The Creole Choir of Cuba perform at the Chicago World Music Fest

Visit the Windy City this week and you can grab the added bonus of traveling around the world without any extra cost. The annual Chicago World Music Fest presents rhythms from around the globe , transporting listeners to  exotic places like Mali, Cuba, Finland and Egypt.  The 13th annual event takes place city-wide in multiple venues including museums. parks, theaters and clubs. Read More »

The dots on the left are whale sharks in the ocean.

I never thought I’d be one of those crazies cuddling up to blood thirsty creatures all in the name of a good story but there I was, in a boat floating next to a cluster of whale sharks.  As I glimpsed their huge spotted heads bobbing in the turquoise waves, I felt like I was in a bad disaster movie . Only I wasn’t, I was cruising off the coast of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on Contoy Island, preparing to snorkel with the biggest fish on Earth. Read More »

Urban Kayaks

Kayaking might conjure up white water images and gentle waves on winding lakes but there is a growing urban kayak scene and Chicago plays a significant role in it. Of course, you can kayak on Lake Michigan but that’s so typical. The truly adventurous take to the historic Chicago River, which once flowed into Lake Michigan but was reversed to course toward the Mississippi River basin in the 19th century, forever linking the Great Lakes with the Mississippi waterways. Read More »

Dancers at the Bud Billiken Parade

Chicago hosts scads of Summer events but none quite so legendary as the annual Bud Billiken Parade. A South Side tradition for 82 years, the parade is the nation’s oldest and largest African American parade, second only to the Tournament of Roses in terms of size. Over 1.5 million spectators are expected the parade which runs through the historic Bronzeville corridor on Saturday, August 13. Read More »