Wednesday 1st November
Finally, it was November and the FINAL full day of this trip. We actually still have a full week to go, but the nature of the trip will change quite dramatically for the next 6-7 days. Let’s focus on the City in hand before we Jet off early tomorrow for a completely different kind of pace.
Today was full-on Sightseeing as we try and squeeze as much juice out of our 2-Day Go City Chicago Pass as possible. We started the day off with our complimentary breakfast once again in the Ventuex restaurant downstairs. Today we chose some AMAZING French Toast and the irresistible Confit Duck and Waffles. The French toast was huge and came as two large thick fluffy slices of Brioche Loaf served with lashings of jam, roasted pumpkin seeds, and peanut butter. The Duck was super crispy and fell off the bone like all good Confit and came with a huge Waffle drenched in Syrup. An amazing way to kick off the day.
Hop On Hop Off Bus Tour – $54
The first attraction was the Hop On Hop Off Bus Tour. Part Tour, Part transport we love these fun little rides around the City, and while we usually wince at the prices charged, with the pass they always feel great. You get to see the City from a nice vantage point, get an interesting narration, and get transport to and from certain locations and attractions in the City.
The Tours do one large loop and you can hop off at various attractions and then back on to ride along to the next. They are not always the best form of transport and you can end up waiting a while for a bus, but they are pretty regular and as they are literally taking you to the exact locations you want to visit you get a really good tour of the City when used with the Go City Pass.
We planned on using this yesterday as they are great for orientating yourself in the City, but as it snowed we figured we would pass. This was a good choice as despite being pretty frigid today, barely above freezing, it was bright, clear, and gloriously sunny.
The Tour starts off just next to our Hotel by the DuSable Bridge, East Wacker and Michigan. We arrived promptly at 9 but the bus did not immediately show up. We assumed this was due to the off-season and sure enough one arrived eventually. The route starts off following East Wacker Drive along the River before the first stop at The Willis Tower. Here we Hopped off for our Next Attraction.
Skydeck Chicago – $50
The Willis Tower, formally the Sears Tower named after the now-defunct Retail Empire, is essentially the second tallest building in the country, and the tallest observation deck in the Western Hemisphere. It’s a stunning building that towers over the Chicago Skyline in a really imposing manner especially due to the rest of the skyline’s quite low-rise nature.
The Big Bus Tour dropped us right outside and we headed in, sing the Pass to get us straight to the top. The Highest Observation Deck in America offers a seriously stunning view of the City. Lake Michigan was glorious as the Blue waters shimmered under the clear blue skies.
The sun was blazing offering a pretty harsh light, making photography pretty challenging, especially through the reflective windows, the reason we much prefer outdoor decks. But the view from this height was still stunning as you look down on the myriad of towering buildings, still with a smattering of yesterday’s snow. The Views up and down the coast of Lake Michigan are truly inspiring. We love the New York Skyline from Above, but the Chicago Skyline has much more contrast and is overall a more aesthetically pleasing picture.
It seems it’s not enough to simply have a fantastic observation Deck these days, you need a gimmick as well and some of these are pretty poor. The Tilt at the 360 Chicago we visited yesterday is one such poor gimmick. At the Skydeck, this gimmick is the Ledge, and this is MUCH more worthwhile.
While the Tilt is a paid extra, access to the ledge is free, and they have a GREAT system for accessing the Ledge. You simply Queue, and then the agent assigns you a “Ledge”, and you can do as you please for a set amount of time in your own little space. We got exactly 5 minutes of time in the box, with the Agent only coming along to offer to take any photos for us. It’s great to have your own little alone time to make content without any pressure and without anyone watching over you! Once your time is up, if you want more time, you can simply join the back of the queue and have another slot. While we were there the queue was only 3/4 groups deep, so we could have as much time in the Ledge as we pleased. Even on Busy days, it would be well worth the queue for your 5 mins of time “On The Ledge”
What the Ledge is, is basically a Glass box bolted onto the side of the Building. And that’s about it. The glass floor gives way to 1,353 feet of air to the pavement below. This gives you endless possibilities for envy-inducing selfies and photo possibilities. We loved our time in the Box just trying out shots and making “clever” content.
We spent around and hour at the top before heading back down, grabbing a coffee, and hopping back onto the Big Bus to carry on with the tour.
The Next leg was a little tedious. The route here zigzags through downtown Chicago and was a little slow due to traffic. The Guide pointed out several interesting landmarks before the bus finally exited the City Center out onto the Freeway and off towards the Museum Campus. This is why we had wanted to use the tour yesterday as we would have hopped off here but the thought of an open-top bus in the snow was not a pleasant one. Even today, with the sun blazing, it was freezing cold up top, but still really exhilarating.
We didn’t hop off at the Museum Camps other than to grab a few shots of the Shoreline Vista and instead carried on to the Next Stop Navy Pier.
