photo by
leah
Home to 2.9 million residents and located right on the shores of Lake Michigan, Chicago has one of the country’s most beautiful shorelines, with the many giant skyscrapers of downtown dominating the view.
The first skyscraper was built here in the late 1890s and, today, the 110-story Sears Tower is the tallest building to be found in the entire Western Hemisphere.
Chicago boasts many cultural attractions, most notably its Museum Campus, located on the shores of the lake, just a few minutes from downtown. Three museums are all within walking distance of each other—the Adler Planetarium with its laser star shows, the Shedd Aquarium with an oceanarium populated by dolphins and beluga whales, and the Field Museum, whose biggest attraction is Sue, the world’s largest dinosaur.
Another great attraction a few miles south, on the lakefront, is the Museum of Science and Industry, which houses a World War II U-boat, along with state-of-theart, hands-on science exhibits. Major-league football, hockey, basketball, and baseball are great sources of pride for the city as are the dozens of blues clubs, many of which are open to the small hours of the morning.
The restaurant scene here is among the best in the country, with many neighborhood eateries comparing well with the upscale downtown sites. Outside of Los Angeles, there is no other city in the entire United States that has the wealth of Latin-cuisine restaurants that Chicago has.
Chicago was first incorporated as a city in 1834 and it suffered through its worst catastrophe in 1871 when much of the city was destroyed by fire. One of the few structures in the downtown area that survived the fire was the Water Tower, which still stands today on North Michigan Avenue, the heart of the city’s shopping district.
The city was quickly rebuilt and became home to the finest in commercial architecture. Louis Sullivan was one of the early pioneers; his Auditorium Theatre and the Carson, Pirie and Scott Department Store still stand today, both lovingly restored.
There are several ways to see downtown Chicago—known as the Loop because the elevated public transit trains loop downtown—including riverboat tours. These tours in spring and summer last 1 or 2 hours and travel up and down the Chicago River, which runs through the heart of downtown. A walking tour is easy, and highlights can include the Art Institute, home of the finest collection of French Impressionist paintings outside of France, the Rookery, with its sumptuous Frank Lloyd Wright-designed grand staircase, or any number of deep-dish pizza parlors, which are a well-known Chicago specialty. One of Chicago’s glories is its beautiful lakefront, covering some 30 miles from north to south.
Much of the credit for its uncluttered look goes to Daniel Burnham, who devised a master plan in the early twentieth century to enable Chicagoans to enjoy the lakefront amid parks and natural beaches. Lake Shore Drive, a reminder of roads that were built before the massive interstate highways, offers a lovely view of the lake and the surrounding environment.
Thousands of Chicagoans jog or cycle along these trails during the warmer months, while others play golf or tennis, or merely relax in one of the parks and admire the natural beauty. Traveling along Lake Shore Drive is the best way to surround yourself with this city’s charm—and it is free.
One of the city’s biggest tourist attractions is the Taste of Chicago, held in Grant Park, located just west of the lakefront and east of downtown. Here, people of all ages can feast on all types of delicacies, from pub foods to some rather delectable gourmet delights. This event is held for nine days and leads up to a memorable climax of a stunning Fourth of July fireworks show over the lake.
Known as the “Windy City,” Chicago is easily reachable by plane at either Midway on the city’s south side, or O’Hare Field, one of the world’s busiest airports. Trains and buses also have many routes that arrive here. Brutally hot in the summer and equally cold and snowy in the winter, the weather is generally more moderate by the lakeshore.
