Sweet Home Chicago #LoveThisCity #MC

I was born and raised in Chicago. I grew up with a “fronchroom”, and chased friends through gangways and alleys, and I know you’re not supposed to order a hot dog with ketchup (but I do it anyway because that’s how I like them). I #LoveThisCity because it’s my home, but it’s so much more too. 

As a teenager and 20-something I loved shopping at Ragstock and The Alley, watching performances of Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind late into the night on weekends, and flashing my membership card at the Museum of Contemporary Art. I felt like I knew the city pretty well, and that it was the perfect place for young adults with no kids.

My love for Chicago really blossomed when I had kids and I discovered how family-friendly the city is. People are generally nice and helpful, the food is awesome, and there are SO many places to go and a huge variety of things to do. Now I get to explore the city all over again through the eyes of my kids.

Chicago’s food is amazing. That just goes without saying. Deep dish pizza, hot dogs, beef sandwiches, obvious. But you can’t miss the ice cream either. The Original Rainbow Cone can’t be missed and it’s always a treat sharing it with my kids.

I #LoveThisCity because there are great shows, performances, and art. Traveling shows like Cirque du Soliel stop here to entertain, but Chicago also has amazing theatres like the Chicago Children’s Theatre that create shows especially for families.

Chicago has so many fantastic museums and they’re all so much fun for families. The Museum of Contemporary Art has family days with special activities for the kids and sometimes they even have interactive art exhibits. Cooper loved climbing on art!

My family loves just seeing the city from different perspectives. Whether we’re on a sightseeing cruise on the Chicago River, or looking at the city beneath our feet the view is always amazing and memorable.

Even though Chicago has a lot of skyscrapers, there’s plenty of nature to explore too. The butterfly haven at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum is one of our favorite places to go because we can get up close to the birds and butterflies, or spend a cold winter day in gardens at the Garfield Park Conservatory.

I love that Chicago has little nooks and crannies to be found. For instance, on a seemingly normal street on the Near West Side you find this: a giant door with a monster behind it!

And right there in the heart of the city is Millennium Park. There’s ice skating in the winter, free family activities all summer, and a fountain to splash in when it’s hot. There’s even Cloud Gate, or “The Bean”, to see Chicago, and yourself, in a brand new way.

I have a mental to-do list of things I want to do and places I want to visit in Chicago. But it seems that the more items we cross off that list, the longer it grows. Every time we visit a place or have an adventure Chicago I think of two, or three, or four more I want to do. I #LoveThisCity because it never ends. There are constantly new discoveries to be made and adventures to be had.

See my Google + album for more photos of why I #LoveThisCity of Chicago!