Shoreline Architecture River Cruise – $54.49
At Navy Pier, there are usually many options for shoreline cruises and River Cruises, but due to the adverse weather and late season, most trips were not operating. Infact we were pretty limited to options. In the end, we went with Shoreline Cruises and their Architecture River Crusie. This was only 1.5 hours and runs right u the Chicago River taking in some of the best sights in the City.
The Cruise was not for another 45 minutes so we spent some time just exploring the pier and getting some wonderful views of the City. Returning about 10 minutes before the cruise to ensure a good position on the boat.
The Cruise was really wonderful. We sat right up front near the narrator who regaled us with tales and information about the various buildings that line the waterways. There was some history, some architecture and design talk, and some pop culture such as filming locations. It was a great talk and along with some of the most stunning vistas in the City, we have to recommend this as one of the MUST do’s in the city.
There was a full bar on board, although we resisted, and just relaxed as the boat sailed along. The only downside was the really cold temperatures. This would be much more pleasant a little earlier in the year or around spring. However, it was not as cold as it could have been with the daytime temps now up towards 45°f (8°c).
The Boat finally returned to the pier, offering the final stunning views of the Lakeside Skyline. We hopped off and headed over to the pier’s attraction areas.
Navy Pier Ferris Wheel – $51 ($22)
The Pass includes a ride on the Ferris Wheel and three other rides, valued at a whopping $51. However, due to time constraints and some rides being closed due to the season, we opted to just take a ride on the wheel. So rather than $51 this was worth just $22 each.
The Wheel is the latest Navy Pier Ferris wheel and is built in the location of the only real Ferris Wheel ever built. The Ferris wheel was created here by George Ferris Jr for the 1893 World’s Fair. The Centennial Wheel is a touch smaller than the original but still towers nearly 200ft over Lake Michigan and give stunning views of the City.
You get several laps around the loop in the enclosed cars with incredible views. The light was stunning with the low winter sun colored by a little high altitude cloud, with the lake glowing under the towering skyscrapers.
A really wonderful experience.
From here we got back onto the Bus to head back towards the City Center. We hopped off at the Water Tower in the center of the Magnificent Mile as we wanted to do a touch of shopping and check out the Holy Name Cathedral, featured in the Miricle on 34th Street Movie.
We arrived at a pretty awkward time as the congregation was just arriving for mass so we just popped in and grabbed a couple of photos. A Beautiful church.
Mobsters and Haunted Mysteries of Chicago Walking Tour – $34 – Cancelled
For the Evening we had booked onto the Mobsters and Haunted Mysteries of Chicago Walking Tour which we were really looking forward to, however, we received an E-Mail saying the tour would not be going ahead due to low participant numbers. They offered us the chance to reschedule, but we were leaving tomorrow so this was not an option. Pretty annoying.
And on this low note, we kind of called time on the trip. We grabbed some quick fast food and headed back to the hotel to grab some final drinks with our resort credit at the hotel and then headed back to the room to organize and prepare for the departure tomorrow which would be bright and early.
Go City Chicago All-Inclusive 2-Day Pass – Running Total
- Attractions Today – 4
- Total Attractions – 7
- Attractions Cost – $177
- Running Total – Day 2 of 2: $293.49
- Cost Of Pass – $170
- Savings – $123.49
Honestly, we are pretty disappointed with our savings. Nearly 50% is really nothing to be sniffed at and we should be pretty impressed with this, we certainly saved money and saw a lot more of the City than we would have without the Pass. However, we just know we could have saved more. Some of this was the weather, some due to the fact attractions were slowing down for the season, and some due to time constraints and us doing other things.
We were annoyed the Mobster Walking Tor canceled on us as we could have planned something else, plus, we really wanted to do the tour, and we did not get full value out of the Navy Pier, there were also some fun speed boat tours we wanted to do but were not operating due to the weather and late time of year.
Overall we would have got much better value out of the pass if we had used it during the warmer months, but even so, we got a lot out of it. With Day 1, packing in some amazing Museums and Day 2 being a real sightseeing day. Also, another day would have only cost an extra $30 and we would have saved even more if we had another day in the City to do more.
Still, we had an amazing time with the Pass we saw so much of the City in our 2-day blitz of the sights. The snow was always going to cause issues and we were actually pretty lucky to get a beak on Day 1 to head up the 360 Chicago.
Like always when we use these Passes we feel we got an amazing overall experience. It truly opened up the City and we got to see more and pay less, which is how we normally feel when using a Go City Pass.
Our in-depth review can be found here, along with our Promo Codes so you can save even more!
Walking Total – 15,188 Steps – 7.8 Miles
Because we used the Big Bus Hop On Hop Off bus we saved quite a lot in steps today. The tour took us to all the major spots in the City and kept walking to a minimum.
Next UP! – Wilmington North Carolina!
Tomorrow we hop on a plane and head South. Chasing the sun and the last of the warm weather. We get out of the snow and onto the beach.
<<< Day 14 – Chicago – Sightseeing in the Snow – Halloween Parade
Week 3 – Wilmington North Carolina >>>
