Chicago - Boat Tour

We took a boat tour along the Chicago River to see all the different skyscrapers.  Not something we would have thought of doing on our own but when hanging out with Chas and his buddies the night before they collectively said it would be one of the coolest things to do.  And it was.  Speaking of the night before; we got to meet some of Chas' friends and we had a great time.  We met Amy, Enzy (sp?), Paulie, and Jack.  Paulie and Jack are straight from Ireland.  I don't think I've heard more cursing ever.  Paulie used all kinds of great words as part of his normal conversation.  Fun time.  We also met Ann the next night.

The boat tour offered a persective not possible from the street side.  The tour guide fed us so much good information that it is hard to remember everything now.  She credited the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 with wiping out the area and providing a blank slate for architects to build a city.  Becasue of advancements structurally, the architects were able to start building taller buildings with steel.  The city went on a building tear for the 1893 World Fair.  Dan Burnham was instrumental in getting the city ready for the fair so he was given the reins on developing a master plan for the city called the Plan of 1909 (?).  Much of the city is still in line with this plan.

The boat tour also provided a great view of the numerous moveable bridges. There are 38 active moveable bridges and they had over 50 originally. Beautiful structures.