Chi-town bridge! This bridge links Chinatown to the Mexican…read morePilsen neighborhood. Technically, this bridge is a Scherzer rolling lift bascule bridge, designed by Scherzer himself. It's not especially a pretty bridge. The whole thing needs a paint job and is all pretty rusty. It's pretty amazing that this thing moves! It's so large, that is hard to fathom. I went cruising across this bridge looking for a Taco n' Tequla festival in Pilsen. There were several 'urban campers' set up along this bridge. I wouldn't exactly call this a five star bridge.

"We build too many walls and not enough bridges." ~ Sir Issac Newton…read more Chicago! The City of Broad Shoulders is home to many a landmark from the once world's tallest building, Sears Tower, to the new Frank Gehry Bandshell! As a displaced native, I have been fortunate to have lived in a number of differing bridge cities, but I always return to my native homeland of Chicago to recharge my Soul, and with each returning visit I discover and uncover more of Chicago. It's become such an ever-changing city in the Post-Industrial era of our society, but fortunately there are still many archeological and architectural remains to link the past to the present and this brings me to The Cermak Road Bridge. To quote the landmark sign posted at the bridge, "These four massive industrial buildings clustered around the City's last-remaining double-leaf Scherzer Rolling Lift Bridge form the finest intact, early 20th-Century riverfront precinct in Chicago. Originally housing wholesale grocers, window shade manufacturers and other enterprises, the buildings represent an almost vanished aspect of the City's historic industrial character." You may recognize this Bridge as a character in numerous movies filmed around Chicago, or from many an Artist's still photograph, as it is such an iconic landmark of the great City of Chicago. Luckily for me the South Loop, Pilsen, and Chinatown are my latest haunts when I come to visit, and this great bridge ties them all together beautifully. Come here to the Cermak Road Bridge and feel the quiet history of Chicago that is lesser known than most landmarks in a City that is so iconic that it is in its entirety a great historic landmark to be cherished and renowned throughout time. I Heart Chicago!

Here is yet another memorial about Chicago events. It's easy to come across many random ones, but…read morethis one is especially important. The Haymarket Memorial is a reminder of one of the most important events in the city's history, where many people lost their lives. Many died or got hurt for a good cause. Worker's rights advocates will especially appreciate this as well as anyone else who enjoys history. A bit of knowledge about the event helps one to appreciate the memorial about it. In the 1800s the Haymarket was a popular produce market. This was the city's main source of produce. A protest against the unfair labor practices led to a confrontation between them and the police, and there was chaos. Several people were killed when a bomb went off. It led to many of the protestors being arrested. There were a few sentenced to death. Overall quite a few people lost their lives either in the market or after. This apparently is on the actual site of the protest, so that's a cool thing. Good history lesson, and the memorial itself is simple but impressive. It's on Des Plaines close to Lake. This is a good way of getting attention to an important event for Chicago and workers.

The Haymarket district was the city's produce market in the 19th century. An impromptu meeting was…read moreheld to protest the treatment of workers, and when a huge contingent of policemen arrived (nearly 200), a bomb was thrown and several lives were lost, about seven policemen and at minimum four bystanders. In the aftermath, however, organizers and others with unfavorable political opinions were rounded up, mistreated, and in some cases sentenced to death. All this even though the identity of the person who threw the bomb has never been discovered. The sculpture commemorating the event is placed on the precise location where the speakers held their meeting. They used a wagon as their platform when speaking to those assembled, thus the wagon is an important part of this memorial. The Haymarket Riot is now emblematic of justice (or injustice), worker's rights and labor, rights of speech and assembly, and other important principles of liberty.

My first visit to Chicago I went to see the Wrigley Building. After that I found more non tourist…read moretype places to visit during trips to Chicago. It is certainly a historic landmark. You must go at least once. I'm in for anything with the Wrigley name!

Built in the 1920's for Wrigley the gum magnet in downtown Chicago. It's known for its Spanish…read moreColonial Revival style, featuring 2 towers & a distinctive white terra cotta facade. It was the first air conditioned building in the city. In the 1957 science fiction film Beginning of the End, giant grasshoppers attack downtown, are shown climbing up the side of the Wrigley Building.

Route 66 - Chicago…read more I'm a Route 66 enthusiast. America's most iconic road trip spans over 2,400 miles from Chicago to Santa Monica. I really wanted to see this sign after having been to "The Heart of Historic Route 66" in Kingman AZ and making stops at nearby attractions along Route 66 including Chloride, Seligman, Hackberry General Store, Giganticus Headicus, Sitgreaves Pass, and Oatman AZ. In Tulsa OK we stopped by the 'East meets West' statue. We had a little walk looking for the sign after hopping off Stop #3 at the Millennium Park. The road sign sits just outside a Starbucks shop on either side of E Adams Street. There is also a marker facing Michigan Avenue with a short history (in English facing the road, Spanish translation facing the sidewalk). Hope they clean it up... it's got full of stickers and graffiti LoL Route 66 (aka "The Mother Road") is packed with history, quirky roadside attractions and covers the states of Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and California. Review #3826

While on a mobsters and haunted mysteries walking tour with my son on a cold, rainy, Sunday…read moreafternoon, we stopped here. Per the tour guide, this was the starting location of Route 66 that went all the way to Santa Monica. There's a ghost story behind this as well that was interesting. Apparently, there are multiple signs throughout the city as well. I didn't notice them but then again, I wasn't looking for them either.

