CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Although it's entertaining in certain circles to imagine Chicago as a lawless gangland, with Tommy guns and Uzis firing from every passing vehicle, the reality is absolutely different. Once you start down the dark path of fear, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Thank you venkatesh_eng, Val, Jerry, William, John, merrytexan, jonsailhob, jimvanells, junglejim1949, tomcat! Crowds downtown are less with the restaurant and business restrictions. The weather has been mostly wonderful.

Hereford Loc: Palm Coast, FL

Those are all exceptional, sharp shots well lighted and with beautiful color. Nuff said.

JRiepe Loc: Southern Illinois

Tomcat, the places photographed here are not the high crime areas and they were not taken after dark. Southern Illinois south of Effingham is hilly and scenic compared to most of the rest of the state.

Earnest Botello Loc: Hockley, Texas

Great series, Paul.

tomcat

Thanks for the travel tips. To me, a city is a city but the real beauty of a state lies in its mountains and plains and rivers and valleys. So we have no plans to visit any cities.

I’m from NC but I wouldn’t suggest you visit any of our cities. The real beauty of NC lies in the Outer Banks and our mountains. The only city I would suggest is Winston-Salem in order to visit Old Salem, a refurbished Moravian settlement. All the other cities are just drab buildings

JeffDavidson Loc: Originally Detroit Now Los Angeles

Nice group and interesting. I used to drive there from Detroit. Great city, museums etc.

David in Dallas Loc: Dallas, Texas, USA

A very fine set of the city. I've been to Chicago a few times, the most recent in 2013 as the begin point of an AMTRAK rail tour to Seattle, WA with 4 days and nights in Glacier National Park (a trip I highly recommend). I did not photograph the same things you did on your walk, except I have a panorama from near the Adler Planetarium of the skyline that is similar to yours. If you're curious about what I saw, you can see them here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/8712554@N02/sets/72157635030487917/

Susan yamakawa

My favorite city👍👍🤗🤗

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Wilmington has a wonderful River District and old warehouses down around the battleship.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

David, quite a quick tour and many of my same photography stops. Thanks for sharing the link!

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Thank you Hereford, Jerry, Earnest, tomcat, Jeff, David, Susan! Last year we had already had our first snow by Nov 1. This year Fall has been a lot of warm sunny days. Stay safe.

tomcat

Yes, but the best part of the area is at Southport and the trip down NC 133 from Wilmington to Old Brunswick Towne. I forgot the year it was settled, but it's one of the oldest English settlements along the east coast and pre-dates the Revolutionary War. It was an ideal spot because the entrance of the Cape Fear River and the Atlantic Ocean. The Brits burned it during the Revolutionary War. However the walls of the old St John church are still standing and the State is continuing to dig the old foundations of the town. So if you are ever hankering for a cool week-end trip, this would be one of the places to go. (and you can see those old incredible homes on 3rd street (US-17) in Wilmington---back in those days, the merchants were the ones with the money and they built some incredible homes that rival those in Charleston, SC. The Bellamy Mansion and Museum on 5th and Market St is alone worth the trip from Chicago just to see it. The last time I visited this "house", I took over 200 pictures of just it alone).

Then, of course, there is Roanoke Island and the Lost Colony at Manteo on the Outer Banks. The first English settlement in the colonies was at Roanoke in 1584. Around 1586, their Captain, John White, returned to England for more provisions and colonists, but he was not permitted to return back to the colony due to the war between England and Spain (they needed all available ships). When he finally returned to the colony in 1588, the colonists were gone and today it still remains a mystery as to where they went; hence the name "Lost Colony". The word "Croatan" was carved on the fort's main gate post and it is suspected they went to live with the Croatan Indians. You can also visit the Wright Brothers museum and see a replica of their airplane. The first flight is marked out so you can walk the runway and see the flight path--a total of 15 secs and about 100 feet (the pilot had to return to the terminal for an unruly passenger, ha). Hence one of our license plate mottos "First in Flight"--sorry Dayton.....

NC is also full of Revolutionary War sites, particularly at the Battle of Guilford County Courthouse. Here Patriot General Nathaniel Greene inflicted such heavy causalities on the Brits (I think they lost 25% of their army) that Cornwallis had to retreat to Wilmington to tend to the wounded, get more redcoats, provisions, and a more friendly environment. My wife and I are retracing a lot of the battle sites, but unfortunately with the passage of time, a lot of the places are gone and only the Historical Markers remain. However, we still get the feel for the tough conditions of that era. Another Pre-Revolutionary war site to visit is Halifax NC, where the Halifax Resolves were drawn up. This was the first organized meeting and document in all of the Colonies to rally and call for Independence. My great grandfather (several gens removed) was one of the representatives that met there and drafted the document. Some of the language made its way into our Constitution. It still hangs in one of the museums there on site. Hence our State license plate with the motto "First in Freedom". It's also a little known fact that although NC was the first colony to call for independence, we were the last colony to sign the Declaration because there were no specific rights for people spelled out in the document. And it was the NC delegation that demanded a list of rights to be given to the new citizens and thus NC was responsible for the Bill of Rights that was later adopted into the Declaration (we joke that we were the first to start something and the last to end it....).

So come spend some time in NC. We have the best BBQ in the nation, only to be found in Eastern NC. Just visit, but don't move here---we got enough yankee immigrants already---ha ha.....

Sinewsworn Loc: Port Orchard, WA

Great Set! The colors and shapes of the buildings are depicted in a Chamber of Commerce manner that is very flattering. Thanx for sharing.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Thank you Timothy!