At the end of Part 1, my S.O. and I had returned from a long night of partying like rockstars at the Market Days festival. Being the geek that I am, I of course woke up early to go to the fitness center. NOT to work out, but to see the views and take some pics, of course! The day began appropriately overcast, so I apologize for the dreary look:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But the call of the caffeine took over, so back to street level I went:

 

And we headed south on Michigan Avenue:

 

I decided to try out the zoom lense - the Carbide and Carbon Building:

 

Close-up of the Tribune Tower:

 

The Mather Tower:

 

Entrance to Tribune Tower:

 

The wonderful "knife edge" of the Wrigley Building:

 

Towers along the river:

 

Michigan Avenue bridge pylon:

 

Looking back at the Tribune Tower:

 

And the Wrigley Building (too bad it was under wraps):

 

Further down Michigan Avenue, a whopping glimpse of 2 Prudential Plaza:

 

A great streetscape:

 

A handsome tower (don't know the name):

 

Frank Gehry's contribution to Millennium Park:

 

The "Adventures In Babysitting" building!

 

The BEAN! (aka 'Cloud Gate' by Anish Kapoor):

 

I love my boyfriend - he's as much of a smart-ass as I am. He's usually the subtle one, though ;-)

 

An upclose of the Plensa fountains:

 

Click this link for a Quicktime movie of the fountains in action:

http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/chicago06/plensa.mov

 

A wonderfully handsome building across from Millennium Park:

 

Back up Michigan Avenue we go:

 

Not sure of the name of this building, but I liked it!

 

The mammoth Merchandise Mart:

 

Layers:

 

One of my favorite post-modern buildings, 333 Wacker:

 

The El comes rumbling through:

 

And one of my least favorite postmodern buildings (RR Donnelly) is in the reflection:

 

One funky House of Blues!

 

I had always wondered what this building looked like up close - now I know!

 

Impressive foliage for the city!

 

Nice staircase for the river walk:

 

Probably my favorite neo-classic building in the Loop. However, I didn't get the best shot I wanted. I wanted to get a little more to the right which would have removed the wires and shown more of the building. What stopped me?

 

This stopped me. He's a twit. I politely said "excuse me" and motioned that his spot was ideal for me to get the above building. He scowled at me, and sucked on his cancer stick. Maybe he's a nice person and just had a bad day but come on now! I don't want anyone to do anything mean, nasty or obnoxious but if you see him at Kenneth Cole, give him a glare for me ;-) That's right folks - deny me a great photo and you get shamed! :lol:

 

So being traumatized, I had to flee to my favorite chocolate spot, Vosges - in the 520 Building (aka Nordstrom building, 2nd level):

 

I suddenly felt MUCH better!

 

And even better when the sun came out and I caught this pic from Nordstrom:

 

Now this photo isn't to shame anyone, but more to illustrate a point. Not once was I approached by a panhandler. They were there, but every one of them was sitting off to the side, either holding a sign or a cup. It's sad that they're in that situation but I have to say it was an improvement over being spat at and yelled at in Cleveland:

 

But after a long morning and afternoon it was back to the Allerton:

 

I've never seen so much awesomeness packed into one thread.

Pure photographic genius.

Simply Awesome, thanks.

Hmmm...

nice work. i must say it is interesting and kind of nice to be able to walk around and see each building individually instead of having all of them being lost in the urban morass like they are in manhattan.

 

 

speaking of anish kapoor...

 

 

 

he is putting one of those glass globe thingys (temporarily of course) in rockefeller center next month. some renderings:

 

 

more info here:

http://www.curbed.com/archives/2006/08/08/six_weeks_til_sky_mirror_photobloggers_clear_disk_space.php

 

 

 

Nice job!  Here is some info you might find interesting on your fav neo-classical building...35 W Wacker.  It used to have an elevator for cars in it.

 

http://www.glasssteelandstone.com/BuildingDetail/1064.php

 

"Originally known as the Jewelers Building, it was created for the city’s diamond merchants and had an unusual security procedure – to reduce the chances that its tenants would be mugged walking between their cars and their offices, the building featured a central auto elevator. People would drive into this elevator and it would take them to the floor where their office was. Jewelers loaded down with precious stones and metals wouldn’t have to be exposed to a potentially hostile exterior environment. Though innovative, it was an arrangement that didn’t last very long. By the Second World War the auto elevators were abandoned and decked over to make more office space. Naturally, these kind of freight elevators required more mechanical space than regular passenger elevators, and the entire 24th floor was given over to that task, and as a maintenance shop for crafting replacement pieces for the building’s ornate terra cotta exterior and interior needs. This wasn’t reclaimed for office space until the very late 20th century. "

 

 

The Mather Tower has a hotel in it now.  The rooms are supposed to be tiny, but imagine the view!

The story about that 'Kenneth Cole' guy is toooo funny!  What a jerk!!

The story about that 'Kenneth Cole' guy is toooo funny!  What a jerk!!

 

Great pics man.  With a body like that, why was he working in Kenneth Cole?  You should have told tubby the lard ass to move!! 

 

I have to be in Chicago in a week....if you still feel the need for vindication, let me know! :-D

Exactly, I mean, I never buy clothes unless the salesperson looks good.

Exactly, I mean, I never buy clothes unless the salesperson looks good.

 

OK..and he looked like he was about 6 month pregnant and crawled out from under a trailer in some part of SW Chicago.  I bet he was part-time - the inappropriate man bracelet [over accesorizing is a no-no boys] tells it all!