Sightseeing Scenarios

What's hot in the Windy City? After two decades of Loop living, travel writer and frequent Out & About Chicago contributor Kit Bernardi is always adding to a lengthy list that includes discoveries, favorites and avoid-the-crowds options. From cultural interludes to getting around, her recommendations add up to great summer days and nights.

Chicagoans love their architecture and spend their summers admiring it. But instead of taking buses or hailing taxis, we travel the waterways. Commuters board Wendella RiverBus' double-decker boats and sightsee on the way to work, with cups of coffee in hand. Craft ply the Chicago River all day between the North Michigan Avenue Bridge and the train stations on the Loop's western edge. During the nine-minute trips, boats pass landmarks such as Marina Towers and the giant Merchandise Mart, then dock at the base of the Wrigley Building.

You'll find residents as well as visitors on Shoreline Sightseeing's seasonal water taxis. Boats motor from the Museum Campus south of the Loop north to Navy Pier and up the Chicago River to the Sears Tower and Union Station.

A pretty park stretches along the river between the Michigan Avenue bridge and Lake Michigan. Nibble a nicoise salad at Cyrano's Cafe on the River Walk, and you'll feel as if you're having lunch along the Seine. At the park's eastern point, the path heads toward the lakefront through a tunnel turned art gallery. Artist Ellen Lanyon's mosaics link the city's past to the Chicago River.

For aerial city views, one of my favorite stops is Cite, especially for a nightcap. From the restaurant's bar atop the 70-story Lake Point Tower, you can watch Navy Pier's fireworks explode on Wednesday and Saturday nights.

The Chicago Architecture Foundation's weekday, lunch-hour walking tours attract a following of inquisitive office workers. For $5, you can join the guided 45-minute walks to Loop landmarks, including the Monadnock Building, heralded as Chicago's first skyscraper, and the scarlet, stone Rookery, with a lobby that Frank Lloyd Wright designed in 1905.

Original art and antiques go on sale during the annual Marche de Marshall Field's flea market, easily Chicago's biggest summer shopping sensation (July 16-18). The 150-year-old department store along State Street in the Loop imports unique and eccentric high-end European items from famous flea markets across the pond, including London's Camden Passage and Alfie's, as well as Marche Paul Bert and Saint-Quen markets in Paris. You can pick through garden espaliers, mirrors, vintage clothing, playing cards, china, knickknacks and antiques.

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