Midnight riding in my old two-seater rolling down the boulevard
Headlights shining on rusty fences as I pass the rail yard
Black leather jacket on a Friday night
Fire up the lighter and a Lucky Strike
The radio’s saying “take a walk on the wild side”
And it’s got me feeling like
Oh, oh, oh
Go wide open it’s a pedal down kind of a thing
Little bit of Motown smooth
A little bit of Memphis Blues
A sea of emotion raining all over me
Give me that heart and that soul
American rock ‘n roll
– Kid Rock
Thursday 1 June, 2023
First off, need to say Happy birthday Mike Alley. Always a pleasure to be here for your birthday, thanks for some fun times already this week, with more to come.
A big day today after my customary morning walk, this time around Wheaton College. We did something extremely touristy in honour of Elias’ first time in Chicago. We drove downtown, parked at Navy Pier and walked back along the Chicago River to the Wendella Cruises wharf near the iconic Wrigley Building and got on a boat to do a 90-minute cruise up the Chicago River and then out through the lock into Lake Michigan.
The weather, as you can see from the photos littered across this post above and below (apologies if it’s photo overload, there were so many good vistas out there today!), was spectacular. I can’t remember seeing the city in such spectacular fashion as this. We were very lucky for that, and for how the temperature drops a few degrees out on Lake Michigan, because it was pretty warm downtown. Lots of sunscreen and water required.
The ninety minutes flew by. Our guide was very entertaining, and had us in stitches when he wasn’t passing on interesting factoids about the city, the river and the lake. I could have cruised around the lake enjoying the views of the Chicago skyline for much longer. Wendella is great. This was the third time I’ve done one of their cruises – a Chicago River-only architecture cruise in 2015 and an evening fireworks cruise in 2016 – and they have always been good value. There are lots of companies doing a similar thing, departing from various locations on the river or lake, but Wendella, at least in my (admittedly-limited) experience, is the best.
We had a pizza lunch (or spaghetti, for me) at the Lou Malnati’s flagship restaurant underneath the Wrigley Building then walked back to Navy Pier, and rode both the iconic ferris wheel that offers stunning views of Chicago and the lake from 100ft in the air, and the chair swings, which were a lot of fun as well.
Finished the day with a nice walk down to Wheaton to check out the Cream of Wheaton show that is happening across the weekend. Picture an Easter Show-type carnival with food and entertainment as well. I’ve been a few times before over the years, and it’s a fun time. Pretty sure we’ll be down there tomorrow night with the Weller’s as well. A really fun day.
kitchtrips 