I finally made it over to Chicago's Signature Lounge in the John Hancock building on Tuesday night. After an ear-popping elevator ride to the 96th floor, I stepped inside and was surprised to see plenty of martini-swilling tourists decked out in cargo shorts and flip-flops. I guess I've just always had this impression of the place being so swank as to require some type of dress code. Part of me felt a notch above the gaping tourists in my flowy skirt and arch-killing heels, while the other part wished I had thrown a pair of flats in my bag for the walk home. At least the tourists were using good, commonsense.It was around 8 p.m. and my drinking companion and I arrived just before a line formed behind us. We were seated in the middle of the room, among a cluster of other tables full of people vying for window seats. My friend noticed that a couple with a killer corner view was about to leave, so we staked out their table and avoided making eye contact with the waitress.
About fifteen minutes later the coveted spot was ours. Well, it was ours if you don't count the camera-toting tourists hovered over us at every angle. One guy even pulled out a tripod and did a full shoot of his fiance while she struck seductive poses near the window. The John Hancock building may be known as the observatory for its brilliant cityscape view, but the real observations here begin with the people inside.
Not even Signature Room's boisterous crowd could compete with my perfect view of the sunset, though. Tack on my carefully-crafted dirty martini with hand-stuffed blue cheese olives (three, for good luck) and the noise around me was instantly dulled.
1 comment:
i, too, was appalled to see slobby tourists in street garb on my 2 trips to the Signature Lounge. If they're charging this much for weak drinks, I'd like the view inside to be somewhat as nice as the view outside. Not necessarily attractive people, but neat and clean would be nice.
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