Christmas Memories
Riding in downtown Chicago is something no one ever forgets.

I began last year’s holidays with a special treat to myself – a trip into Chicago to appreciate the beauty of Michigan Avenue all decked out for the season.  It had probably been over a decade since I had ventured into the crowds and traffic and I remember really looking forward to the day.  I had made arrangements with a friend to spend the day window shopping (the crowds were too large to really consider actual shopping), enjoying a leisurely lunch, and going to Millennium Park.  It had been so long since I had been into the Loop that I had not yet seen Millennium Park.  I had heard wonderful things about the gardens, the fountain, and the “bean” and wanted to experience it for myself.

Chicago had been struck by a very early, and very deep, snowfall only two days before we were scheduled to meet, but we decided that would give them plenty of time to clear the snow away and stayed with our plans.  We were not disappointed.  That Saturday was clear and sunny, with beautiful a blue sky as well.  Yes, it was winter cold, but it was not windy and felt warm in the sunshine. Millennium Park was everything I though it would be – and more.  All of the aspects of it were even better than I imagined.  The Bean actually made me feel playful like a child.  In short, the experience was just plain FUN. At the end of our strolls through Millennium Park, we headed back up to the Magnificent Mile for some lunch and some serious window shopping.  That’s when it stuck me – what is now known as Millennium Park is the same section of Grant Park that was used as the staging area for the mounted units in the Chicago Holiday Parade.  While I am certainly not certain, but it would be my best guess that the staging area has definitely been moved away from the fountains, skating rink, etc.  As much as I enjoyed Millennium Park, I was a bit saddened by the thoughts that the fun parade riders had there preparing for the parade would not be happening any longer.

Some of my best holiday memories involve having ridden The Lady in that giant parade with other riders from Trail Riders of DuPage. 

It was always a long day because you had to arrive and have your trailers moved at some early hour, but parade line-up and step-off were at least three hours later.  That is a pretty long time to simply get ready for a parade, even if you started from horse-needs-brushing and put on all the finishing touches like wreaths around their necks.  (The Lady did NOT like a wreath around her neck!)  We would take turns watching horses and going out for breakfast at a small place across the street.  We would simply enjoy riding around that section of the park because it was somewhere you could not normally ride. 

There was a hill, probably about where the band shell is right now, that had a traditional statue of a mounted military man.  Each year we would have a group photo shot with us all lined up by that statue.  Many of the smiling faces and horses are seen in these photographs year after year. 

The very first year we rode in that parade was a wonderful new adventure for all of us.  As I recall, there were 16-18 riders in that year’s group.  We arrived very early even for our early time slot and got all the trailers moved in plenty of time.  We were not concerned about having the trailers several blocks from the end of the parade because we would have a police escort to help us get through the Chicago traffic, which was certain to be even more intense because we would be near the end of the parade.  The horses, and riders for that matter, all behaved very well.  We did make the national television coverage and we looked GRAND.  Like a real parade unit. When we came to the end of the route, a policeman stopped traffic to get us through the first major intersection. We all knew that horseback riders have the same rights to a lane of traffic as an automobile, but none of us were really interested in explaining the law to Chicago cab drivers! That was also the last police officer we saw.  And – we were a good long way from the trailers.  One of my bolder riding buddies, turned to me and said that we should lead because our horses were so used to unusual surroundings. There were also no other volunteers for this position. Okay, fine.  With the agreement to stay as tightly bunched together as possible, off we went.  Very shortly we came to the sidewalk overlooking the Chicago River.  Legally, we should have stayed in the street, but it simply made more sense to ride on the sidewalk, which we did.  All of the horses were very calm and even the riders had settled down to enjoy this very usual ride in the canyons of downtown Chicago. 

A red light stopped us at a major intersection.  As we waited for the light to change, a well-dressed and stylish woman approached the light from across the bridge, obviously on her way to run errands and other shopping.  My friend, who is far from the shy type, saw the woman and called out, “Excuse me, Ma'am.  Can you tell me which way to Marshall Field’s?”  For just a flash of a moment, the woman actually began to answer.  Then the realization that she was speaking to a woman on horseback, in the lead of what must have seemed like a lot of horses, hit her.  I still remember the look on her face was and it was truly priceless – sort of a mix between disbelief, shock, and startle, but all with laughter at its base.  After she collected herself, she began to laugh just a bit and announced that it was that way about “x” blocks.  Then she could not contain herself any longer and she very quickly asked, “Where did you come from?  What are you all doing here?”  Of course, my friend answered that we had come to go Christmas shopping!  After explaining that we had been in the parade, she completely understood. When the light changed, we all wished her a Merry Christmas and continued on our separate ways.

When the horses saw the trailers, it was almost as if they saw their own barn.  Each was eager to leave the strangeness of the city for the known comfort of their trailers.  Because of our location, we were all untacking and loading horses pretty quickly.  In all of our excitement, none of us paid any attention to the fact that the trailers were parked right under the elevated train tracks!  It was a very fortunate thing that all of the trailer doors were open when the first train cross overhead because the horses quite literally jumped into their trailers in unison.  If we had not all been so startled we would have been proud of our newest drill team maneuver! In spite of all the day’s excitement, everything really went pretty smoothly.  It was also enough fun that The Lady and I continued to ride in that and many other parades for several years.  Even the enjoyment and magic that Millennium Park cannot erase the special memories that old section of Grant Park once held.

Happy Holidays & Merry Christmas from Kandee and The Lady!