Chicagoing: Mercury Canine Cruise

One of our favorite things to do is to become "Tourists in our own City" and truly experience everything Chicago has to offer. With summer winding down, we've been working especially hard to do things outdoors; we were so excited when Pip decided to organize local-area dogs together for a ride on the Mercury Canine Cruise.
Downtown Chicago is filled with amazing architecture, that I often overlook when I'm just headed to Marshall Fields. This cruise lets you enjoy the city from another perspective with your dog in tow.We set off on a 90 minute tour on this boat packed full of people, their dogs, and a giant red water bowl:The boat travels down the Chicago River before entering Lake Michigan and passing Navy Pier. It was neat to see the Tall Ships lined up along the pier:
I liked seeing the buildings from a different perspective:
Though we'd been on the same cruise last year, it was still a little bit different; we heard some different stories from our guide.
Miss M treated the boat like a giant car, using the opportunity to stick her head out the "window" and watch the scenery passing by:
Apparently, she was also making these types of faces at passing boats:Because she kept checking to see whether I caught her:Meanwhile, Mr. B spent his ride as an 80-pound lap dog:And it was so fun to meet our blog friends in real life. Little Josie was one of the most well-behaved dogs we've ever met. She sat nicely the whole time, soaking in the Chicago River smells, but was smart enough to hide in the shade under her seat:It was also great to meet Neeko and his family. They were so prepared, anticipating everything they needed to keep their dogs comfortable on this exceptionally hot day. We'll have to get some pointers from them:
And while we had met Pip earlier this summer at the Red Door Walk, the pooches were so excited to be reunited.
Though it was hard for Miss M to keep her emotions in check near this George Clooney look alike.