How to go up in the John Hancock building in Chicago for free!

If you’re in Chicago and want to get a fantastic view of the city and Lake Michigan, then there are two places to go, the Willis Tower and the John Hancock Center.  While I have no tips for the Willis Tower, I can tell you that you can go up the John Hancock Center for free, well, almost free.  The Signature Room on the 95^th floor and the Signature Lounge on the 96^th offer both free admissions.  The only catch is you have to order an entrée at the restaurant or order at least one drink in the lounge.  You won’t be able to access the observation deck but you’re only a few floors below that and still get the same spectacular view. 

As you can imagine, the prices are as high as the building but if you’re going to pay to get the view, you may as well get a drink with it!  I enjoy hanging out in the lounge in the early afternoon while sipping a fine whiskey on the rocks.  Just make sure it’s a clear day if you want to get some good pictures.  It does get crowded at night so try to get in late afternoon or early evening if you want to see the light of the city.  If you plan on eating in the restaurant, reservations are a must.  A limited bar menu is served in the lounge.  Think small appetizers and sandwiches but the quality is top notch. 

So the next time your in Chicago or if you need to impress your friends, take the free ride to the 95^th or 96^th and enjoy a fine meal or drink with your view. 

The entrance is on the south side of the building by the Chase Bank, not the observation entrance. 

This policy is fairly common at any observation tower with a restaurant and bar.  



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All photos taken by Paul Clough.  

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General Alcohol Consumption and Sales Laws of Texas

The following are the general alcohol sales and consumption laws of Texas

Must purchase at least 100ml of liquor, no single 50ml hotel mini sales

Hard Liquor sales:

Monday through Saturday: 10:00 AM – 9:00 PM

Beer and wine sales:

Monday through Friday: 7:00 AM – Midnight
Saturday: 7:00 AM – 1:00 AM
Sunday: Noon – Midnight

Alcohol Service in Restaurants, bars and clubs:

Monday through Saturday: 7:00 AM – 2:00 AM
Sunday: 10:00 AM – Noon (must be served with food), normal service after noon til 2:00 AM

These are the general laws however each city and county in Texas can enact ordinances to further restrict the sales and consumption.  There are currently about 22 dry counties in Texas.

The legal age in Texas as with the rest of the country to purchase and or consume alcohol is 21. 

If in doubt, put it down. Not responsible for inaccurate information!

Please consume alcohol responsibly and don't drink and drive!

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Visit my and subscribe to my youtube channel!

https://www.youtube.com/user/justanotherlabrat

Visit my ETSY shop!

https://www.etsy.com/shop/theTAILlor

All photos taken by Paul Clough.  

© All Rights Reserved.  Please contact for permission to use photos.

Do Reality TV shows benefit or hurt the industries they cover?

Reality TV.  It seems that there is a show for just about any industry, occupation or lifestyle.  Deadliest Catch, Storage Wars, Pawn Stars, Parking Wars, Gold Rush, Extreme Couponing and many more.  I’m not talking about game shows like Survivor, The Amazing Race, Big Brother, America’s Got Talent or anything like that.  We all like to see someone else succeed in their business cause it gives us normal folk inspiration and hope that we can do it too.  But do these shows do more harm than good? 

I like Pawn Stars to a certain extent because it shows the business aspect of the pawn industry and the team at Pawn Stars for the most part, seem to be on the level and ethical.  Obviously, when selling or pledging your items to a pawn shop, it comes down to who offers the best deal.  Most customers fail to realize that a pawn shop has to buy an item at a price where they can make a profit when they sell it.  But I have seen many instances where the staff of Pawn Stars have gone above and beyond the ethical standards to ensure that their customers are getting a fair deal, even when the customers tend to be ill-informed or greedy.  I’ll use the Faberge Spider Brooch as an example.  The seller came in asking for $2,000 for her brooch which she did not know much about.  The “Old Man” without hesitation offered $15,000 as his final offer but yet the woman decided that if he would offer $15k, he would offer more.  While there is speculation to whether or not the brooch was authentic, the point is that the “Old Man” could have just took her $2,000 offer and made a killing but he knew based on his knowledge of the item that a fair offer was considerably higher than the customer asked for. 

On the other end of the spectrum, I think the show Shipping Wars may be bad for the independent the shipping industry.  After seeing the first season of Shipping Wars, I would more than likely not use the site uShip to ship my precious items.  Grant it that any reality TV series only represents a tiny fraction of the industry, I still feel it represents the industry as a whole.  If one person is doing their job a particular way, then more than likely others are as well.  Seeing how the drivers handled their loads and their equipment would cause me to be leery of trusting them with my stuff.  But I guess that’s what insurance is for.  Ironically, I did ship some things cross country using Uship and there were a few hiccups but my stuff did make it within the window.  I'll share this story sometime. 

In some instances, I think these shows serve as a vehicle for recruiting new people.  After watching a season of Deadliest Catch, who wouldn’t feel compelled to try it for a season?  Perhaps you might want to hunt down a gold claim to dig for riches?  Wrestle crocodiles in the Bayou?  Buy a storage unit and see what treasures it may hold? 

It’s important to note that while it looks easy to go buy five hundred dollars worth of groceries for five dollars with your satchel of coupons, very few people can pull it off.  Of all the lockers you see on Storage Wars, they only show the best stuff and hilarious items but only a fraction of the footage they gather. 

In the end, it’s up to the viewer to decide what the show does for them.  Most people just watch the shows because they are interesting but some people find that these shows light that spark to try something different. 

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Visit my and subscribe to my youtube channel!

https://www.youtube.com/user/justanotherlabrat

Visit my ETSY shop!

https://www.etsy.com/shop/theTAILlor

All photos taken by Paul Clough.  

© All Rights Reserved.  Please contact for permission to use photos.