What I like or love about my neighborhood or city or state or country....

[Canela]

I miss Chicago. Even more so now that my beloved Cubbies have won the World Series. I've never missed a chance to go back to Wrigley field to catch a game each time I've visited since I moved in 2000.

I miss Chicago. My yearly jazz festival was a "can't miss" weekend of music, ambience and memories. It was a beautiful landscape of all walks of life as far as the eye could see, sitting on blankets and foldable chairs with a picnic basket at Grant Park, enjoying some of the best free jazz music in the world. The lights of Chicago as they come on at dusk, and Navy Pier and their fireworks. I miss the Chicago Bulls when Michael Jordan was helping win championship rings...

I miss catching concerts, musicals and conferences at the Rosemont Horizon, now the Alstate Arena (unless it's name has been changed to something else). I miss concerts at the Ravinia...I miss the House of Blues...I guess I miss the music...

I miss and regret not finishing my degree at Elmhurst. There is no other school like it. Anywhere. I followed my co-dependent heart back here and I know what a huge mistake that was--now.

I miss my Italian ice in watermelon, cantaloupe and other flavors at Freddy's pizzeria in Cicero, which is actually Berwyn at the corner where the lil mom and pop store/eatery sit. Now THAT pizza is incredible! I miss all things Italian...

I prefer Home Run Inn pizza to Giordano's, Connie's or Gino's East, but they are ALL very good eatin. I do NOT miss the prolonged commute anywhere due to the snow. That I do NOT. Lol

I miss going to Soldier Field and watching the Bears play in freezing sub zero temps, and freezing my ass off with many other die hard fans who were doing the same.

I miss the museum of Science and Industry, the Field Museum the Aquarium and the museum of Art with some of the finest creations known to the world... The "adventures" we'd have when I'd take a "skip day" with my children and the moments spent there with them.

I miss my children being that young and even how much I worked and went to school and how even though my support team was so small, we made it work together. I miss rides through O'hare in the evenings, after traffic to take in the lights and soothe my little girl to sleep.

I miss shopping in the lil grocery stores in little village to buy things I could only get there for my tex-mex cuisine. Speaking Spanish there was the only time I was able to do so...I miss that whole experience of little village...I miss riding the L downtown and that horrible curve it takes when passing Cook County hospital. Felt like I was riding a roller coaster...

I miss the fabulous work opportunities and the welcoming of cultural and lifestyle diversity.

I miss my friends, family and the whole experience I've left behind. I'm feeling a tiny bit homesick as I wax nostalgic...maybe more than a tiny bit. There's more but I'll pause right here...

Chicago is a gorgeous place filled with so much culture, architecture, history and charm.

Did I mention how much I miss it?

Thank you A. Spectre for triggering my trip down memory lane...

Originally Posted by A. Spectre

Numerous interesting items about Chicago I like and love. Since I spend around 50% or a bit more time in Chicago a month, I have slowly learned what makes this city such a world class place to visit, work.

First, the 'noises', the hustle and bustle of the people on the sidewalk, the honking of the Uber, Lyft and cabbies hurriedly making their way to their destinations with their fares. Oh the smells, the thousands of restaurants offering up any dish from anywhere within walking distance.



The architecture, if you take a water vessel through the canals you can see the back side of the old buildings with the original stone, marble and steel. So ornate compared to the false fronts that many buildings have.



The fireworks the city offers at no charge every Wednesday and Saturday nights off of the Navy Pier.



The arts, museums, theater, amazing street entertainment



*This woman does a fantastic Tina Turner!