Navy Pier / Chicago River

(Chicago, IL) - What I learned on my latest trip to Chicago: The Chicago River is both unique and extremely gross, The Great Chicago Fire was worse than I knew (and may have not been started by the Irish or a cow), the reason why it's called the Second City, how cool the architecture is there, the Navy Pier is a must-see attraction in the city (especially, if they keep it weird) and maybe most importantly the Monopoly Guy is from Chicago.

After I loaded up on Garrett Popcorn and ate some slightly high-priced food at Jimmy Buffets' Margaritaville, I took the Seadog River & Lake Architectural  Tour.  Jake (from State Farm joke) gave us a very informative tour of Chicago and its buildings' architecture.

(The newly renovated Navy Pier re-opened in 1995 and featuring a mix of year-round entertainment, shops, restaurants, attractions and exhibition facilities.)

The Windy - (Navy Pier)

Seadogs are one of several boats at the Navy Pier that take visitors on tours of the Lake and River)

(Garrett Popcorn is inside the food court at Navy Pier.  They were celebrating their 65th Anniversary)

Garrett Popcorn (Navy Pier)

(Oprah has a $50,000,000+ place in this building that she neither uses nor will let me borrow)

(Very understated building with the letters TRUMP across it)

(Marina City - See all the parked cars?)

(The Opera Bvilding and Yes, it's spelled with 'v')

(Willis Tower which of course most people still refer to as the Sears Tower.  The river is unique because it was engineered by the city to flow in reverse.)

(Stay away from outer seats of boat or you will get wet!)

(Out on Lake Michigan on an absolutely beautiful day.  Chicago is called the Second City because it's built on the ashes of the first city that was destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire that killed 300 people and left 100,00 homeless)