Chicago Detours is offering a couple of freebies on Friday, Nov. 26 and Saturday, Nov. 27. Free tours will be offered on those days at 10:30 a.m. Reservations are required and can be made via their website. Meet tour leader Amanda Scotese, a former guide with PBS travel show host Rick Steves, just inside the southeast entrance of Chase Tower at 10:30 a/m. The tour takes about two hours, before it winds up at the Chicago Cultural Center.
The tour guests avoid the cold by using underground passages and shortcuts through buildings as they engage with hidden histories and view archival photos via iPad. There are three iPads that the group share. These supplement Amanda’s talk with maps, historic pictures, and ads from long ago that highlight how shopping in the Loop has changed over the years. The tours are limited to 24 people. Normally the tour costs $20/person, but this first few in this indoor series are being offered for free. Contact Amanda at the Chicago Detours site to sign up.
The “Inside the Loop” tour explores the historic beauty of sites like the First United Methodist Church and contemporary curiosities like the Block 37 shopping mall. Chicago Detours founder Scotese keeps things moving with stories about today’s Loop and its past history and add to the experience with the images and maps on the iPads.
From Chicago’s architectural and cultural offerings to the controversy over the Picasso sculpture in Daley Plaza and a discussion of the odd things that were once for sale at Marshall Field’s, this tour offers a way to walk off your post-Thanksgiving pounds while learning more about Chicago’s secrets.
Chicago Detours will continue to offer the tours on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays for $20 per person through the end of March.
Chicago Detours launched in July of 2010. “I believe that travel should be a meaningful experience,” Scotese said.
