The other place to get high in Chicago, and way more touristy, is Skydeck Chicago at Willis Tower (formerly known as the Sears Tower). Definitely has the views and yet…
… I kind of wish they washed their windows more often. I could only do so much in post-processing to minimize the dirty windows!
Looking north is a good wide view of Lake Michigan and the other tall towers (360 Chicago on the middle left and Tr*mp Tower on the middle right). And then there’s a lot of other skyscrapers to look at. There’s such a variety of styles and heights that it actually looks pretty cool from on high.
Honestly, there is something quite addicting about looking at the buildings one by one, skipping east to west and then north to south, marveling at the creativity and the constructions.
The one thing I don’t like to do in high places is look straight down. So, yeah, I skipped The Ledge experience entirely. As their website describes it: “Step outside the third tallest building in the Western Hemisphere. At 1,353 feet in the air, the Ledge’s glass boxes extend out 4.3 feet from the Skydeck.” Uh, no thank you. Ever.
Not only did America invent the skyscraper, it invented the skyline.
Santiago Calatrava
I was in Chicago on conference, ten years ago (Henry Stewart about DAMs and metadata). I skipped the deck as well. I had a nice martini at the restaurant level of the Willis Tower and circled the floor looking at what was waaaaaay down below. I remember the views of the beaches more than the views of the city (too much to remember there). What a beautiful city, Chicago. Would gladly visit again and stay longer this time.
I know a deck in Virginia where you can look down 1,600 feet. And it has enough wine in stock so that you may want to.
Ah, that is a much nicer “looking down” experience than a skyscraper. And I’ve heard you have to know the hosts to even get close, it’s pretty exclusive 🙂
They renamed the Sears Tower? Wow, it’s been a while since I went to Chicago. Thanks for catching me up.
Did that in the 80’s. I am sure it looks very different now. How about that elevator ride up? That sway in the wind was quite the experience…Now that I think of this, I was there just post 1989 earthquake so I was a wee bit sensitive to movement. I was with a group from Santa Cruz. When we pulled into our hotel there was construction going on at the hotel so there were piles of debris we skirted past. To a one and in unison we all uttered in aghast (I am not making this up) RUBBLE! Funny now but it wasn’t at the time.
Yikes, that would be a different/scary scenario just after the Loma Prieta earthquake. I didn’t notice the elevator too much, although my ears did pop both going up and coming down.