Last week, Lin, my best friend for almost 45 years, came back to Chicago from Sonoma, California where she now lives. Another good friend, Laura, who moved to St. Paul fifteen or so years ago, also decided to visit the same week. It was a great reunion.

I got to play tour guide to my cousin and a friend of his last Thanksgiving and enjoyed myself tremendously. I thought about places I really liked and introduced William and Jean Marie to some of my favorite local haunts; the Chapel in the Sky, the Tiffany dome ceilings at The Cultural Center and Katerina’s for jazz. For my hosting duties this past week, my approach was different. I tried to make arrangements so that both of my friends would get to see and do what they missed most since leaving the Windy City. Of course, hearing about what they wanted to do seemed to be just the perfect trigger for me to remember things I love about living here.

I guess this is called being a metro tourist. The idea is that you can go on an adventure from exactly where you are. You can eat at a favorite restaurant, or make it a point to try a place you’ve always wanted to try. You can stand in line at Hot Tix and see what play you can get seats for at the last minute, just like an out-of-towner. You can ride your bike or get a CTA weekend pass and pack in as many rides as possible. You can come up with a set of neighborhoods you want to explore, or a theme for your destinations. You could decide only to visit places that were built before World War II, or make it a rule that Lake Michigan had to be visible from anywhere you chose to stop. You could restrict yourself to destinations that offered free admission, or scope out plazas or buildings with public art. You could make it a point to buy tee shirts from every stop and boldly announce where you’ve been. (There can never be enough people wearing Mr. Beef tees. Am I right?) At each destination, you could imagine historical markers sharing some interesting bit you would never see in Fodor’s or in Lonely Planet.

Since we had a beautiful summer day, I thought we would include a boat ride in our plans. Rather than a simple jaunt down the river and onto the lake, Lin wanted to go on an architectural cruise where the docent would provide history and stories about some of Chicago’s most famous buildings as seen from the river. Chicago’s great skyline and architectural tradition is something she misses since moving to the left coast. Laura wanted to go to the Art Institute. Specifically, she wanted to stand face to face with John Singer Sargent’s famous portrait of Mrs. George Swinton. I wanted to go to Xoco, a Rick Bayless restaurant I hadn’t been to yet. The weather couldn’t have been nicer. We walked through the Lurie Gardens at Millennium Park, down Michigan Avenue. We took a water taxi to Navy Pier. We caught a jazz set at the Museum of Contemporary Art as part of their Tuesday on the Terrace summer series.

We had so much fun! Why don’t I do these kinds of things all the time? I had to ask myself this.

Visiting destinations that you know you’d love can set a day off in the best of directions. Sharing time with friends can make any place fun. But I think the most potent ingredient for a great adventure is an openness to enjoy whatever crosses your path; the intention to have a good time.

Loving where you live – loving wherever you are, is no small thing.