A Few Pictures Of My New Home Town

(a.k.a. Brian's Big Adventure - 6/16/01)

My adventure started at the Metra Station in downtown Chicago.  The train station is on the bottom floor of a huge 30 story Citibank building.  Armed with a backpack, Metra schedule, and digital camera, I wandered through downtown toward Lake Michigan.  Just for fun, I walked around the Sears Tower.  It's funny how your head spins just by looking up that high.

Between downtown Chicago and Lake Michigan is Grant Park.  Always lots of fun stuff going on here, especially in the summer.  This is a view of North Chicago from Grant Park.

In Grant Park I found an orchestra playing in this little amphitheater.  They must have been rehearsing for a show later that day because there was nobody here.  The sound really added to the atmosphere of the wide green park and the huge buildings downtown.  It was a pretty overwhelming experience.  Sears Tower on top right.




In the middle of Grant Park is Buckingham Fountain.  This thing is so huge it takes about 10 minutes to walk around it.  There are plenty of tables and grassy area where people hang out and eat ice cream. A nice view of downtown with Sears Tower on the left.




Just east of the park is Lake Michigan.  The lake is big enough that it gives Chicago the feel that it is on the ocean.  There is a peninsula out on the lake with lots of museums.  This is a view of downtown from Adler Planetarium.  On the left is Shedd Aquarium, and Sears Tower is on the right.




Another view of downtown from the lake.  This area enclosed by the museum peninsula and Navy Pier is kind of a harbor where people hang out with their yachts and sailboats.




A view of Soldier Field from the planetarium.  I took a lot of pictures here because there is such a cool view from out on the lake.




This is me on the walkway between the museums.  Lake Michigan is behind me. John Hancock tower is on the right with the spikes on top.




The Chicago River - the waterway into the city.  There are taxi boats that can take you around to the big places along the waterways, which can be more convenient than a car.  Lake Michigan is behind me.




A view from the top of the giant ferris wheel at Navy Pier.




A view of the other direction.  Navy Pier on the left, Lake Michigan on the right.


I hung out on Navy Pier for an hour or so, then walked back to the train station. The adventure back home is a whole other story.  These pictures really don't do justice to what a huge and overwhelming city Chicago is.  Even though I walked all afternoon, lots of things are still out of view.  A few miles north is Wrigley Field and a few miles south is Comiskey.  My apartment in Niles is about 15-20 miles Northwest.