the wind on my face was very cold. After 15 minutes out there, we came back to the pier and hooked up. It was a wonderful ride, and Trooper got his tip.
Back on the pier, Dad said we were going on the ferris wheel. :(
END OF PART ONE!!!!!!!!!!!
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