Project 365: Day 286

Today I'm in Chicago visiting the University of Illinois, Chicago and had some free time. I was going to go to a coffee shop to get some work done (or surf the web for more wedding stuff!) but instead, I googled the Willis (aka Sears) Tower online and discovered that it was only 1.2 miles from where I was parked!! I've been wanting to go up in the tower ever since I took over the state of Illinois, soooo I headed into the city!

After about a 15 minute walk, I was at the Willis Tower and on my way to the top - 103 floors above the street and on the top of the highest building in the western hemisphere!!!

I have to say, Taipei 101 has a lot of things on the Willis Tower: the wind dampener, the general feel of the viewing deck, the fact that you can actually go outside while you're up on the top, not to mention that it is a taller building... BUT what Taipei 101 doesn't have, is this:

A completely clear box that hangs out over the edge of the building! CRAZY!!! This is definitely something special and worth checking out. I'm glad I visited on a random Thursday afternoon in December because these are tiny little boxes (there are 4 of them) and i can imagine that if it was a crowded day you could wait FOREVER to get out on one. Today wasn't crowded at all and I had no problem getting some quality time out on the ledge.

but I can't say it didn't freak me out! I spent most of my time close to the building and when I did make it all the way to the edge I had some serious queasiness going on, I had to keep catching myself, I just felt like I was going to fall at any moment - despite the fact that I was standing on completely solid ground. That sh*t is scary!!! The plastic creaked a couple of times too, which of course freaked me out even more and sent me straight back into the building!!

Not a bad way to spend an afternoon. I'm glad I went!