1. The Sears Tower

(233 South Wacker Drive, Chicago)

Still the tallest building in the United States, the Sears Tower built in 1973 is a skyscraper that stands 1,451 feet high (442 meters - 108 stories). It was the tallest building in the world for almost two decades until 1998 when the Petronas Twin Towers in Malaysia overtook that record.

One of Chicago's top and most famous tourist attractions, the Sears Tower sky deck is located on the 103rd floor. On clear days visitors on the sky deck observation deck can see far over the plains of Illinois and even across Lake Michigan to neighboring states like Wisconsin, Indiana, and Michigan. On Windy days, visitors can feel the sway of the Sears Tower as they stand up on the sky deck.

A great destination to see the beauty of the city of Chicago from high above it. Definitely not for anyone who is scared of heights.

2. Museum Of Science And Industry

(5700 South Lake Shore Drive, Chicago)

Located in Jackson Park, in the Hyde Park neighborhood. The Museum of Science and Industry is the fourth largest cultural attraction here in Chicago. It houses many wonderful exhibits that are fun and very educational. The Museum is known for its unique and quirky exhibits and it also has many interactive exhibits as well. These interactive exhibits allow visitors to get a hands on experience.

Since 1954, the Museum has had the U-505 Submarine, one of just two German submarines captured during World War 2 and the only one currently on display in the United States. The museum also has two World War 2 warplanes donated by the British government. A Super marine Spitfire plane and a Stuka divebomber (one of only two Stukas left in the world).

The museum also has a life-size mockup of a space shuttle and the real Apollo 8 capsule which was on the first lunar orbital mission. One of my favorite exhibits is the yesterday's main street exhibit. It features a life-sized mock-up of a common street from the early 1900's complete with a cobblestone road, old-fashioned light fixtures, old-fashioned fire hydrants, and several old-fashioned shops. Two of the shops, Finnigan's Ice Cream Parlor and The Nickelodeon Cinema can be entered and are functional businesses. Walking through this exhibit can make you feel like your back in time.

In addition to its three floors of standing exhibits, the Museum of Science & Industry also hosts temporary and traveling exhibitions as well. It would take too long to list all of the current exhibits because there is so many of them. To check out most of the museum, a person would need a few hours at least. The Museum of Science & Industry can be fun for people of all ages but a few of the exhibits might not be suitable for younger children.

3. Navy Pier

(600 E. Grand Avenue, Chicago)

Located off the shore of Lake Michigan, Navy Pier has been a Chicago landmark since it first opened in 1916. Originally designed as both a shipping yard and a recreational facility, the Pier has also served as a military training site during world war 1 and world war 2. It has even been a place for concerts and other events throughout the years. Every year over 8 million people visit the Pier. Today, Navy Pier showcases a number of restaurants and shops. From McDonalds, to a hot dog stand, to fancier restaurants, Navy Pier caters to a variety of taste and styles. In addition to unequaled recreational areas the Pier also has a awesome amount of entertainment exhibit facilities as well.

The Family Pavilion is anchored by the 50,000-square-foot Chicago Childrens Museum and Navy Piers 440-seat IMAX Theater. It is also home to 40,000 square feet of exciting restaurants and retail shops. Just beyond, visitors discover the Crystal Gardens, a 32,000-square-foot indoor botanical park, which provides a year-round center for family activity and special receptions. The South Arcade is home to numerous shops, restaurants, and attractions, including Time Escape, Amazing Chicago, and Chicago Shakespeare Theater.

Navy Pier Park is an outdoor landscaped area which features attractions such as a permanent 150-foot-high Ferris wheel, a musical carousel, an old-fashioned swing ride and an 18-hole miniature golf course. Navy Pier Park also includes the 1,500-seat Skyline Stage, which features musical performances ranging from classical to pop, blues and jazz to alternative, rock and reggae, as well as dance, theater, comedy and film. Dock Street runs the length of the Piers South Dock and is reserved for pedestrians, bicyclists and joggers. In season, four performance areas feature entertainment ranging from jugglers, mimes, stilt walkers, comedians, singers, and other musicians too. Dinner cruise ships continue to operate from Dock Street, and on some summer evenings, fireworks entertain the Piers evening visitors.

Festival Hall serves exposition and special event needs, with more than 170,000 square feet of exhibit space, and also houses the Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows, which is a permanent display of 150 stained glass windows housed in an 800-ft.-long series of galleries along the lower level terraces of Festival Hall. The East End of Navy Pier offers the citys best view of the spectacular skyline and lakefront, and it is the perfect place for lunch or a sunset stroll.

