Look at me all turned about…

A Marvelous Monday Post on Throwback Thursday?!  What can you do?

My suggestion…just sit back and enjoy the ride!  And maybe pack a poncho : )

Day 4 of the whirlwind wedding weekend (no I don’t appear to be going in order) found me and 6 family members braving the wet Chicago weather on a city adventure.  First stop…Millennium Park!

Although we drove down in a thunderstorm, the skies were clear and dry when we emerged from underground parking.   We doffed our rain gear and headed straight for the huge, silver bean.  Most of my relatives are east coasters and have never seen the bean, but we all oohed and ahhed like tourists while taking selfies of our reflections.

 

And trying to get the perfect view of the Chicago skyline!

Since the rain seemed to be subsiding, we decided to walk up to Navy Pier in hopes of doing an Architecture Boat Tour.  We were sidelined on one occasion due to a quick storm where we all huddled under the trees.  Then proceeded on to the pier.

 

When we arrived, the sun looked like it was trying to peak through the clouds, so we took our chances with a boat tour.  The selling points…we all got the senior discount (including me) and if it rained, we were promised FREE PONCHOS!

Which we needed immediately upon boarding the boat.  With huge rain drops pouring down, our boat tour began…and ended.  We seriously rode in a 360 degree circle before returning to the pier due to mechanical issues.  The issues were quickly sorted out and the sun really did emerge just as we pulled away for the second time.  With foresight, I brought my waterproof camera, so I was able to capture the entire ordeal on film.

In all my years living in Chicago, I have never done the architectural tour, so I was really excited (and willing to brave the rain) to give it a go.

The tour definitely lived up to my expectations.  The history of Chicago is so interesting and to view the historic buildings from the river is incredible!

It’s like a whole another world down there!  Chicago is working hard to build up and recapture the river front, and I can see why!  If you ever find yourself in Chicago, make sure to add this to your list of things you must see and do!

To me, the most interesting part was learning about the different eras of architecture and how that shaped the look and feel of the city.

By the end of the tour, we’d see the last of the rain.  We found a place on the pier to eat lunch and walked down to the end before making our way back to Millennium Park.

By the end of the day, we had walked over 6 miles and created plenty of new memories and stories to share!