Chicago Elevated’s Holiday Pedway Extravaganza: Too Fun!

Yesterday I hopped on the train with my friend Amy so that we could enjoy two great holiday activities in Chicago, the Chicago Elevated Holiday Pedway Extravaganza and the Christkindlmarket.

I have been on a “regular” (non-holiday) tour of the pedway with Margaret before, but when she came up with the idea of a tour during which her guests could see some of the best holiday decorations in the city without setting foot outside, I was all in.

For those of you who think I’m talking about a Segway tour, which is something Margaret gets all the time, let me clarify. The Pedway is a series of underground tunnels (like a city under the city!) and enclosed above-ground walkways that keep Chicagoans warm and dry, protected from the elements.

watermarked pedway sign

There were eight of us on the tour yesterday, and Margaret was as entertaining as always. She is very funny, expressive, and very, very informed on all things Chicago. The first part of the tour focused mainly on the pedway itself and a little bit of Chicago history. It wasn’t long before we found our first holiday decoration destination. I won’t tell you where it is, but here’s a lovely picture of Margaret from that location.

watermarked margaret

I learned a few new things on this tour, which is always a bonus. One of the things I learned is that pay phones still exist in the pedway, and it costs fifty cents to use them. Here’s Amy, demonstrating how these ancient artifacts work.

watermarked amy

Of course, if you’re going to walk around Chicago checking out the holiday decorations, you MUST stop at Macy’s Marshall Field’s to see the Great Tree in the Walnut Room. I won’t post another picture of it here since I did that last month, but I have to tell you how amazed I was to learn that, because the tree is above the Tiffany ceiling I love so much, the 45-foot structure is actually suspended from the tenth floor. AMAZING.

watermarked great tree

I don’t want to ruin the fun for you by telling you about the rest of the tour. Margaret is doing this tour three more times this year, on Fridays the 16th, 23rd, and 30th of December. The tour is ninety minutes long and is a bargain at $15. Click here for more information and to register.

Keep an eye on Chicago Elevated’s website, too: Margaret does “regular” pedway tours in addition to some others, and yesterday she clued me in on the next tour she’s working on. It’s going to be a doozy. I can’t wait.

Disclosure: If it wasn’t obvious enough in my post, Margaret of Chicago Elevated is a very good friend of mine. I did pay for my own tour ticket, and she had no idea that I was planning to write about the tour. Just FYI.

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