"You can kid the world, but not your sister.": It Will Be Lovely

I just finished reading the book Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. In it, he tells the true stories of Daniel Burnham, the architect who created the "white city" for Chicago's Columbian Exposition in 1893, and Dr. H. H. Holmes, a serial killer who murdered an unknown number of people during the same time period. It's great historical reading, and I highly recommend it to anybody who's interested in learning more about Chicago.

Toward the end of the book, Larson explains what happens to each of the main characters he's followed. Daniel Burnham, who went on to design all kinds of important buildings and planned whole areas of cities, including Chicago, is getting older and knows he's nearing his death. On July 4th, 1909, three years before he dies, he's on the rooftop of the Reliance Building - which is now called the Hotel Burnham - with some of his friends. As he looks out over Chicago, his favorite city, he says, "You'll see it lovely. I never will. But it will be lovely."

100 years later, I feel lucky to be able to see a Chicago that's got to be even "lovelier" than Burnham imagined. A lot of people, myself included before I moved there, think of big cities as dark, crowded, and dirty. Now I think Chicago is absolutely gorgeous. Below are some of my favorite pictures, taken by Kevin when we lived there. They're mostly skyline shots, but sometimes little streets in pretty neighborhoods are just as nice.