Navy Pier is a beautiful, awesome, and fun place to go to. I have been there many times and I definitely plan on going back many times more. The best time to go check out Navy Pier is the summer time.

4. The Magnificent Mile

(On Michigan Avenue from the Chicago River to Oak Street)

The Magnificent Mile is one of the city's most prestigious residential and commercial areas. It includes fine restaurants, hotels, stores, and several of the tallest buildings in the world. A number of prestigious buildings are located along the Magnificent Mile, such as the Wrigley Building, the John Hancock Center, Water Tower Place, the Tribune Tower, and the Allerton Hotel.

The Magnificent Mile contains a mixture of upscale department stores, restaurants, luxury retailers, residential and commercial buildings, financial services companies, and hotels, and it caters primarily to tourists and the affluent. Many of the world's leading retail stores are found here on the mile including Bloomingdale's, Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Macys, Lord & Taylor, and others as well. The Magnificent Mile includes 3.1 million sq. ft. (288,000 sq. miles) of retail space, 460 stores, 275 restaurants, 51 hotels, and a host of sightseeing and entertainment attractions. More than 22 million visitors come to the Magnificent Mile every year.

Each season the ambiance of the Magnificent Mile changes. During the Christmas season, the city decorates the Magnificent Mile with millions of dollars worth of lights and Christmas decorations. The tradition of lighting the trees of the Magnificent Mile to start the holiday season extends for over forty years. During the event Mickey Mouse walks the Magnificent mile from Wacker Drive to Oak Street, stopping at each block to light the trees. This event is considered the first annual Holiday event of the year in the nation. Winter also brings the Light Nights on The Magnificent Mile featuring weekly fireworks over the Chicago River.

In the spring, Tulip Days occurs here from mid April until the end of May. Hundreds of thousand of tulips bloom on The Magnificent Mile. Typically, they bloom between April 16th and May 7th.

During the summer the "Gardens of the Magnificent Mile" festival event occurs. It is a self-guided landscape display walking tour. The flora from around the world put up on display and are identified with horticultural sign age in each of the gardens and planters. With so many different kinds of flowers it is definitely a beautiful sight to see.

With so much to see and do here, its no wonder that this area is called the Magnificent Mile. A great place to go with friends, family, and even allow. As long as you got the money, the options are endless here.

5. Shedd Aquarium

(Lake Shore Drive and E. Roosevelt Road, Chicago)

Chicagos Shedd Aquarium is located at the Grant Park Museum Complex. It is an indoor aquarium that is one of the largest in the world. It is the second most popular cultural attraction in the city of Chicago, and over 2 million people visit it annually. The Shedd contains over 2100 species including fish, sharks, whales, marine mammals, birds, snakes, amphibians, reptiles, and even insects. The Shedd has over 25,000 living fish in it and all of them are on display for the public to view.

The Aquarium contains several exhibits, the most notable are the Caribbean Reef and the Oceanarium exhibits. The Caribbean reef contains about 70 species of animals, including fish, sharks, and stingrays. Visitors get a up close look at the animals from the Caribbean through thick glass windows. The Caribbean reef exhibit aquarium is filled with over 90,000 gallons of salt-water and it is definitely a very nice site.

The huge 3 million gallon oceanarium, gives an overview of the sea life at the pacific northwest coast. The oceanarium contains Beluga whales, sea otters, and seals, but the stars here are the Pacific white-sided dolphins. Shows are scheduled during the day. Thanks to the massiveness of the aquarium, the dolphins have alot of room to show off their speed to the spectators. You can watch them from the windows at the lower levels or during the shows from the ‘amphitheater’.

The Shedd Aquarium is a great place for people of all ages. It engages and inspires the young, and it entertains and educates the rest of us.

Now I'm not into touristy areas or big throngs of people, but Chicago's Navy Pier tourist trap does offer FREE fireworks every Wednesday at 9:30 and Saturday at 10:15.

The best part is that you don't have to go onto Navy Pier to see them, you can watch them from one of the many Chicago beaches or rooftops in the area. I personally recommend Oak St. Beach.

Local Chicago Radio Stations will also synchronize their music to the fireworks. I don't know any

better way to end an evening than hearing Bruce Springsteen's 80's driving music to giant explosions over Lake Michigan.

Every tuesday in Grant Park the Chicago Park district projects some great movies... FOR FREE! Were not talking about lackluster B films that your friends enjoyed five years ago.

Heres a rundown of the lineup for this summer. All films start when the sun goes down, don't forget a blanket and a cooler of beer!

