Tulip Season in the Gold Coast

Right before we left Chicago, the Gold Coast did what it always does best in spring-explode with tulips. Whole blocks lined with red, orange, and yellow blooms, just casually showing off in front of those historic brownstones and limestone facades.

It's one of my favorite little city traditions. Every April, the neighborhood feels like it wakes up from hibernation. Even on gray days, the flowers glow. It's the kind of thing you start looking forward to without even realizing it-like the city's way of saying, "hey, winter's over... you made it."