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. With the state still shut down due to 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 kick things off with one of the entries from the History category: Pilsen Murals, from Chicago, IL.

Pilsen’s tradition of thought-provoking, often political murals began a half-century ago and is still going strong.  Take a stroll through this ever-changing but still primarily Hispanic neighborhood to see stories of immigration, gentrification and Latino culture on colorful display.

I’ve made a single trip to Pilsen in my day, to see Rhea Butcher perform at Thalia Hall.  While I didn’t go out of my way to see the murals, I do recall coming across some of them while looking for parking and then walking from the car to the theater.  It’s probably not the biggest impression, but, hey, it still counts.  Maybe I’ll even make it back someday.