The south end of the beach at Hua Hin, Thailand.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Hua Hin, Thailand.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Maldives on March 23rd.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

The Willis Tower

The highest building in North America. Formerly known as the Sears Tower, this 108 story building was the tallest one in the world from 1973 to 1998.

It's a $17.50 cost for the privilege of this view. Our personal opinion is that this is a steep price to pay for essentially a half hour experience. And it wasn't very busy this particular day yet we thought there were quite a few people up there. To us, it would not be very enjoyable on a busy day. Besides, there are a LOT of high towers in Chicago and with a little bit of research it wouldn't take much effort to find one that has FREE views from high up. But if you really need to be at the highest, the Willis Tower does have fantastic views of the city, in all directions!

Looking south.

The downtown core.

The tallest church in the world. This office building was actually built with a chapel at the top. 

Looking north.

The downtown prison. You can see the inmates having recreation time on the roof!

They built these glass enclosures at the 103rd floor SkyDeck to enhance the experience. 

Very cool looking down!

By the time we finished up at the Willis Tower it was getting on towards 4:00pm. We were pretty tired, but we had kayaking scheduled at 7:00pm. So we took the bus back to the hotel and had a sandwich and relaxed for an hour before heading back to downtown.

We thought we had a pretty good day already, but it was about to get better with http://www.urbankayaks.com/!

6 comments:

  1. When I was growing up, the Prudential Building was the tallest. It is dwarfed now. :) Welcome to my home town.

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  2. Magnificent photos and views. There is NO WAY this side of Heaven you would catch me on that glass enclosure. I have weak knees just looking at the photos. Speaking of photos...great header photo...just lovely.

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  3. Wow! That's one tall building! It looks like the photos are taken from a airplane. Enjoying Chicago through your eyes.

    Grace

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  4. I didn't know the Sear's tower had lost its name. Curious how that happens. Sears hasn't gone out of business has it or perhaps the guy named Willis bought the building from them? Not much of a city person so thanks for the views. Not much chance I'd ever go there.

    Sherry
    www.directionofourdreams.blogspot.com

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  5. I really want to visit Chicago after reading your posts. What amazing views...even though it was a tad pricey.

    The glass floor and walls would definitely have freaked me out though!!

    Great photos!

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  6. I think I would have trouble looking dow through the floor!

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