Spectacular architecture and stunningly maintained.... Very little known about it by the locals …read more I have lived in Chicago for 26 years and always wondered what this beautiful building was but finally went on not so busy Friday afternoon literally 30 mid before closing . Would love to bring the family back.

Stunning! A bit of history I didn't even realize we had here in Chicago. Free to visit (there's a…read moredonation box at the front) and the staff was very sweet. Someone was giving brief tours with more information, but you're able to walk around and explore on your own.

As always..amazing public art…read more.. Just "discovered" the J. Seward Johnson "Lincoln Statue" near the Chicago Riverwalk in Pioneer Square in downtown Chicago area. The statue is called "Return Visit." It depicts Former President Abraham Lincoln standing tall (25 feet to be exact!) with his arm stretched up to the sky holding his hat as if greeting the "modern" man who stands in shorter stature below....Lincoln is gifting him a copy of "The Gettysburg Address." "Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." Quote from Abraham Lincoln's famous "Gettysburg Address." For more information see: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-abraham-lincoln-statue-pioneer-court-met-20161101-story.html

A monument of culture and history deeply rooted in the development of not only the Bronzeville…read moreneighborhood, but our city and modern society. This bronze sculpture designed by Alison Saar stands tall overlooking southbound traffic along Martin Luther King Drive, just south of I-55, as one enters historical Bronzeville. A ton (literally probably much more) of symbolism based around the movement of hundreds of thousands of people moving north after reconstruction and into the 20th century, looking for a better life. The base of the sculpture is a series of shoe soles layered on top of each other eventually forming the body of a man and his clothing. Most of these soles have holes symbolizing the tough journey African Americans faced in this journey to the north and into new lives. The man holds a suitcase with one arm and waives with his other. Surrounding the sculpture is another series of suitcases acting as both protection, but fitting into the symbolism of the art. The long history of African American movement from the south eventually settling throughout the north (amongst other places) and bringing with them their culture, food recipes, and other traditions to mold themselves into the greater fabric of not only our city, but society in general is on display in the living history that takes part in so many places throughout the city. Bronzeville just happens to be one filled with rich traditions and iconic places and institutions jam packed with a ton of local and culturally relevant history. Bronzeville also includes monuments that invoke remembrance of the past that are controversial and even sad (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_A._Douglas). Which brings me to my point. Many who live in this city aren't even aware of the Monument for the Great Northern Migration which is a shame. It is a great symbol of a legacy that has enriched modern society in so many ways and is a topic that still has relevance in modern culture and life today. Their stories should not be forgotten. Come see this sculpture. Then go around and walk amongst one of Chicago's great neighborhoods- Bronzeville.

This monument represents the Great Migration from the South to Chicago and, hopefully, a better…read morelife. I love its symbolism!

The water tower looks like a castle near all of the upscale shops on the magnificent mile. Happily…read moreI was able to go inside and see all of the pumps, it was fascinating. By the 1860s, Chicago's water supply was inadequate for its growing population. Near-shore lake water was too polluted to be used because of runoff from the Chicago River. In 1867, Chesbrough, an engineer designed a water supply tunnel system running nearly 2 miles offshore pumped back to shore through this pumping station. Boyington designed both the pumping works building & Water Tower that houses the standpipe. Both buildings were built in the Gothic Revival style with distinctive yellow Joliet limestone. The buildings look like something out of a fairy tale. The Chicago Water Tower was the most iconic structure that remained standing after the Great Fire of 1871. It was a rallying point for the city. It stood as a symbol for a city determined to rise from its own ashes. Sadly at 9 o'clock on a Friday morning homeless filled most of the benches panhandling with all of their belongings.

It's an iconic symbol representing the city's post-Great Chicago Fire resilience. It is one of the…read moreoldest buildings in the history of the town. In fact, it has witnessed its share of disasters over the years. As the myth has it- the Water Tower wasn't the only structure left standing after the city was ravaged by the Great Fire of 1871 - it is one of Six Structures That Survived the Great Chicago Fire--built-in 1869. As of today, it still stands as the second oldest water tower in America. The tower contained a pipe that stood roughly around 140 feet high. The intent was to pump water from Lake Michigan so it could be used for multiple purposes. One such use was for the Chicago Fire Department. It intended to pump clean water via the water cribs from the lake. despite the intent to provide the fire department with enough water to put out a fire, it wasn't enough to contain the Great Fire of Chicago in 1871. However, there had been stories of the spirits that have haunted the water tower for many years, but that's the case with every old building, isn't it?