Top 10 things I'll probably miss about living in the Quad-Cities

- The Mississippi River: The river runs east to west in one section of the Q-C, which confuses neophyte travelers to our little river bend. You have to adopt an upriver or downriver vernacular giving directions pretty quickly. It separates our Quad-Cities and is the Iowa-Illinois boundary. I love being able to pop over the river and back. I have my favorite places on either side. I vowed that no matter where I moved to, it would have to be near a large body of water.

- My favorite list of places includes great places to grab a bite to eat, craft brews, and awesome sightseeing. I'll miss driving over Centennial Bridge, overlooking the baseball stadium, East on I-280 to get a really neat river view and the overlook that oversees West Davenport. There are some great spots for people willing to explore.

- My House: I fell in love with it when I visited friends years ago, and when the opportunity came up to buy it, then I did ... with help from my parents. It was my home for a good four years, and maybe one day I'll come back to it, but in the meantime, I'm going to miss the only place I've ever been able to call "My Home."

- The great gaming culture: With the Board Game Group that meets at Palmer and the Table Top group that helped me get into Warhammer, Kings of War, and a few other games, I'm going to miss our groups and the countless hours we spent rolling dice or flipping cards.

- The smell of the press room: It's going to sound weird, but ever since college I got to sit along the our great Press Manager and watch him and his employees do there magic. It's pretty special to watch this giant machine roll out paper, print each page, then cut and fold it. I'll always appreciate those moments. For the first time in about 14 years, I won't have the press room to walk back to, listen to the thundering machines and take a big whiff of ink and cleaner.

- The great biking and walking trails: the river paths and the Duck Creek Trail were fantastic paths that help connect our cities for us who challenge the idea of the auto commute. I bought three bikes over the course of my 10 years here, and I'm so grateful to have taken the time to explore the Q-C on foot and on bike.

- Bix 7 and the various street fests: Once a year thousands upon thousands of people travel to the Quad-Cities to run a 7-mile race sponsored by the Quad-City Times. It's a huge weekend for us as we plan several days off coverage and it's an all-hands-on-deck kind of weekend. The accompanying street fest and other fests are top notch, with tons of food and entertainment.

- John O'Donnell Stadium: Our minor league baseball stadium is built right on the river under the foot of the Centennial Bridge. You can be sitting in the stands and look out over the river front, or go hang out on the grass berm bordering outfield. It's a beautiful ballpark that feels like the heart of the Quad-Cities.

- The music scene: The luscious history of jazz and blues aside, the Quad-Cities are home to some amazing music venues and audiophiles. My favorite venues are Rozz-Tox (tiny little hipster bar) and Daytrotter's new downtown Davenport digs. Rock Island Brewing co. and The Mark/iWireless Center also rank up there, but nothing compares to the countless artists and musicians trying to make their mark on the local scene.

- The small business owners: I have met a lot of great people, but there are some wonderful people who own and operate their own stores. Larry and Tim who own my two favorite comic book shops; Bob and Laura who quite possibly are the best one-two combo of shops; Abernathy's, Tooth and Nail, Boozies, Blue Cat, Rozz-tox (again). I seriously can't say enough about their spirit and the quality of product that they sell.