Check out some great Midwest-related stories I found online this past month:
Chicago Blues for Travel and Music Fans-Rosalind offers readers of her Farsighted Fly Girl blog a preview of her soon-to-be published guide book about the history of the blues and its culture in her beloved Chicago. Need tips about where to listen to the blues, who to see or where to go for a bit of soul food as you savor the music? Check out Exploring Chicago Blues: Inside the Scene Past and Present by Rosalind Cummings-Yeates.
10 Things You (Probably) Don't Know About the Art Institute of Chicago-I remember being fascinated with the architecture of the Art Institute of Chicago's modern expansion when we visited the museum several years ago, so it's no surprise that I loved Bill's illustrated list of the museum's architectural curiosities and fun facts about the building at the Chicago Architecture Blog.
For Bridge Lovers, Chicago is the Greatest Show on Earth-Regular readers of Midwest Guest know that as much as I have a definite thing about architecture, I have an even bigger fascination with bridges. The bridge geek in me loves this post by Patrick, author of Chicago River Bridges, at the Chicago Architecture Blog.
A Perfect Weekend in Cincinnati-Images of the iconic Roebling Bridge caught my eye at VisuaLingual's post about some favorite sights in the Queen City. This list of places and experiences best aimed at introducing visitors to the city includes a few things, like the bridge, that are among my favorites, as well as a few places like the Carew Tower, Findlay Market, the American Sign Museum and the Cincinnati Union Terminal that were already on my list of things I intend to check out on my next visit there.
With Snow and Ice, Cincinnati echoes Brooklyn-Ronny took full advantage of a recent closure to vehicular traffic of the Roebling Bridge between Cincinnati, Ohio and Covington, Kentucky to venture across the bridge on foot and capture some great images of the span from the middle of the roadway. As I've mentioned before, I love this bridge and can't wait to visit it again. This bridge was also the impetus for me to read David McCullough's massive book about the Brooklyn Bridge, when details the role of Cincinnati's Roebling Bridge as a prototype for the Roebling-designed span in Brooklyn.
Happy Birthday Nebraska-LuAnn gets a head start on prepping for the Nebraska sesquicentennial in 2017 with a preview of the state's plans for the milestone and a fun list of Nebraska trivia to celebrate the state's 147th birthday at her self-named blog. Three USHL hockey teams in Nebraska? Who knew?
Road Trip through Nebraska's Heartland-Muriel beats a bit of cabin fever by taking readers of the Nebraska Outback blog on a road trip to explore some of the state's scenic landscapes, vintage buildings and markers from bygone times, plus signs of new progress on the plains.
In the Park: The Monon Rail-Trail-We got a glimpse of the Monon Trail when we visited Carmel, Indiana. There was plenty of activity on the trail when we were there one November day, so it's no surprise to me to learn that it draws an average of 4,000 users a day, making it one of the busiest urban greenways in the United States according to Gwen's story at the Historic Indianapolis blog.
The Embassy Theater: Behind the Scenes-I spotted this vintage theater building as we drove through downtown Fort Wayne, Indiana. We made plans to tour the theater last year, but that unfortunately didn't work out. That left me reading a book I bought about the theater, The Historic Fort Wayne Embassy Theater by Dyne Pfeffenberger, and hoping we'd get a chance to finally be able to check out the Embassy later this year. Meanwhile, I enjoyed Louisa's story about her behind-the-scenes tour of the theater at the Fort Wayne Insider blog.
G&M Variety Store in St. Joseph, Michigan: A Place to Reminisce-We always have to stop along the road if I spot a "dime store" along the way! I remember stopping at this store in St. Joe many years ago, and I was happy to see that it is still there, and chock-full of just about anything you could imagine stocking an old-time variety store's shelves. Check out Mel's report about it at the Two Moms a Little Time and a Keyboard blog.
That's it for this month's Midwest travel links list. Do you have any favorite Midwest stories or blogs to share?
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