Summer Of George — Local services in Chicago

My extended family and I, elementary student through retiree ages all found the tour interesting from various aspects. All ages of the family with vastly different interests were able to find something of interest along the tour. Be forewarned, there were quite a few dad jokes along the way, but presented in an endearing manner. Much of our family appreciated the jokes and cleverness. I felt the subjects were fairly broad and diverse, almost creating a spiderweb of facts that all related to each other. The architectural style identification, historic progression and it's tie to the historic events of the time. The history of famous architects as linked through multiple buildings, children and students and their respective creations was helpful in identifying various features and decades. The evolution of materials from stylistic, strength & durability and environmental perspectives was of particular interest to me. Plenty of breaks, onboard bar, and plenty of wit, which make this the best architectural tour I have taken in Chicago. All family members agreed, this was a very good tour, and our tour guide Dave was noticeably very good at his job. Well worth it, in our opinions.

For those with kids: My daughter found particular fascination hearing about the 1871 Chicago Fire, having recently read the "I Survived" graphic novel on this topic. She learned new information, and connected with the book and information in a new way. Seeing where the fire started, where the fire fighters were coming from, and the portion and width of the river the fire...

Enjoyed a "Sunday Funday" with Fam on Jul-2nd. It was an absolute perfect day. The DJ & host were AWESOME. Staff was good... ALL except for one rude bartender. She bartended the lower-deck. She was rude and wrongly accused some members of stealing after they'd spent a gi-normous amount for over-price bottle-service, and most of us were separately paying for additional drinks. Why offend PAYING customers? We were obviously out to have a good time..! She, on the other hand, was disorganized, overwhelmed by the crowd, and plain mean...! People like HER is very bad for business and speaks volume for poor service. I do hope the Summer of George sympathize with our experience, and hope they address the individual responsible. Chicago is full of inexpensive, FRIENDLY, fun things to do & see, and we (immediate family of 35+ individuals) CHOSE the Summer of George for our entertainment. This would have been a 5 star review, but after witnessing the encounter with the rude lower-deck bartender, I'm left with a bad taste in...

Took the 10:00am cruise on a Friday morning. Boarding is a good walk south at the River City Club (south on Wells) and was orderly, but get there early to have your choice of seats on board.

Crew was Captain Ralph, 1st Mate Sam, Bartender Julia, and Tour Guide Hillary (who only works on Fridays here). Everyone was super friendly and energetic.

Hillary’s knowledge and passion for Chicago’s architecture was evident and we thoroughly enjoyed our tour! We’re still talking about buildings that are “all cake and no frosting vs. all frosting” or the latest, where frosting is artfully added. Great sense of humor and thanks for “arranging” the wonderful chocolate aroma near the Montgomery Ward buildings!

We stumbled upon Hillary (figuratively) on Saturday while she was leading a walking tour in the lobby of a FLW building and she graciously included us in her talk and asked if we had any questions. She’s a class act!

Highly recommend this tour and taking it on Friday with Hillary. You won’t be...