This unique transportation company has entertained and informed millions of locals and visitors with all day sight-seeing since 1994. We never thought to ride the Hop on Hop off because we are "locals". But what the hay- easier than cabbing, walking or driving so lets jump on Bubs. Maybe we'll even learn something...our knowledgeable and lively tour guides really made the trip fun. Covering 13 miles and 15 stops the ride is an eye popping adventure through the heart of Chicago.
As a former Docent for the Chicago Architecture Foundation I am still in awe of the skyscrapers in Chicago. The first skyscraper in the world was built in Chicago. It was called the Home Insurance Building. Before the skyscraper was built, people were concerned about the elevators and were afraid that they would fall until a man named Otis discovered a way to make elevators safe for everyone. Another fellow named William LeBaron Jenney discovered a way to use steel beams for the skeleton of the buildings while all other buildings at the time used bricks for the inside and out. The Home Insurance Building was completed in 1885 and demolished in 1931- was 10 stories high/138 feet tall. It was made out of steel and the outer facing material was bricks. Skyscrapers are called skyscrapers because people thought that it looked like they were scraping the sky. 
Certainly the Chicago Fire of 1871 had a lot to do with what we now see in the city. There were few buildings that were not destroyed and the Chicago Water Tower was one of them. The principle reason was because the structure was one of the few buildings that wasn't made out of wood-it was made out of limestone. And there it still stands today- among all those skyscrapers. When the fire was over, 300 of the 300,000 people of Chicago were killed, 100,000 left homeless, 17,500 buildings were destroyed, 73 miles of street gone. An immense effort to rebuild occurred...even filling in some of the lake front by adding fire trash to extend the land front.
Most of the early skyscrapers emerged in the land-strapped areas of Chicago, London and New York. As better construction and engineering technology became available, New York and Chicago became the focal point of the competition for the tallest building in the world. 
The Willis Tower (Sears Tower) was completed in 1974, one year after the World Trade Center, and surpassed it as the world's tallest building. It was the first building to employ the bundled tube structural system. The building was not surpassed in height until the Pertronas Towers (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) were constructed in 1998. It is still the tallest building in the U.S.
Loaded with landmarks and monuments the bus tour was a great way to revisit my hometown. Remember Marina Towers in the swinging 60's? A definite must do for you visitors and locals. Get on the bus Gus! Also included on the tour are 3 side tours- Northside, Westside and Southside. We only had time to do the Southside tour- very much known for it's residential architecture. Frank Lloyd Wrights Prairie School design had great influence. 
And of course the hot spot on the tour was a drive by of our Presidents Chicago home. Hello Secret Service.
FRIDAY NIGHT PRE WEDDING FUN AT THE IRISH LOOP
As mentioned we are back in Chi town for a family wedding so a family get together at the Emerald Loop was in order. Nothing like an Irish bar for some Serbs. And a good time was had by all. "The family. We were a strange little band of characters trudging though life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another's deserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us together."
ERMA BOMBECK
