The high life in Chicago
Isobel Dickinson enjoys a taste of the Windy City’s food, music and history
Stepping on to a one-and-a-half inch thick glass ledge more than a thousand feet above
Chicago’s streets, I’m wishing I’d skipped breakfast. “It’s perfectly safe”, I’m told as I place the tip of a toe into a transparent box clinging to the side of the Willis
( formerly Sears) Tower.
A glass floor is the only thing between me and a
1,350ft drop to the pavement below, so that extra pancake is feeling like a bad idea.
Despite how terrifying it is, Skydeck and the Ledge and the building they call home are one of the Windy City’s most popular attractions. This year they’re opening a fifth box to accommodate the thousands of visitors a day. The incredible views span the skyline and beyond to Lake Michigan and across four states – as well as that bird’s-eye view to the streets way below, if you can stomach it.
I’m slightly reassured by the fact each box can hold up to 10,000lbs. But if I stay much longer in a city where the pizzas come thicker than the glass ledge I’m standing on, I might be putting that to the test.
I was fortunate to be among the first