This was our ragtag group heading toward the Sears Tower. Note the ubiquitous propeller hat.
Once we got there, we had to stand in line for about 45 minutes just to get to the elevator that went to the lower level of the Tower. Once there, we waited another 40 minutes to go through security before catching the elevator to the 103rd flower of the 108-story tower. We walked around the observation deck looking out on the city. Robert asked me to take a number of pictures for him that he had to have.
This one is of the DART trains, which he loves.
This is Lake Michigan, the Adler Planetarium, Shedd Aquarium, and the Field Museum of Natural History.
From the Tower, we could also see the Alexander Calder sculpture called the “Flamingo” down in Federal Center.
My favorite view was this one:
This is the Metropolitan Correctional Center.
Notice the dudes on top in their orange suits playing ball. Awesome. This building was designed in 1975 by Harry Weese, who also designed Arena Stage in DC and the Time-Life Building in Chicago.
This image shows the John Hancock Building on the left and the Trump Tower on the right. Oversight of the Trump Tower’s construction was the grand prize for the first winner of The Apprentice.
This is the view northward. I love the skyline of this city.
At this point, we decided that it was time to check out the Ledge. The Ledge is a series of three recently-opened glass boxes that jut out from the 103rd floor of the Willis (Sears) Tower. The line was quite long. We waited about a half hour while a bunch of ninnies took copious pictures of their friends and kids on the Ledge. Kathleen and I wondered if Dave would get on the Ledge. He stood in the line with us and was ready to go out there with us…until it came to be our turn. Then, he chickened out.
It was pretty neat, but I was never alarmed by the height above the street (1353 feet). That’s never been one of my phobias. If it wasn’t going to collapse two inches off the street, then there’s no reason it would collapse 103 stories in the sky. We all found it pretty nifty.
In the lobby of the Sears Tower, we found yet another Calder, but this one was one of his famous mobiles, called "Universe."
Since we had seen the amazing view from the top down, we needed to spend some time looking up from the bottom.
At that point, it was really time for Dave and me to get back to the house and pack up all our cares and woes to head to Detroit. My Aunt Yvonne and Uncle John awaited us there. We arrived a little after 10 pm having forgotten that Detroit is NOT on Central Time. D’oh! My poor aunt and uncle stayed up really late to meet with us and catch up. It was quite delightful.
Dave and I finally went to bed on the pull-out in the living room around 2am.
No comments:
Post a Comment