The 2008 Movies in the Park lineup:

The museum of Contemporary Art isn't chock full of hoity-toity tourist thinking they're cultured (well maybe some.) The MCA is full of abstract displays, interactive art, video projections, audio rooms and a plethora of stimulation. This summer don't miss the Jeff Koons Exhibit, which runs until the 21st of September.

Best thing about the MCA and the reason it made this list, is that it is ABSOLUTELY FREE every Tuesday, all day, all summer long.

So weather you're into a string of christmas lights laying on the ground where the name placard seems to have more thought, or a giant room covered floor to ceiling with Vinyl records, the MCA is for you.

Just Walk east on Chicago Avenue until you see the car that appears to be wrecked into the building.

The Good Chicago Beach

The beaches around Chicago are great. The best part about them is that they are also free!

Many beaches are extremely overcrowded, such as North Avenue Beach. To find some better spots, and a place to actually lay out, try the north side of Montrose Beach or Foster Beach. These beaches are bigger than North Avenue and generally have about a quarter of the number of people.

Bring a cooler and make some sandwiches, or find some local vendors for a tasty regional treat.

Be careful of the water as well, Lake Michigan is known to have had incidents of high levels of mercury. So look out for three eyed fish and mermaids, but if your the adventurous type paddle on out and enjoy a dip. The lake is warmest in Late July and August.

The Baha'i Temple is in Cook County, but north of Chicago in the neighboring suburb of Wilmette. Hop on a bike and enjoy a day trip north along Lake Michigan's biking trail then spend some time at the temple.

The Temple and grounds are gorgeous, standing 140 ft tall and made of white concrete and exquisitely adorned. Spend some

time walking around and don't forget a camera.

You can visit the Baha'i Temple any day of the year, until around 7pm.

So get out there and enjoy summer, because activities are best when they're free. And as Chicagoans know, nothing beats a Chicago Summer, but you sure pay for it in February with the cold.

Bab el-Mandeb, Gate of Tears when translated to Arabic, separates the Asian and African continents by thirty kilometers. It is sandwiched between the nations of Djibouti to the southwest and Yemen to the Northeast. The strait itself is partitioned by the island of Perim, currently Yemeni territory. This splits the strait into a western corridor of about twenty-five kilometers and one to its opposite, only three kilometers in width. Yemen is known to harbor Al Qaeda and other less popular terrorist organizations, and African coastal nations are not strangers to terror and piracy. Al Qaeda ushered in the new century of terrorism when on 12 October 2000, a Yemeni dhow armed with explosives blew a thirty-six foot hole in the hull of the USS Cole, killing seventeen sailors.

The Strait of Hormuz, facing the Iranian and Omani/UAE coasts, is one of the most logistically important chokepoints. The strait is the only option open to Gulf States who export petroleum and other products. However, merchant mariners have been wary to travel through the strait, as Iranians are infamous for mining and blocking passage through the strait. The Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s is a fine example of how well the Iranians were able to close the strait off by means of emplacing mines and enforcing their blockade with armed vessels. Until intervention from the United States, Kuwaiti and other foreign merchant vessels were unable to sail through the strait to deliver their goods, and there were a few damaged civilian vessels within the conflict.

The Northwest Passage, though not a specifically dangerous area when compared to the latter two sea lanes, is as important. Located within the Arctic Circle and frozen over for a good portion of the year, the strait begins between the eastern Russians and Alaskan coast, and east through Canadian territory. There are three routes available to vessels, however all will eventually exit in a similar fashion. Pack ice does not permit regular travel through the strait, but because of climate change, passage may be more feasible without the assistance of icebreakers. Because the strait is located within Canadian waters, the Canadian government believes the nation may regulate fishing and environmental policy, as long as the regulation, restricting, and even possible taxation of passage through the strait. The United States, along with many other nations which highly benefit from usage of the strait totally disagree with the Canadian Parliament.

Plagued by years of colonization, brutal internal violence, and a propensity to raise and harbor potential pirates and terrorists, Indonesia and the surrounding oceanic nations are already unstable. The Strait of Malacca links the Indian Ocean to the Eastern Pacific, imperative for trade between China, India, Japan, Pakistan, and others, littoral or landlocked. According to the Energy Information Administration, the strait is one of the world's most important chokepoints when dealing with transportation of oil. Piracy has always been an issue within the strait, seeing as it is one of the quickest ways to make a living in the region. Southeastern Asian countries are currently making an effort at reporting and preventing piracy attacks within the strait. Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia actively contribute with military craft, both on sea and air.

