Chicago - the fun begins

We flew in Sunday (21st) from OKC, taking many future Skywatch photo's en route and enjoying an uneventful flight, the best kind!

The first excitement of the trip, me sighting an IKEA store for the first time in four years, ahhh urban civilisation was impending!

Arriving downtown by 10am and checking into our hotel, which was 1 block off the Magnificent Mile and superbly placed. We then spent Sunday walking the immediate area, grabbing a few essentials at Trader Joe's next door, acclimatising and then an early night. Oh and we did squeeze in a little SHOPPING :-) I got a new pair of Nike trainers and the Hubster got to see every Garmin GPS in existence at their flagship store and make a handheld investment. So we are now a family of him, me, 3 cats and 3 Garmin GPS. One for each of them to navigate at home!

Next morning we enjoyed breakfast downtown at a recommended sidewalk eaterie, those Omelets were delicious and before you go "ewwww snot", that's Guacamole in mine!

The Hubster was looking like a local with his 'Chicago Cubs' cap and enjoying traffic watching, a rarity for him. We had pre-purchased a 'Go Chicago' 5 day pass each, which gets you into all the main attractions and to skip the line at the busiest. So we kinda had a plan, although it often changed based on aching feet or heat exposure. We also had 7 day CTA passes, that allowed us unlimited bus and train travel.

We then with trusty map in hand, walked to the Ogden Slip admiring the skyscrapers en route, to catch the Architectural Cruise riverboat.

It was 10am and already very HOT & HUMID, as we set off along the Chicago River through downtown. We were early enough to miss the later crowded tours and had an excellent guide who talked non-stop for an hour and then sang.

This is definitely a neck craning tour, as most of the riverside buildings are stunningly tall. They were really beautiful glinting in the sunlight and it was hard to know where to look!

This was taken at the point where the river splits north and south, we both loved the reflections of one skyscraper in another, just stunning. This building was also curved to follow the bend of the river on this side, but flat on the street side.

The Hubster had taken on the role of videographer for the holiday, and I just left him to it as he does a great job.

One of the stunning things about Chicago is the comparison of the old and new. Here are two of the oldest and most famous buildings, the Wrigley building on the left and the Chicago Tribune on the right.

I was in charge of photography, which is why this is a rare appearance by me in the pictures and will be less with each day. But here I am wearing my dearly departed Ralph Lauren sunglasses I was lamenting the loss of last week!

There's the Sears Tower standing proud, an impressive sight at 1700ft including antenna, although it was pretty hazy weather the first two days.

This petal design skyscraper was very cool. At the very top are apartments, then offices, then this slightly disconcerting car park, then shops and restaurants, and finally boats docked below - a complete lifestyle package!

The Centennial Fountain shoots water into the air every hour, except in the rush hour, when it's considered too much of a distraction to passing traffic !

A final view looking back down the river, the Trump Tower is the tallest blue skyscraper in the middle and a real stunner, The Donald did good with it.

We headed to Navy Pier and jumped on a Water Taxi across Lake Michigan to our next stop. I was happy to be back on water and the lake does a great impression of the sea, it even smells like it!

The view as we left Navy Pier, of the first ever famous Ferris Wheel and some of the cruise boats you can catch from here.

This was where we really began to appreciate the beauty of Chicago, that skyline is just stunning fronting onto the lake.

I was in heaven, I think Brits have water running partially in their veins and this was like a long cool drink after being parched.

The skyline is so interesting to look at, there are so many differing styles of buildings and even the rooflines are eyecatching.

It was seriously hot by now (just before noon) and despite Factor 85 sunscreen, we were both colouring up and glad for a breeze!

These are some very expensive boat berths in the foreground and there were some very ritzy rides out there.

The very impressive sight of the Field Museum from the lake, currently running a big pirates exhibit, hence the external decoration. This area is known as the Museum Campus, due to the presence of 3 big museums on this peninsula of land.

And our next destination was the John G Shedd Aquarium, with over 32,500 animals representing 1,500 species and amazing live coral reefs.

My favourite display was this Jellyfish tank, fab' from the outside!

The coral in the Philippines section was also stunningly beautiful and teeming with brightly coloured reef fish.

The Mick Jagger of the aquatic world! We never saw a dead or sickly looking animal in a single tank, it's quite a place.

I loved these sparkly fishes, until we noticed they were Piranha!

Also thought Mr. Dragon Iguana here was wonderful, strangely I have no fear of these and would have loved to have got up close and personal with him.

This however is another matter and may just be the worlds largest Snapper Turtle, a native to Texas and NW Okieland EEK! A man standing looking at him made us crack up laughing when he spotted it was a 'Texas Snapper Turtle'. His comment "well wouldn't you just know he's from Texas, they always have to go bigger don't they"!

The infinity pool is home to the 'shy' Beluga Whales and has stunning views across the lake towards the Planetarium.

We stopped for a very nice lunch with a view to make you smile.

We also got sight of a local high speed thrill ride, the Seadog.

Then it was back out into the stifling heat and humidity, where we took a few more picturesque shots, what a view!

The Segway Tour is a pretty cool way to see the city we thought.

The 'Tall Ship Windy' setting sail, we did have this included with our 'Go Chicago' card, but decided on other options as I do not have sea-legs, but it was an impressive sight.

A weary and hot walk through lovely Grant Park, to catch the bus back to our part of downtown.

Then a stroll along the Magnificent Mile rounded out our day.

And it seemed only right to enjoy Sushi for supper, after all that water and aquatic activity all day!

The tour continues tomorrow, with the Hancock Tower, Millenium Park and the Bean, and a visit with a fave blogger.