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Chicago Lakefront

I Heart Chicago

You are here: Home / North America / USA / Chicago / I Heart Chicago

//  by Lisa 3 Comments

 

My morning routine (well, for 2 weeks so far anyway): Wake up. Fall back asleep. Wake up again and finally drag my ‘older-by-the-day ass’ out of bed. Pee (horror! Yes, I urinate, just like you). Down some orange juice.  Check email for what should be only a half hour, but invariably ends up being more than an hour…just have to respond to one more…or, ugh, two hours. Throw on some running togs.  Check email one more time. Finally, pull myself away from this damn black hole and out the door for a run along the majestic ocean-like Lakefront. Once outside, I can’t believe I wasted so much time inside when it is just so damn beautiful out.

Springtime in Chicago

Springtime in Chicago. Birds are chirping. People are masticating their meaty burgers (sounds dirty) around Rush Street at outdoor cafes (crap, it’s lunchtime already). The lakefront is peppered with Chicagoans (who obviously ‘work’ my hours) running, walking, blading, playing Frisbee, tossing a football around, walking their dainty dogs whose legs pitter-patter down the path like tiny motors,  and other general lazing about like lying in the sand in a bikini soaking up spring’s first warm rays of Vitamin D.  It’s wonderful. It’s infectious.  it’s my tonic. I can’t help, but take a seat on the edge of the lakefront path between North Avenue Beach and Oak Street Beach and just soak it all in – the gorgeous city views, people having fun just being outdoors and alive, the parents playing with their kiddies under the trees.  I love this place. And apparently so do all these other people.  Okay, I’ve said it before and perhaps repeated myself here, but Chicago has a piece of my heart.  I have never lived in a place where the people love their city so much (honestly, nearly everyone I am catching up with repeatedly shares this same attitude) and embrace it so fiercely at the first sign of not needing a scarf.

Once the warm weather hits here, you would never know we are a northern city. Nearly every place has either outdoor seating, or a rooftop deck, or big ‘glass garage doors’ that fly open to let the outside in.  From Chipotle to Dublin’s Pub to Ace Hardware (yes…they even put out their for-sale patio table sets on the sidewalk and in true Chicago form…people sit in them for a coffee break), they become outdoor hangouts. In a few days span, we went from big down jackets to flip flops and shorts.


I realized today, that no matter how bad I feel or what’s going on to bring me down, a dose of the lakefront is all I need. Thank you Chicago.

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About Lisa

Lisa Lubin is an established travel/food writer and photographer, three-time Emmy® award-winning TV producer, video consultant, and travel industry expert. After more than a decade in broadcast television she took a sabbatical, which turned into three years traveling around the world. She created this blog in 2006. Lisa also owns LLmedia, a media & video consulting business. Her writing and photography has been published by American Way, Hemispheres, Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, West Jet Magazine, Scandinavian Traveler, Orbitz, and Luxury Las Vegas. Her book, The Ultimate Travel Tips: Essential Advice for Your Adventures, is available on Amazon.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kevin Fitzpatrick

    April 14, 2010 at 3:57 am

    Damn right.

    Reply
  2. Mar

    April 14, 2010 at 4:20 am

    I love that you love the city I was born and raised in. It really is the best!

    Reply
  3. Kyle

    April 19, 2010 at 3:10 am

    Even though we're in Thailand, you're making us wish that we were in Chicago. Ah, we miss it so much!

    Reply

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Lisa LubinI chucked it all – the TV job, the guy, the “normal” life – to travel around the world. I've been to 60+ countries & live a life based more on experiences. I want to inspire you to travel slowly & eat locally! MORE...

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