Water Taxi to Chinatown

 OH we have just been having the most lovely weather! It has been most inspiring. I have noticed the Water Taxi pick up location on my walks east along North Ave. and have always wanted to check it out. Monday, with adventure at heart and time at hand we set fourth on a lovely trip to Chinatown!

 Ahoy Mateys!

It was Brock's first time on a boat. He was very excited on the walk over. When we got on it took a bit of coaxing to move him from this location out onto the stern to get an even better view. Once he got there, it was all smiles.

 Matt and I both LOVE the architecture boat tour, and it is the number one destination we take visitors to. Needless to say, we have both been on it many many times. This trip was extra neato because we started further north and ended much further south, so we got views we had never seen before (and for only $6!!! About a fifth of the price a regular taxi would charge us to get to Chinatown!) so we saw lots of cool industrial sites on what is called historically "Goose Island" (yes, the namesake of the beloved brewery and first job I had in Chicago).

 

This is the bridge that is the view from our favorite secret bar with a view ...  the Holiday Inn! Thank you Jim for showing us this awesome, uncrowded spot overlooking my favorite Chicago street... Canal Street. 

It was so fun for Brock to see the train and the cars go by above our heads!

 This building is in the making, as you can see. It sort of looks like the hull of a boat! That likely might be the architect's point, as many of the buildings in Chicago pay tribute to the river in their design.

 We took a 30 minute layover by the Opera Building. Just enough time for a beer in a brown bag and fully rejected Brock snacks. He said he liked our Tecate, however. 

 

Back on the boat and in route south.

 This building is also new, or at least the view was new to Matt and I. Here you see the building itself marked in red on the image of the river map. 

 Aaahhhh Ceres. Your sweet faceless stone has made us so happy!

There he is in his fully glory! It's Big Willy (Willis Tower that is)!

Awe? Confusion? Often a fine line of distinction.

Awe? Brown-bag? Again, the origin of this expression is difficult to determine. Are those giant Rosetta stones?

We have a arrived! Ping Tom Park in Chinatown. We were super bummed we didn't have time to hit up our favorite Chinese joint, Lao Sze Chuan. We asked Brock if he wanted to go to a park or a restaurant. That was dumb. We did manage to pick up some bubble tea and red bean cakes however.

What a great day. We long missed the last boat home, so train it was. That was just fine with Brock. He has been asking us if will be going on the boat every day now, so I guess it was a hit. I hope we get to appease his wish again ... but winter is coming.