While sleep seems hard to find in hotels, I did manage to sleep after midnight. However, I woke at 5 AM, rolled over, and tried to sleep again. It seemed that an eyeblink later, it was 6 and then 7. I rose and started on the blog. Still, I did not request a coffee maker and thus wrote with just water and music. I would reach just below 15,000 steps for the day. My back did not start to feel and be painful until the final hour of walking, a thirty-minute walk from Navy Pier to Palmer House.
(Only one photo downloaded, sorry)
I intended to take some water tours today, including the architectural tour on the Chicago River. I wrote the blog for a few hours, knowing (I took a photo when I walked by the sign for the tour) that the tour was about 10. I thought the first tour was near the train station (that was where the sign was). I finished and published the blog and then quickly showered, shaved, and dressed in my room on the 23rd floor, 258. I headed out to find a donut and coffee towards the river and the building formally known as the Sears Tower. A small Dunkin Donuts near the tower supplied coffee and a pumpkin donut (they did not have an old-fashioned, my fav). There, I discovered that the tour was not even open on a Tuesday morning. F**k. I found a table, ate my donut, and enjoyed the warm coffee; the building security reminded me last time that you don’t sit on the stonework that is well seat level but may use their tables–so I followed this direction this morning. I did not comment when I was warned that if you value the stonework, why don’t you clean it (it was hard to find a place to sit as it was).
Nearing 10:30, a ship, a water taxi called ASAP, appeared, and I walked down the steep stone steps to the river level. They sold me a ticket for 11:45 for the tour and a water taxi ride to the tour, which was on Michigan Avenue dock, a twenty-minute walk away. I was the only passenger. I talked to a gal in a white shirt with officer marks on her shoulders, who I assumed was the captain, and a guy wearing a life vest who was the deckhand. They were friendly, and we chatted until we left. Then, the deckhand chatted (the captain was busy driving the water taxi) with me about his jobs in advertising. I was dropped off at the Michigan Avenue area and had just under an hour before the tour. I headed to Habor Eggs and had an excellent Eggs Benedict for a second breakfast and lunch. Omar, my waiter, was fast, and while I was rushed, the food appeared immediately, and the coffee, I definitely needed more, was supplied, American Mid-west style, in a small pot, allowing you to do your own refills. A to-go cup was provided, and I paid early so I could just walk out when done. I thanked everyone when I left and gave Omar a large tip. I walked by the University of Chicago Book Store and returned there after the tour, but it was just notebooks and gear for the school. I climbed down the three sets of stairs to reach the river and queued up with the other folks for the tour. Soon, I was seated on a folding chair at the top of the tour. Antonio was our tour guide, and he was excellent.
The tour lasted seventy-five minutes, and the boat had a bar and restrooms (heads). I mainly stayed in my seat and enjoyed Antonio explaining Chicago’s history by pointing out the different styles of its buildings. It was an excellent tour. Antonio told terrible jokes and mentioned places for ice cream and the best rooftop bars.
I returned to walking Chicago, unsure if I should take an Uber or walk back; I retraced yesterday’s walk, which seemed a waste of my time. But then I saw I was at the London House, a hotel. I went in and followed a couple on the same quest, and soon, I was at the rooftop bar. While only 21 stories, it was still a breathtaking view, and the same tour boat I had just left, which looked tiny, was back on the river. To the bartender, a friendly man, I said that Antonio, the tour guide, sent me; the bartender said Antonio was “a smart man” and made me an excellent Gin and Tonic from Bombay Saphire (the good stuff). I drank this slowly, standing, and looked out into Chicago. The day was warm and clear, nearly perfect. After finishing the drink and enjoying the view for twenty minutes, I thanked the bartender for making a lighter drink, as I was not affected and could find my hotel. With mocking sternness, he suggested he had failed, and if I had another, he promised I would not be able to find anything after that drink. I thanked him but left happy with only one drink in me.
The gin made the long walk pleasant. I found my way back, taking photos here and there. I even saw one of the Batman-style lights!
I rested for a while at the hotel, still under my 10,000 goal for walking with all the boating. I cleaned up and shaved again. I put on a dress shirt and a tie loosely around my neck but in my button-down collar. It was now late afternoon when I reached the street level near the Palmer House and soon had an Uber taking me for $30+ to the Navy Pier. Chicago charges for rush hour ($1.50) and to be dropped off at a special site ($5), knocking the price up. The trip was in messy traffic, and I tipped well. I walked to the end of the pier, looking at places to eat and seeing Antonio’s recommended ice cream place (I passed).
I selected Bar Sol because it had a line of chairs looking out at the pier and the waters of Lake Michigan. My waiter, Louisa, was happy to let me eat and drink slowly because they were not too busy on a perfect September night. They had no coffee (that is when you know you are not in the Pacific Northwest) and only made it in the morning. Sparrows made a show for me as the little garden near me was their dusting location. I threw them a chip; I had chips and salsa to start.
I ordered their seafood mix and accepted Lousia’s warning that it was a little spicy (it was a lot spicy). When it came, it was enough for two (or even three) and intimidating. And the price now made since it was a lot of seafood. I decided to ignore prices at my last dinner in Chicago (I will likely get something at the airport on Wednesday). I managed to eat about 1/3. Henry V (put on by the local Shakespeare Company on the pier) was at 7. I paid and walked about 1/2 of the pier to find the playhouse.
The playhouse was lovely, small, and intimate, reminding me of a playhouse in Washington, D.C., and theaters in the round. No storyteller was in their version, but they all shared this role, which moved from actor to actor. The dress was tired, dirty military, with sweat-stained t-shirts, and the king and others wore various countries’ uniforms as the play continued. The battles were Korean War or early Cold War, styled with machine gun fire and explosions. The actors ran through the theater, sometimes on the balcony next to the audience. When the storytelling restarted, the actors would remove their uniforms or additions to their costumes, return to sweat-stained plain military dress, and speak with the role passed between them. This created a page-turning effect and allowed the audience to imagine the next place. The play was excellent, and the words made me tingle, and when the King addressed the audience as his army, we were ready to face the French and wanted not one more man (or woman)!
For the intermission, the actors played music and sang songs. These songs slowly changed to all French, and the play restarted in the silly French scenes almost seamlessly. The play ends with the sad memory of Henry V’s early death, and soon I was headed out.
I walked the thirty minutes back, some in the dark as not all the lights were on by the lake shore. I was not scared, and it was the perfect night to walk. I was soon back in my room and could not sleep until midnight, but at least I was asleep before 1!
Thanks for reading!
Alohawild (Michael Wild's) Website 