Traveling is a pricey hobby with transportation expenses, whether it is gas, airfare, train tickets or bus tickets being a big part of the expense.  Like most people, I have dreamed of traveling. Being able to go to places I’ve only seen on magazines or on television. Unfortunately, with the amount of money needed to travel, I just take pleasure in researching different places that I would like to go to in the unforeseeable, but definitely not impossible, future. A future when I will be able to spread my wings and explore places beyond the boundaries of where I live.

One of those places is Chicago. I’ve seen a lot of Chicago from movies and TV series. Chicago is a place very rich in history and culture dating back to the 17th century. You can imagine what stories streets and buildings may tell you.

In particular, I am interested in the stories and places where Al Capone operated his business. I aam also interested in the Magnificent Mile, the Great Fire and or which parts of the novel “The Devil in the White City” by Erik Larson are true.

Spoons and Banana Split — Image by © Royalty-Free/Corbis

Did you know that the Ice Cream sundae originated from Evanston, IL? It is the sweet and soft dessert that everyone loves. What about the largest bakery in the world, Nabisco, which is located in Illinois too. One of my favorite snacks, Twinkies , was invented on April 6, 1930 in no other than River Forest, Illinois.

Illinois is also 80% farm land which makes them very rich in harvest especially pumpkins. This made it the self-proclaimed pumpkin capital of the world. In fact, they hold a pumpkin festival every year in September to further capitalize on their call-to-fame.

There are a lot of places that I would like to explore. Surely, there is also more to Illinois that I have yet to “see” even in the books or websites that I have visited. I will get there soon enough. In the meantime, I will get grooming my wings, so I can spread them far and wide when the opportunity knocks.