“Best Thing” is the most open-ended question in this poll, and over the years its winners have given a glimpse of what Chippewa Vallians really love. This year, it seems, what voters really love is cats and coffee: Mr. Kitty’s Cat Café (502 S. Farwell St., Eau Claire) has facilitated the adoption of nearly 400 felines in less than two years and given thousands of customers warm fuzzies as well. Warm feelings in the warm sunshine abound at Beaver Creek Reserve’s Butterfly House (S1 County Road K, Fall Creek) where you can see the miracle of metamorphosis firsthand. And every year since their debut in 2017, the lights on the Phoenix Park bridges have been judged among the Best Things around. —Tom Giffey