Anyone wanting to ascend the Sears Tower sure spends a lot of ignominious time in a basement. That’s because when it comes to Chicago and altitude, there’s an unwritten rule in play. The views from the top here are so spectacular, so confirmatory of this city’s glorious pleasures, so nourishing of the spirit, and so thoroughly exciting each and every time, there’s no reason not to make the visitor pay on the way up.
And suffer.
Who ever heard of good food at the top of the building? Not in Chicago, they didn’t. But the problems aren’t limited to the food. Attaining altitude requires some mighty forbearance.
But we climb anyway–to the observation deck at Sears Tower, the upper floors of John Hancock Center and Cite, the restaurant atop Lake Point Tower. The Man knows that some of us have a serious height addiction. And he takes advantage.
Take the travails of visiting the Sears Tower. Segregated from the actual life of the building, tourists are directed off to the side. Once you’ve found the Skydeck entrance, you go through the requisite metal detector, breathless with anticipation. You’re ready to shoot up more than 100 floors to the very lid of the Prairie, dying to peer out at that inevitable Kennedy Expressway jam like a celestial traffic cop chortling at gnats.
And which direction does the elevator take you?
Down. As in toward hell.
Once the Sears has got you trapped in the basement, you’re stuck in a line for what was (late on a recent weekday afternoon in early summer) at least a half-an-hour wait before you get to the ticket booths. Next, you are herded like cattle to get your visage snapped in front of a fake backdrop of the building.
Any attempt to decline the photo op is met by the unsmiling response: “We take everyone’s picture.” That makes you wonder whether you just passed through a tourist attraction or a secret subterranean outpost of the Dept. of Homeland Security.
After dropping a hefty $10.50 per ascendant (after tax), you’re pushed into a tired, scruffy little theater, where the technology doesn’t approach what many visitors have in their living rooms. A low-definition movie about the history of Chicago is shown. We hear about the history of Chicago–up to 1996. An image of the old Soldier Field is shown, along with a 2D look at the skyline of a city that’s changed immeasurably since. The Sears is declared to be the tallest building in the world (which it’s not, Taipei 101 in Taiwan now holds the title). Thankfully, the film is short.
But everyone leaves at the same time, which creates a huge line for the real elevator.
Finally, up you go, and the mood changes. Stand at the elevator and listen as people exit.
“Wow,” they keep saying as they head for the windows. “Oh my.” “Unbelievable.”
The view from the 110th floor of the Sears edifice is sans pareil in these United States. Here’s where the Sears has the advantage over every other tall building in Chicago (and any other city, for that matter): Its position toward the west of the Loop means that you can see the guts of this remarkable city. Stare at the snaking freeways, rail lines and waterways, and you suddenly feel like you understand the infrastructure and comprehend why and how this seething place functions.
It’s revelatory–in a surprisingly profound way.
You can go up to the far classier visitor’s deck at the Hancock Center with few of the hassles detailed above. There’s rarely a line lasting more than about 10 minutes and no tattered film or forced photo op. The retail area surrounding the route to the observatory also is below street level (an economic trend?), but the shops are varied and pleasurable, not merely designed to fleece the weary or the unwary. You can take a brief diversion from a day of other activities on the Magnificent Mile, dignity and schedule preserved.
And the Hancock comes with what they bill as the fastest elevator in America–no more than about 40 seconds to the top. “This is far quicker,” said one tourist wag on a recent afternoon, “than getting up to the 12th floor of the Red Roof Inn.”
For sure, the view from the top of Big John is gorgeous too–the Hancock’s close-to-the-lake position means that Chicago’s intimate relationship with water comes into sharp relief. Splendid views of beaches and tony North Side neighborhoods abound. There are plenty of computer-simulated gizmos for kids, and there’s no underestimating the pleasures of what the Hancock calls its “skywalk,” a sort-of-open-air promenade that’s hemmed in by uber-strong screening, but is about as close to smelling the air on high as one can hope to get in litigious, security-conscious times.
But half of the Big John observation deck stares out mainly at the wet stuff–which does tend to look the same. All in all, the tackier Sears has the higher vista, and the far-better placement. New this summer, the Sears happens to command a stunning view of Millennium Park and its outre bandshell, which like everything in Chicago, looks even better from on high.
