Chicago Architecture Center River Cruise aboard Chicago’s First Lady

Recognized three years in a row as one of the best boat tours in North America (USA Today Readers’ Choice 2023 Awards) and the Best Tour in 2023 (Chicago Reader), the official Chicago Architecture Center (CAC) River Cruise aboard Chicago’s First Lady kicks off its 2024 season on Sunday, March 17. This year marks the 31st season of the tour, operated in partnership by Chicago’s First Lady Cruises and the Chicago Architecture Center (CAC). The CAC River Cruise aboard Chicago’s First Lady is the only cruise narrated by more than 150 CAC-certified volunteer docents who thrill guests with their personal stories and wealth of knowledge about Chicago’s “canyon of architecture.” Lauded as a “must-do” activity by locals and tourists alike, the 90-minute CAC River Cruise aboard Chicago’s First Lady glides down all three branches of the Chicago River, providing guests with an unobstructed, open-air, 360-degree view of the city’s wide variety of architectural styles, including art deco, neoclassicism, mid-century modernism and postmodernism. Passengers will learn the fascinating stories of more than 50 buildings and 13 bascule bridges along the river, as well as the iconic figures who designed and built them. The tours, which are continuously updated to reflect the city’s changing skyline, are led by CAC-certified volunteer docents, who undergo nearly 100 hours of training, plus an additional 12 weeks of study about Chicago’s architecture. No tour is alike, as each docent brings their unique background and focus to their tour narration. The CAC River Cruise aboard Chicago’s First Lady offers complimentary language translation services. Guests will have the opportunity to listen to a pre-recorded tour narration on their smartphone in four different languages, including Spanish, French, Japanese and Korean. The translation service is accessible by downloading a free app that connects directly to a special wi-fi network onboard. The narration is triggered based on the location of the vessel at that time in the tour’s route, which will help ensure those who use the technology have a similar experience as others listening to live narration. A portion of proceeds from each CAC River Cruise ticket supports the CAC’s nonprofit educational mission. The purchase of two CAC River Cruise tickets helps fund sketching materials and drafting tools for a student. The CAC produces programs for children, students, teens and families, including Girls Build!, Teen Fellows and the Newhouse Architecture + Design Competition in pursuit of CAC’s mission to inspire people to discover why design matters. The CAC’s field trips, award-winning publications and online tools expand the CAC’s reach into communities across and beyond Chicagoland. Chicago’s First Lady Cruises is deeply committed to bettering the city and is excited to announce a new corporate social responsibility partner for 2024. CFL will be supporting Blessings in a Backpack with various initiatives and donations throughout the season. The organization strives to ensure children don’t go hungry on the weekends. One in seven children in Chicagoland eat meals at school but don’t have affordable, healthy food on the weekends. Blessings in a Backpack partners with corporations and communities to fill that need and provide bags of ready-to-eat food for school-aged children on the weekends. As a fourth-generation family-owned and operated company, Chicago’s First Lady Cruises celebrates other local businesses by offering guests the opportunity to purchase locally based food and drinks aboard its tours, from Open Water, Revolution Brewing, Garrett's Popcorn and Northman Cider.

Event Links

Tickets: https://go.evvnt.com/2322164-0

Website: https://go.evvnt.com/2322164-2

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