Bonus Post (Gbye Chicago): Thing 13

50 Things I'll Miss About Chicago -->

Thing 13:

Spending my money at all the tourist attractions.

There's something to be said about Chicago having so many places to go and so many things to see and do (... and good times to be had ... wait, that's Hersheypark's ad from the eighties ...) that, after a dozen years as my adopted hometown, I've only now started to think that maybe I've run out of options.  And there are so many favorites, that there's not room to list them all ... but the show space at the Aquarium with its view of the Lake, and the miniature-rooms and shadow-boxes installations at the Art Museum, and the annual Christmas Trees of the World exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry .. and *this* view (it's me ... that's my Adidas sneaker ... and don't zoom in or you can see up my shorts!) stepping out over Chicago on the 103rd floor near the top of the Sears Tower (look, people, you can rename it as Willis, but when I arrived in town, it was the Sears Tower, so that's what it will always be in my mind) ... they are all for sure on that list!

COUNTER:  Ummm ... the international swimming hall of fame will be in the same town as me in 13 days ... so there's that ...