6 Simple Steps to Help Anyone Fall in Love With a City.

Driving home from Ypsilanti, MI tonight, I came up with these simple steps to rekindling a love of Chicago:
 1. Make sure you have good music playing on your car stereo that reminds you of Chicago (I prefer some mellow Wilco or perhaps anything from the album Illinois by Sufjan Stevens).
2.  Begin your drive about the time the is sun starting to set (for me, it was about 6:30 CST).
3. Start to drive along I-90 beginning with where it crosses I-94 in Indiana.  Follow the Indiana Toll Road to the Chicago Skyway.
4.  Once you’re on the Skyway, exit at Stoney Island Avenue.
5.  Follow the signs to Lake Shore Drive.
6.  Take Lake Shore Drive to its northern end. 

3 tips to ensuring the plan’s success:
1.  Have just a hint of haze so the buildings lights blend together in the distance.
2.  Take the drive on a warm August evening in a convertible. 
3.  Let someone else do the driving and just enjoy the ride. 

I think my favorite part of this drive is that you get a full tour of every part of Chicago in  the 30 minutes or so it takes to make the drive.  You start on the far south side with the factories, small neighborhoods, and such.  Then move through one of the rougher areas of town, immediately followed by Jackson Park (the actual park) and then some of the University of Chicago.  Next you follow LSD up to Soldier Field, the museum campus, and downtown.  Finish off with the Gold Coast, Lincoln Park, and some of the north side neighborhoods.
I’m not saying that I stopped loving Chicago.  I’m just saying that I re-fell in love with it tonight.  This is worth a couple hours and a few gallons of gas.  Trust me.