Why walk from the train station to Michigan Avenue when you can take a pleasant boat ride on the Chicago River — for free — on the Water Taxi?
It’s only free for the first two weeks of service, but that’s when we were there. After viewing the Batcolumn, we walked back past the Metra station to the river (which is just half a block east). The Water Taxi was pulling up to the dock as we arrived.
There were maybe seven other passengers. Everyone sat on the front or back deck to enjoy the view and the weather. The ride took perhaps 10 minutes. It lacked the narration of the expensive boat tours, but for free, who cares? After the first two weeks, the fare is $2.00, I believe. That’s still one of the cheaper adventures in the city (where a bottle of pop can cost $3.00 or more).
We were dropped off a half block west of the Michigan Avenue Bridge, on the backside of the Wrigley Building.
For some reason, I felt like I was getting away with doing something sneaky.