Illinois celebrated its bicentennial as a state in December of 2018.  To celebrate, the Chicago Tribune published the Bicentennial Bucket List: 200 Things To Do In Illinois, celebrating the best the state has to offer in history, food, architecture, culture, sports, nature, drink, and oddities.  Now that the state is starting to open back up following the corona virus outbreak, I figured this was the second-best time to look through this collection and cover the ones I’ve done/eaten/seen.

We continue things this week with one of the entries from the Sports category: Arlington International Racecourse, from Arlington Heights, IL.

After a fire ravaged the racetrack in the mid-1980s, the northwest suburban attraction emerged like a phoenix rising from the ashes.

The lavishly landscaped grounds, rebuilt track and stately new grandstand once again made this a magical spot to experience thoroughbred racing.  Arlington made history as the first thoroughbred racing site with a million-dollar purse.

Another north side spot that I never would have gone to were it not for the location of my job.  We’ve made a few trips over the years (3?  I want to say 3) for team outings, but, outside of those, I have had very little interest in going and wagering on the ponies.