When I was twenty-two, I was working full-time, going to school full-time, and working on a full-time novel. Needless to say, I was overworked and stressed to the core.

So at the beginning of Labor Day weekend in 2009, Chris and I were looking forward to sinking into plush materials and keeping our eyes closed for the entire three days, but our spontaneous matches struck the sandpaper when we rolled out of bed on the first morning. We poured our cardboard coffee, brushed our teeth in a daze, turned on the tube, and then snapped our fingers.

“Let’s hit Chicago.”

And why not? The place is only six hours away. We were kicking ourselves for not doing it sooner. The car was packed with snackies, our torn backpacks were stuffed with as many clean clothes as we could find, and then the apartment doors were locked behind us.

We didn’t have a whole lot of cash for the trip. We didn’t even have a hotel room ready. We just pumped the Celica full of gas and switched on the GPS.

Despite being incredibly underplanned, that trip turned out to be one of the best times of my life, and I’m sure the spontaneity had something to do with it. Since then, our Labor Day Weekend ritual is and always will be, Chicago.

And here are five good reasons why:

Reason Number One:Interactive Art

The bean is only one of the many different artistic sights that the viewer can toy around with. There are also thirty foot tall Marilyn Monroes, LED fountains, Beatles paintings in the bathrooms, and parks filled with sculptures that are great for creative shots.

Reason Number Two:Hotel Views

Throughout the four times I’ve stayed in Chicago, I’ve made a few mental notes:

*There is a Starbuck’s at every street corner.

*Comic book stores still exist.

*There is an awesome view from just about every hotel window.

Reason Number Three:Navy Pier

Not only is this my favorite place in Chicago, but this is my favorite place in the whole world.

I love it more than my bed.

If you like:

Shopping

Museums

Friendly Seagulls

Theme Parks

Sailboats/Sailing

Lakeside Weather

Breakfast

Churros

Free Live Musicals

Then Navy Pier is your space!

Reason Number Four:

The Pizza

To quote my character Ashton Byrne:

“Chicago pizza is a ‘when in Rome’ shindig. If you’ve never had a bite of that deep dish saucy goodness then it’s time to revise that bucket list ’cause those cardboard wannabes’ll never taste the same again.”

Also, if you go to a little place called Gino’s East, you not only get to eat Chicago pizza, but you get to write about it too.

Reason Number Five:Downtown

Just listen to the music and the traffic in the city…

how can you lose?

With its taxi packed streets, seven story malls, miles of sail docks, beaches, and sky high skyscrapers, The Windy City is definitely the place to be eccentric.

And if all else fails, you could always try to cheat death in the Willis (Sears) tower.

Where is your favorite place?