Of course, self-styled insiders like to eschew both of our major observation decks and head instead for Chicago’s elevated munchies and cocktails emporia. There are plenty of places in town to eat from, say, the 20th floor, but when it comes to true skyroom dining, one’s choice mainly is between the Signature Room at the Hancock and Cite, the expensive restaurant at the top of Lake Point Tower.
Cite takes some finding–its entrance is tucked away alongside the residential entry at Lake Point Tower, a hassle-conscious building that tolerates rather than embraces its skyborne eatery. And until you’re at the top of the building, there’s nothing glamorous about the ascent. Once you’re there, this is the fading-fast land of gilded columns, Chateaubriand, old-line flourishes and push-the-extras: the costlier prix-fixe menu is shoved in your hand once you sit down. One has to dig one’s way through the slightly more affordable a la carte offerings.
Nothing brings your ego down to earth like not getting a window table at a place you’re visiting for the view.
On a recent visit to Cite, we got parked at an oval-shaped, all-diners-on-one-side two-top. Sure, this was pointed in the direction of the window and the eye-squinting setting sun, but it meant looking through the other diners, who proved persistently non-translucent. All night long, one tended to sit and wonder just what one needed to do to get one of those births by the glass. You could see the disappointment in the date’s eyes.
Still, maybe you’ll be luckier. And the charms of the sunset and the infectious, celebration-atmosphere of the place do offer some compensation. Here, too, much of the view is of water. But if the aim of the altitude quest is atmosphere rather than geeky urban analysis, there’s nothing wrong with that. Pure blue coupled with gentle red can work wonders.
The $14.95 buffet in the aging Signature Room on the 95th floor of the John Hancock is the highest mid-price lunch in town. The secret is more than out–the Hancock’s more comfortable observation deck (not to mention the Cheesecake Factory downstairs) was far less crowded on a recent lunchtime than the cacophonous dining area (no window seat here either). Worse, the food doesn’t get much beyond cafeteria style (although dessert is extra and sodas are $2.50). You can walk around, of course, but it takes some chutzpah to shove yourself past a table and bolt for glass.
But here’s a better answer for those seeking low-price altitude. Head up to the Siggy Room as if going for lunch, but ignore the line and head to the bar upstairs (yes, it’s even higher). Most lunchtimes, the place is almost empty. And they have a guy making tasty-looking paninis to go with cold beverages that actually can be enjoyed with one’s nose pressed against the glass, staring down at all those lucky souls with swimming pools in their buildings.
At night, it’s a different matter.
Unless you’ve got real window clout, an altitude seeker is better off having a drink on terra firma, and heading over to the Sears. Tolerate the tourists because you’re on the way to Chicago’s gritty, gorgeous stars.
The Signature Room/Lounge
Where: John Hancock Center, 875 N. Michigan Ave., 95th-96th Fl.
Make sure to: Head directly for the bar at lunchtime (not the restaurant and not the bar at night), go on the “Skywalk,” bring a camera for lots of do-it-yourself photo ops.
Cut corners: Bar and restaurant elevators can be reached from Pearson Street.
Price of admission: Hancock Observatory admission costs $9.50, $7.50 for ages 62+, $6 for ages 5-12, ages 4 and under are free.
Cite
Where: Lake Point Tower, 505 N. Lake Shore Drive, 70th Fl.
Make sure to: Make a reservation, demand a window table, avoid the prix-fixe meal, make sure you’re not paying.
Cut corners: Go online to opentable.com and all Cite reservation openings are conveniently displayed.
Price of admission: Expect a tab of $50+ per person.
Sears Tower Skydeck
Where: Sears Tower, 233 S. Wacker Drive (for Skydeck, enter on Jackson Boulevard).
Make sure to: Go to the right entrance, close your eyes until you get upstairs, fight off the photo heavy-sell, avoid summer Saturdays.
Cut corners: Skip the movie (head right to the elevator).
Price of admission: $9.95, $7.95 for ages 65+, $6.95 for ages 3-11, ages 2 and under are free.
———-
Next week: We check out Chicago sites in Landmarks.
