Wel ove going to the city. Unfortunately we live in the suburbs, about seventeen miles away. We can't get out to the city as much as we want to. Because of that, we set ourselves a goal to visit a specific place or venue, and go for it.
This sunday we decided that the weather was beautiful enough to visit what is called the Museum Campus in the Chicago's south Loop. There are three landmarks in the close proximity to the each other. Fields Museum of Natural History, the Shedd Aquarium, Adler Planetarium and Soldier (not Soldier's) Field. Having experienced Natural History Museum with a three-year-old, which was less than a success, we've decided to go the Aquarium. We go there couple of times every year, The Little One loves it, the fishes, the dolphins, shows, everything is great.
This time around we were a bit dissapointed. Unknown to us, there was a reconstruction project in the dolphonarium (is that a word?), so there were no dolphins. The cast of the Aquarium decided to replace it wish a Dog Show! trying to draw parallels between dolphin traning and dog training. The show was lame, but from a standpoint of a 4-year-old it was awesome, which is really what counts in the end.
One of the great things in the Shedd right now is the Wild Reef exhibition. They have a great number of sharks, giant turtles and all sorts of rays. The Little One was glued to the glass the whole time.
The weather was nice, and I've decided to take pictures of the shoreline and give a little tour of Downtown Chicago, South Loop area. All of the pictures are taken from the Museum Campus area.
The first picture is the Soldier Field taken from the main entrance of Fields Museum, and yes those VIP box do seem to hang in the air.
This is the picutre of the Aquarium itself. There is a strange statue of a boy holding a fish in front.
Next is the Fields Museum main entrance, although blocked by trees.
The next set of pictures is the shoreline. The first is the Navy Pier, with the Ferris Wheel on the left. The ships in the harbor go for tours in the summer season
Go left (westward from the lake) is the next picture. The first black building is The Lakepoint Tower, loking like a three leaf boomerang from the top. The second black building is where I and The Awesome Wife met for the first time.
Moving further west we see the Blue Cross Blue Shield building being reconstrcuted( they acutally doubling it in height, the Aon/Amoco building (the one that looks like one of the World Trade Centers) the Prudential Building (the blue letters and the pointy roof which are one building). Next is the Smirfit building (sliced at the angle) and the finished Trum Tower (rounded tall buildinig). I used to work for the several years in the Aon building on the 47th floor, the views are breathtaking.
Going further west and a bit south, we can see the Sears Tower (now Willis Tower), the CNA building and the Loop buildings. The building with 4 antennas is the At&T corporate center. An the building with the round crown does not have a name but 311 South Wacker drive. I think it has a rotating restaurant on top of it.
The last picture is what the south loop is like this days, cleaned-up with a lot of new expensive construction in place.
That is all folks. Next time we go to the city, I'll post more pictures.
This sunday we decided that the weather was beautiful enough to visit what is called the Museum Campus in the Chicago's south Loop. There are three landmarks in the close proximity to the each other. Fields Museum of Natural History, the Shedd Aquarium, Adler Planetarium and Soldier (not Soldier's) Field. Having experienced Natural History Museum with a three-year-old, which was less than a success, we've decided to go the Aquarium. We go there couple of times every year, The Little One loves it, the fishes, the dolphins, shows, everything is great.
This time around we were a bit dissapointed. Unknown to us, there was a reconstruction project in the dolphonarium (is that a word?), so there were no dolphins. The cast of the Aquarium decided to replace it wish a Dog Show! trying to draw parallels between dolphin traning and dog training. The show was lame, but from a standpoint of a 4-year-old it was awesome, which is really what counts in the end.
One of the great things in the Shedd right now is the Wild Reef exhibition. They have a great number of sharks, giant turtles and all sorts of rays. The Little One was glued to the glass the whole time.
The weather was nice, and I've decided to take pictures of the shoreline and give a little tour of Downtown Chicago, South Loop area. All of the pictures are taken from the Museum Campus area.
The first picture is the Soldier Field taken from the main entrance of Fields Museum, and yes those VIP box do seem to hang in the air.
This is the picutre of the Aquarium itself. There is a strange statue of a boy holding a fish in front.
Next is the Fields Museum main entrance, although blocked by trees.
The next set of pictures is the shoreline. The first is the Navy Pier, with the Ferris Wheel on the left. The ships in the harbor go for tours in the summer season
Go left (westward from the lake) is the next picture. The first black building is The Lakepoint Tower, loking like a three leaf boomerang from the top. The second black building is where I and The Awesome Wife met for the first time.
Moving further west we see the Blue Cross Blue Shield building being reconstrcuted( they acutally doubling it in height, the Aon/Amoco building (the one that looks like one of the World Trade Centers) the Prudential Building (the blue letters and the pointy roof which are one building). Next is the Smirfit building (sliced at the angle) and the finished Trum Tower (rounded tall buildinig). I used to work for the several years in the Aon building on the 47th floor, the views are breathtaking.
Going further west and a bit south, we can see the Sears Tower (now Willis Tower), the CNA building and the Loop buildings. The building with 4 antennas is the At&T corporate center. An the building with the round crown does not have a name but 311 South Wacker drive. I think it has a rotating restaurant on top of it.
The last picture is what the south loop is like this days, cleaned-up with a lot of new expensive construction in place.
That is all folks. Next time we go to the city, I'll post more pictures.
Comments
Great pics! You can't see it in any of those, but I worked at 150 S. Wacker Drive for a couple years on the 27th floor. It was always impressive to look out the windows during a summer storm and be in the cloud. The best thing about that job? That it was directly across the river from Union Station
Matt, it did kinda suck that I would have to walk from Aon center to the Union Station. Although in the nice weather it was always great.