I'm On A Boat...

It is no secret that I really love my hometown; it is a topic that I have explored time and time again here at "The State I Am In." Therefore, when I got an invitation to go on a free Chicago River boat tour through work, I signed up to go, despite having gone on river tours before, and despite my general dislike of schmoozing. It was hard to turn down an opportunity to see the city at night from the unique vantage point of the river.


Not surprisingly, the event turned out to be very sparsely attended. Perhaps fifteen or so of my fellow coworkers showed up, but thankfully, one of them was my friend Brandon, who readers may remember from this summer's spontaneous lunchtime trip to the Lincoln Park Zoo. His presence made the trip much more tolerable, as he provided humorous color commentary on both our coworkers and the people and places lining the river as we passed by.

The Trump Tower, center, truly dominates the skyline as seen from the Chicago River.

My favorite buildings along the traditional river tour route are the corn cob shaped spires of Marina City. I appreciate the unique organic lines of the structures, although I imagine the round buildings must make for unusually-shaped units inside.

Once the sun dipped below the horizon, the beauty of the evening cityscape became apparent. This view of the city, looking south towards the Willis Tower, reminds me of Van Gogh's "Starry Night Over the Rhone."

The excursion might have been a little too long, lingering beyond the traditional southernmost point for river cruises of the River City apartment and marina complex and traveling all the way to Chinatown instead, and the evening might have been a little too cold to be outside for quite so long without gloves, but the city was, as always, lovely, and it was nice to be reminded of that.