Aylmer Express "MoHo" Extravaganza 2006

The word from yesterday was:

depredation \dep-ruh-DAY-shun\,
noun: 1. An act of plundering or despoiling; a raid.2. [Plural] Destructive operations; ravages.

Jim was back at it again today. Susan and her family headed up to Wisconsin for some more festivities however Jim offered to stay with us a little longer to act as our personal tour guide for a one-day tour of Chicago. We also invited along a special guest, Nina, who is the 11-year-old daughter of Rene and Celeste, who are one of Jim and Susan’s neighbours whom we met the first night. André-Paul and Morgan really seemed to enjoy Nina’s company so we were glad she came along.
Jim started us off with a driving tour of the highlights of the great city. First we drove east so that we could drive south to the city along the lake. We cut back in so that we could swing by Wrigley Field for an official photo in front of the famous ballpark. It is either the second or third oldest major league park in the world with New York’s Yankee stadium being the oldest and not sure if Fenway Park in Boston is older or not. We also went past the parking garage where Al Capone gunned down his adversaries in the Valentine’s Day massacre. We also cruised through Lincoln Park with the zoo and paddle boats, then down Lakeshore Blvd where we saw Lake Michigan, the lovely downtown beaches, past the downtown skyscrapers, Navy Pier, the Chicago River, Soldier Field, the planetarium, Museum of Science and Industry, University of Chicago campus, a scenic stop for a photo op of the city, then check out the Lost Houses of Prarie Avenue area, University of Illinois, and what tour of Chicago would be complete without a trip to “Jim’s Original”, the original Maxwell Street Polish Sausage stand. But that is not all. We also got to see many of the sculptures in the city on our tour as well including pieces by Chegall and Picasso.We then boarded a boat to take architectural tour of the city from the Chicago river. There we saw the beginnings of the new Trump tower, the Wrigley Building, the Chicago Tribune building, the former Stone Container building, the “corn cob” towers, the Sears Tower, the Civic Opera Building, the John Hancock building … and then we passed through the locks at the confluence of the Chicago river and Lake Michigan and got a view of the city from the lake. A fabulous tour all around and the sun even decided to come out to make it that much nicer. But that was not all. We then walked a few blocks down Michgan Ave to ride some of the world’s fastest elevators to the top of the John Hancock Building. That gave us an opportunity to look out from the 94th floor over all of the amazing sites we took in that day. Chicago is a gorgeous, interesting and though-provoking city that is filled with wonderful art and architecture everywhere you turn. If you get a chance, you should spend a few days in the windy city and see for yourself.

And now I want you to see if you can guess which well known American architect designed the building you see below which we saw at the campus of the University of Chicago. I will be providing the answer tomorrow.