Welcome To Chicago!
America’s third largest city, nicknamed “The Windy City”, sits on the largest of the “great lakes”, Lake Michigan.
This view south from high atop the John Hancock building shows the beauty of downtown Chicago – and that’s Indiana off in the distance, and I was lucky enough to live in this great city for 5 years…oh, and if you look north from the same spot, you see Chicago’s Lakeshore drive as it hugs Lake Michigan:
“Six Shot Saturday” Visits The Windy City!
For this edition of “Six Shot Saturday”, I’ve chosen a few unique things about Chicago to focus on – beginning with some of the incredible shots you can get of the city AND the lake:
You can walk along Lakeshore Drive for miles – and the further north you go, the more playful the downtown skyline becomes…there are certain times of the year when this path is closed due to waves crashing ashore…here’s proof:
They didn’t seem to mind, but those waves can be dangerous!
Along with nature’s beauty, Chicago is renowned for its architecture – perhaps none more famous that these two:
The “Corn Cobs”!
These twin, 65-story apartment towers are known as Marina City – designed by architect Bertrand Goldberg. They opened in the mid-sixties, an attempt to promote downtown living – and it worked!
They are one of the most fascinating sites on the Chicago River…which you can walk along for miles as well, which could make you hungry for a Chicago meal like this one:
Chicago Deep Dish Pizza!
This slice of heaven is courtesy of Lou Malnati’s, one of the great Chicago pizza palaces. Another of our favorites is Giordano’s – the rule for deep dish is a thick crust, “toppings” and cheese in the middle, and red sauce on top…as delicious as it looks!
Another iconic aspect of Chicago life:
Yes, the trains in Chicago are below AND above ground!
The trains are clean, they run on time, and the tracks give the street an artistic look – this one is on Wells street, close to the Merchandise Mart, a building that is so big it once had its own zip code!
The Merchandise Mart is the second largest building in the US after The Pentagon, takes up an entire city block and sits on the Chicago River, which flows OUT of the lake! Yes, thanks to a decision to reverse the flow in order not to pollute the lake, engineers reverse the water flow, which meant that it headed down the river to St. Louis, who famously sued the city about it once – but it’s all good now!
The Chicago River is gorgeous, and continues its renovation, with more walkways, restaurants and tour boats each year…so much fun in a city that has so much to showcase that a “Six Shot Saturday” from Chicago – Part 2! is still to come!
I’m trying to capture a city, country, or just nature in six shots – here’s what I came up with from Venice:
This is the “bridge of sighs” at dusk…you can see all of my pictures by clicking on my story here:
I also shared six shots of Napa Valley’s iconic wine country:
From vineyards at sunrise to grapes at harvest, you can see what makes Napa Valley so special by clicking here:
https://johnrieber.com/2019/07/27/its-six-shot-saturday-napa-valley-wine-country-in-six-photos/
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More Chicago to come as well!
Categories: Art, chicago, Exotic Travel, Food, food blog, Memoirs, nature, Pop Culture, Real Estate, Restaurants, Travel, Travel Adventures, Travel Memoir, Uncategorized
johnrieber 
One of my favorite cities as my Dad grew up there. I’ve always wondered what the deal was with those corncob buildings, so this was interesting to read!
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Thanks so much…I walked by them so many times, they really are iconic!
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Love the photos. Thanks for taking us around Chicago!
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I am going to do a part two as well, as there are many other iconic shots I didn’t use…it really is a fun city! Thank you for reading!
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I have never been to Chicago, but I am just about to eat a thin and crispy pepperoni pizza, with a bottle of Pinotage on the side! Great post, John. Perhaps I should have gone for a ‘deep dish’!
Best wishes, Pete.
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Pete, you’d love it…but your meal sounds pretty good as well! Cheers!
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Visited there several years ago…loved it
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Thanks for commenting…yes, it’s got some incredible places and beauty…
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Thanks for the tour! I remember the first time I saw Chicago. I was surprised by the beauty of the city (especially from the John Hancock building), and all the classic architecture and great museums!
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I will be doing a “part 2” of this because there are so many iconic visuals still left off…we really miss it!
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Wonderful! It’s a great place to visit!
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