The Turkish Straits, important to trade along the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, are effectively the gateway between Europe and near-eastern Asia, as far as trade is concerned. The two straits, the Dardanelles and Bosporus, are on opposite sides of a body of water known as the Sea of Marmara. The only way through is to pass through both straits. The Black Sea is nearly an internal sea, much like that of the Caspian, with the exception of these passages. The wider of the two, the Dardanelles is only a kilometer wide and nearly seventy kilometers long, whereas the Bosporus is a diminutive seven hundred meters wide and thirty kilometers long. The Dardanelles faces the Aegean to the west and the Sea of Marmara, the Bosporus facing the eastern black Sea. Romania, Ukraine, Russia, and Caucasian countries rely on these sea lanes for trade. Though the Turkish are much tamer than their eastern relatives, conflicts between Turkey and Greece have always been an issue with the maritime industry.

The South China Sea is home to several nations which thrive off of trade. Southeast Asia relies off of trade to survive, and as the United States utilizes China more for the manufacture of basic goods, more important does the South China Sea become. China, Vietnam, Thailand, The Philippines, and several island nations have laid claim to chunks of the body of water, but the dominant nation in the area is China. Able to outspend and outdo any of the other countries in a military capacity, the state has basically taken the entire sea as their own. One of the possessions prized by both the Southeast Asian region and a good portion of the world are a scattered group of islands called the Spratlys. Diminutive, and almost useless for habitation or much else, they are home to some of the world's richest oil deposits. However, they go far beyond the territorial waters of any nation in the area, though many have attempted to set up outposts and housing. Because basic life cannot be supported on the islands, most of the land is only visible at low tide, they cannot be officially considered islands. Currently, the Chinese and several nations have naval craft deployed, each trying to make their claim at what could be the world's next Gold Rush, or an all-out war.

The Strait of Malacca is often argued as the most dangerous of all sea lanes and trade routes. This is common not only because of its truth, but its exposure to the public. However, the ferocity of the events occurring within the strait and around it is not all because those who create violence and mayhem seek to please themselves. Several Indonesian separatist groups exist, the sheer volume and mass of the nation and plethora of ethnicities against the current regime create a problem not unlike a small civil war. The Free Papua movement, Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor, and the Free Aceh Movement, though all now defunct and their members reintegrated with civil society, are just examples of how the country and surrounding nations have managed to rip themselves apart over various battles.

This, in turn, forces those with no money or alternative way of life to turn to stealing. Because many vessels traverse the waters and the locals know them so well, it comes easier than having to actually find work. Vessels with a lower freeboard are favored by most pirates, but because of the traffic in the Strait of Malacca, there is a much higher chance of having one's ship boarded and having money and objects of variable value stolen. Many seek private gain, and others need to find ways to tend to their dependents. After the tsunamis that rocked the Southeast Asian region swept through Indonesia, piracy was not a threat for some time. Like all popular trades, especially those that bring in large sums of wealth, it would find a way to reappear, and attacks became much more common as time progressed and man adapted.

The strait of Bab el-Mandeb is conveniently located between two equally desperate areas, both devoid of material wealth and Western thought. In Yemen, where rule is assumed by those who commit to a life of the trade of terror, and where law is oppression or death, it is all too common to see individual cases of terrorism, like that of the Cole. Piracy is less an issue to the north, as monetary gain is not as important to those who operate along the coasts as spreading a doctrine of fear or coaxing others into submission or conversion by means of explosion and death. To the south, however, anything that is needed goes. The Somalis and other African peoples, who will at times do anything to save their own lives to work for warlords, will resort to piracy to fund the operations of their said employer. United Nations relief vessels, merchant ships, and even cruise vessels have been attacked farther than one-hundred miles off of the coast of the Horn of Africa, proving to those who seek to stop piracy that with advancement in quelling the ability of a pirate brings adaptation by others.

Overall, Bab el-Mandeb is much more threatening when compared to the Strait of Malacca. Both are highly dangerous areas, definitely a threat to commerce in Africa, Asia, and the world's interests. The Strait of Malacca has presented itself as a drain of maritime corporations' funds and financial loss of business all over the world. Bab el-Mandeb and the surrounding coasts are home to some of the most vile and violent groups on the planet, harboring both terrorists and on a lesser scale, pirates. Given that terrorism will often cause more disruption and often halt traffic in a specific area for an extended period of time, it does much to damage society, infrastructure, and international trade. Piracy, though in greater volume and resulting in more deaths over time, does not give the massive effect of a single terror operation, where the death was deliberate and meant as a warning to those who pass without the approval of the aggressive entity.