Michigan Avenue - Niche Media - Michigan Avenue magazine is a luxury lifestyle magazine centered around Chicago’s finest people, events, fashion, health & beauty, fine dining & more!
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For passengers who preFer an adrenaline rush, the Seadog hits 45 miles per hour and pulls oFF spins oF 180 to 360 degrees. 5. Go Fish Reel in salmon and trout when you charter a sport fishing boat from Confusion Charters, at Lakeview's Montrose Harbor. Book a few hours on the Confusion C4 or the Massive Confusion, the company's two boats that dock at Lakeview's Montrose Harbor. Confusion Charters supplies the gear and expertise, and takes budding anglers two to four miles offshore for the best catches. 601 W. Montrose Ave., 888-929- 3474; confusioncharters.com 6. Meal Tic T Make a night of it with a three-hour dinner cruise on the recently renovated Odyssey, at 200 feet long and 55 feet high the largest boat to cruise Lake Michigan. Slip on a pair of Jimmy Choos or your favorite Armani suit and indulge in a four-course meal before heading to the boat's dance f loor. Tours leave from Navy Pier, 600 E. Grand Ave., 866-305- 2469; odysseycruises.com/chicago. 7. Wor T ouT With guided tours that double as a serious calorie burn, Kayak Chicago draws raves from the fitness-minded. Learn basic paddling skills before following a guide along the shoreline to take in Chicago's best views. Ambitious kayakers can try a sunset excursion or Chicago history night tour. Tours leave from 1600 N. Lake Shore Dr., 312-852-9258; kayakchicago.com. 8. all oF The liGhTs It's a party on the water every Saturday and Wednesday night, courtesy of Navy Pier's twice-weekly fireworks displays. Shoreline Sightseeing's Lake Fireworks Tour is an hour- long ride, leaving at 9:30 pm on Saturdays and 9 pm on Wednesdays, that concludes just beneath the popular light show. Tours begin late May and leave from Navy Pier, 600 E. Grand Ave., 312-222-9328; shorelinesightseeing.com/ fireworks-tours. MA The Seadog has two 14,000-horsepower engines, the most of any commercial ride on the Great Lakes. InsIder Info river cruise docent Constance rajala tells all. Constance Rajala has been a guide on the Chicago Architecture Foundation's river cruise by Chicago's First Lady Cruises for fve years and has led more than 200 tours. Here, she offers Michigan Avenue a behind-the-scenes look at the beloved excursion. Do you have a favorite building on the tour? Asking a docent to pick a favorite building is like asking a parent to pick a favorite child. The wonderful thing about Chicago is that, now that the economic ice has broken, there's a lot of new con- struction along the river. My favorite changes depend on the day. I think most docents are like that. What's the most interesting thing that's happened on one of your tours? On an early-fall day in 2014, I led a tour where a young man asked a woman to marry him. We were on the last leg of the tour, and all of a sudden there was a furry of activity. I looked over and saw the man getting up from kneeling and saw the fash of a diamond, so I announced to the whole cruise that we were on the "Love Boat." The crew came out with Champagne—it was a lovely moment. share one of your favorite facts about the city's architecture. The design of the Hard Rock Hotel, in the Carbide & Carbon building, is based on a Champagne bottle. Think about it: a green body with a gold top? It's our own 40-story Champagne bottle. What should every rider know? Pay attention to the forecast, but remember we're in Chicago; I've been on the boat when I was cold, hot, and wet in the same hour. And dress comfort- ably. The boat has a metal deck, so on a cold day it conducts cold, on a warm day it conducts heat. Also, there is no such thing as a bad seat, but if you're taking pictures, sit all the way on the side so no heads appear in your photos. What keeps riders keep coming back? Every docent gives his or her own tour—there are certain core buildings that we all cover, but some of the buildings we describe and the stories we tell are based on our strong suits. Some of the docents are extremely funny and you wonder why they aren't at Second City; others are more serious and deliver heftier content. We memorize a tour, not a script. 56 michiganavemag.com Culture out & About