Before we left for Chicago, everyone we knew shook us violently and said, "YOU MUST GO AN AN ARCHITECTURE TOUR. BOOK IT TO THE BOAT OR I'LL NEVER SPEAK TO YOU AGAIN." We got the message, guys.
After a mimosa brunch Saturday morning, we walked up Michigan Avenue toward "Chicago's First Lady," a riverboat cruise offered by the Chicago Architecture Foundation. The 90-minute tour along the Chicago River was unreal. As we sat surrounded by skyscrapers, I started to understand why multiple friends demanded that we make time for this fabulous floating history lesson.
The gilded art deco buidling shown in the center of this photo is the Hard Rock Hotel, built in 1929. She is said to have been designed to look like a champagne bottle (at the height of Prohibition). The exterior metal you see at the top there is actually 24-karat gold leaf. I hear she's a total diva.