The Daily Dave

Live, laugh, logorrhea

A Mid Way to See Chicago

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Three things made my sunrise run in Chicago on Monday, Oct 27, really special.

  • It was my first time running along a lake.1
  • I guess there’s a second thing.
  • I really wish I hadn’t promised three things.

What I’m saying is that my run was just OK. It was not nearly as good as this joke about things that are OK:

TV still showing Liz Lemon asking “Do I look OK?”
TV still showing Cerie Xerox replying, “That’s exactly how you look.”

Well, any experience that gives me an excuse to quote 30 Rock can’t be all that bad, right?2

My Sneaker Tourism posts usually start with some interesting insights and observations,3 but let’s eschew that this time and hit the ground running.

Destination: Lake Michigan

I didn’t have a route planned, but I knew if I headed south, then east, I’d cross the river and eventually hit Lake Michigan.

Selfie of man wearing a knit beanie, white shirt, and powder blue zip-up sweatshirt in an elevator.
Every journey begins with a single step. Then a few more steps. Then an elevator ride.
Historic skyscraper at dawn with warm light on its façade against a clear sky.
Goodbye, ink-stained wretches. Hello, rich condo owners. The Chicago Tribune Tower has been converted into a high-end residential building.
Chicago skyscrapers flanking a river with the sun rising over Lake Michigan in the distance.
Sunrise over Lake Michigan, as seen from the north end of the DuSable Bridge.

Park and Pier

The Chicago River meets Lake Michigan near Polk Brothers Park.

Lake Michigan at sunrise with calm water and a Ferris wheel at Navy Pier to the left.
Here comes the sun. That’s Navy Pier on the left.
Person wearing a knit cap and glasses smiling in front of the Chicago skyline at sunrise.
A sunrise selfie with Chicago’s skyline in the background.
Off-center wide shot of the Navy Pier Ferris wheel from ground level.
At the Chicago World Fair in 1893, organizers needed a landmark attraction that would top the Eiffel Tower, which had debuted at the previous world’s fair four years earlier. They built the world’s first Ferris wheel, a 264-foot-tall engineering marvel that wowed more than 1.5 million passengers during the fair. This is not that Ferris wheel. It’s a new one that sits on the far end of Navy Pier.

Lakeshore Drive

City skyline bathed in golden sunrise light with reflections on building windows.
After my detour to Navy Pier, I turned back toward Lakeshore Drive to find the skyline bathed in sunrise light.
Wide paved walkway along Lakeshore Drive with buildings on the left and Lake Michigan on the right.
The pedestrian path along Lakeshore Drive itself isn’t that attractive, but it has great scenery on either side (Chicago buildings on the left and Lake Michigan on the right). Just like with the Death Star, the builders decided against safety rails.

Michigan Avenue

Lakeside Drive is essentially an eight-lane divided highway. Fortunately, pedestrians don’t have to risk their lives playing Frogger—there are pedestrian tunnels beneath the road. I walked under the road and emerged at Lakeside Park, just a block or two away from the John Hancock Tower.

Vibrantly painted pedestrian tunnel under Lakeshore Drive with light at the far end.
If this were in Florida, the walls would already be painted over.
Ground-level view of Chicago’s historic Water Tower with the John Hancock Center behind it.
The Water Tower and John Hancock Center.4 I am very disappointed that city planners and architects in Chicago didn’t take cellphone camera lines of sight decades ago.
Michigan Avenue storefront with a decorative stag statue beneath a Harry Potter logo.
J.K. Rowling stakes her TERF on Michigan Avenue.
Store window advertising Ralph Lauren coffee in a retail display.
Ralph Lauren coffee is a thing. Meh. I’m saving up for a Latte Vuitton and Burberry Scone.

A Finishing Thought

Just as you can’t judge a book by its cover, you can’t judge a city by a single run. I wouldn’t say that I didn’t enjoy myself—travel, sunrises, and waddling around in running shows are three of my favorite things!

I’m not writing you off, Chicago. I’ll be back with sneakers at some point in the future, and we’ll try this again. I hear Lincoln Park is a great place to run. And several people have told me to check out the sunrise from Adler Planetarium. We’ll figure it out when I return.

By the Numbers

Map view of running route.Satellite view of running route.
  • Distance: 3.3 miles (5.3 kilometers)
  • Temperature: 40°F (4.5°C)
  • Slices of deep-dish pizza eaten later that day: 2

Footnotes

  1. Waterfront runs are my favorites—rivers, bridges, and, of course, bays—but I’d never done a lakefront before. ↩︎
  2. These screen captures are from Funcooker. ↩︎
  3. Sometimes mistaken for overwrought blather. ↩︎
  4. The John Hancock Center observation deck is a disappointment. You have been warned. ↩︎