Location Taken: Navy Pier, Chicago, Illinois
Time Taken: April 2008
I’m not sure if I’ve ever been on a Ferris Wheel. I’ve seen a number over the years, but I don’t really have any recollection of seeing the world from the top of one, and that seems the sort of thing that would stick in my memory.
I mean, I still recall riding one of those flying swing things when I was seven or so, the one year we visited the local County Fair not long after we moved to the area. It’s those tall things with long sturdy chains hanging down a long distance, with a chair at the end of each chain. You sit in the chair, the top of the pole starts spinning, and the centripetal forces push you out and up until you’re flying nearly horizontal to the ground, nicely above the treetops. Quite fun, really.
I think the only times I had the opportunity to ride a Ferris Wheel, I was either far more interested in the other stuff going on around me or I was just passing trough the area and not actually stopping at the roadside festival going on.
For instance, here, I was going on a nice long photographing walk through a lot of downtown Chicago. Including visiting Navy Pier and Millennium Park and the like, major tourist spots I just hadn’t really visited in my few months living in the city. I didn’t even really stop anywhere, just looked around.
Of course, I don’t think this Ferris Wheel was active. It was a cold early April day, after all, not exactly the height of tourist season. Most of the attractions at Navy Pier were closed, and while I didn’t get close enough to the entrance to the Wheel to check, I didn’t see it turning at all while walking through the area…
