When I was 17 years old, I joined my parents on a trip to Chicago. Dad's cousin and her husband and family lived in the suburb of Hobart IN and were thrilled to show us around the Windy City during our visit. As a longtime enthusiast of skyscrapers--since I was old enough to think--I was equally as thrilled.
Joyce--Dad's cousin--even rented a limousine for the experience and made sure we hit all the high points...quite literally. We didn't visit the John Hancock Center, but we made up for it with a tour of the top floor of the Sears Tower, now known as the Willis Tower. At the time, it was the tallest building in the United States. It has slipped to third with the additions to the New York City skyline of One World Trade Center in 2014 and Central Park Tower in 2020.
But the name change has done nothing to stop the Willis Tower from still being a highly sought-after attraction in Chicago. One of the attractions WITHIN in the attraction is the Skydeck on the 103rd floor, the highest observation deck on the planet. And what about the perfect compliment to that view? A deep-dish pizza at a restaurant called Giordano's. I'm sure it's extraordinary, but I bet that view makes it taste even better:
If there was a restaurant anywhere within the then-Sears Tower at the time of our visit, I wasn't aware of it; we ate lunch at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. Dad's cousin paid because, well, good Lord.
But pizza in the sky without boarding an airplane? Who's ready for "lift-off"?