Don't ever let me schedule anything! It hasn't worked in the past and advancing age hasn't made it any better.
We had originally planned to take the train from Charlottesville to Chicago to meet the cruise. I got confused over dates and reserved the train for "Thursday," 28 May to get us to Chicago on the 29th. Except that (1) the train reservation was for WEDNESDAY, the 27th, which (2) would have gotten us to Chicago on the 28th, a day before the start of the program.
When we showed up at the train station on the Thursday, we found that the train was long gone. It doesn't run on Thursdays. Luckily, we were able to snag the last two seats on United from Charlottesville to Chicago, to arrive in time. Amtrak has agreed to give us a credit for the cost of the tickets. It looks like a trip to Florida on the AutoTrain to visit our siblings may be in our near future.
The bad news didn't stop there. I had pre-paid for a tour of Frank Lloyd Wright structures for the 30th and I was dismayed to find out that there were no plans for that excursion. It was not well advertised and I assume there were not enough folks signed up.
With this rocky start, the holiday had nowhere else to go but up!
With the cancellation of the Frank Lloyd Wright excursion, Jim and I both took the included architectural river tour. We had taken this same tour on our previous visit to Chicago in 2019, so I only took pictures of different things this time.
Chicago has long been an innovator in architecture and is called by some the birthplace of the skyscraper.
Our tour was on a large diesel powered boat. This people-powered boat tour provided by Chicago Boat Tours would have been better exercise. (The information at the link says that cycling is not necessary, but these folks were pedaling away with vigor.)
Chicago is famous for its moveable bridges with most being the Chicago style bascule. This one is being repaired.
On our last visit I became interested in the bridge tenders' houses. Check out the various styles I captured.
In addition to the Chicago Riverwalk, along the main branch of the Chicago River, all new development on the riverfront is required to provide pedestrian access. Even these expensive townhouses have public space in front of them where folks can jog, walk their dogs, and otherwise enjoy the river.
When the old Montgomery Ward offices and warehouses were converted to office space and condos, they also had to be modified to provide walkways. In this instance, the first floors of the buildings were pushed back to open up sidewalks.
The Chicago River at one time was not a waterway to be proud of. Raw sewage, industrial pollution, offal from the packing houses, and dead animals created a noxious cesspool. Today the river has been largely cleaned up to the extent that it is a desirable place to be and recreational uses are expanding. But swimming? Not so fast.
The north and south branches of the river meet at the Wolf Point confluence. This is the place where Chicago was born.
As our tour proceeded down the south branch of the river we met this tow headed to the industrial areas on the north branch. In defiance of the many "no wake" signs, the tow is flying upstream with its load of sand. We were warned to brace ourselves while our boat rocked as it passed.
The decommissioned Union Station Powerhouse was the extent of our exploration of the south branch. It was on the "Chicago 7 Most Endangered List" in 2020.
As our Chicago River cruise returned to the main branch of the river, we got a glimpse of our cruise ship, Victory II, docked and waiting for our arrival at the Navy Pier. Our luggage was already aboard by this time.
Looking back toward the Chicago skyline from the edge of Lake Michigan. Many of these buildings are residential.
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