Another Chicago Weekend

We were invited to a surprise 40th birthday party for our friend Beth from Chelsea, thrown by her husband Todd at a bar in Chicago. Even though I had just been there the weekend before, and Stein really hasn't wanted to travel since getting back from Yellowstone, we decided to go.

We got into Chicago late Friday night, after leaving Ann Arbor at about 6:30. By the time we got to Chicago after enduring some traffic, it was 9:30 local time. I was so hungry, and I'm not a particularly happy person when I need some food. (Sorry Stein for the crabbiness!) Anyway, we dropped off our stuff at Chris' place and headed out to get some food. On Chris' suggestion, we went to The Rail Bar/Grill, near the el on Damen. It was nice to sit outside, have a few beers and have some food. (Yes, we know, not really healthy eating at 10:00 pm, but what could we do?) Stein had a burger and I had a blackened chicken sandwich. And they had a special on my favorite Irish beer - Smithwick's - how could I go wrong? It was just what we needed, and good too!

Saturday we woke up and drove down to the lake. We wanted to work out, but it was too nice outside to work out inside. So we ran down by the lake. I always forget that once you get into August, the lakefront path is swarmed with runners, specifically those that are training for marathons happening in the fall. There were so many running groups either running or meeting. The path was really crowded with people running, biking and a few rollerblading.

I thought back to when Chris and I lived together and she was getting ready for the Dublin marathon. She had her longest runs on one of the hottest days of the summer. Typical of most of her training days, off she went to run a lot of miles, and home I stayed to watch cartoons and eat a leisurely breakfast. As Stein and I ran along the lake on Saturday, I knew I would be done running in 35-40 minutes. Chris would run for hours those days, and I'm still impressed by that. I don't think that I would ever be able to do that, but hey, stranger things have happened!

After running, we went back to Chris', showered and headed out to our friends Steve and Kathryn's house. They recently moved out to St. Charles, which is about an hour southwest of the city. They just built a gorgeous house there. The kitchen is AWESOME. It's in a really nice subdivision that is surrounded by horse farms. Their two boys, Ryan and Josh were up for a while before their naps. The last time we saw the boys was in January, so they looked so different this weekend. They went down for their naps and we got a chance to catch up with Steve and Kathryn. We also had sandwiches (can't forget the food!) from a local Italian place. Stein had an Italian salad with all kinds of Italian meats and cheeses, Steve had an Italian sausage sandwich, Kathryn had an eggplant parmesan sandwich and I had a chicken parmesan sandwich. (It was huge! I could only eat half of it.) And we also had dessert. Stein and I stopped at one of Steve's favorite bakeries on the way out there to pick up chocolate eclairs. I can't argue with Steve, they are some of the best eclairs I've ever tasted. The custard alone could be eaten with a spoon. It's so good.

We got back to Chris' later that afternoon and got ready to go to the party. The party was at Goose Island in Wrigleyville. It was really nice, because it was in a private room above the main bar. There was a Cubs game earlier that afternoon, so the main bar was packed, and the street was packed. But being in the party room we had the best of both worlds - a smoke-free quiet place with food and drinks and big windows to people-watch on the street below. We saw an unruly Mets fan get arrested and thrown into a paddy wagon. Great fun for the kids that were at the party. They were mesmerized.

I guess you probably want to know about the food at the party? Grilled pita and dips, baked pretzels with a spicy cheese dip, pulled pork sandwiches, chicken fingers, chicken wings, mini burgers, pasta salad. It was really yummy!

After the party, we decided to visit Yaksie's - the bar that we frequented most when we lived in Chicago. (It's also the place that we go before Opening Day every year.) We weren't surprised to see our friend Erik there, who lives in the neighborhood. We caught up with him a little and then it was time to call it a night.

Sunday we attempted to go to Over Easy for some Sassy Eggs, but the line outside was too long. So we drove to The Rail (where we ate on Fri. night) and had breakfast. They only have breakfast on Sundays, from 10:30 to 3:00. It was really good and just what we needed. It was pretty funny because the waitress from Friday night recognized us right away. As I thought more about it, of course she did, because we were both wearing the same shirts we had on Friday night! Oops. Anyway, on to the food. Stein had a chorizo, guacamole, cheese, sour cream and pico de gallo omelette. I wasn't feeling too adventurous and had 2 eggs scrambled with bacon, potatoes and toast. Stein also had a make-your-own bloody mary. The prices there are reasonable, and it wasn't crowded - which was good for us! We also noticed a really cool thing when we were there on Sunday. Because the bar is situated near the el, the theme is the CTA. So there are a ton of pictures in there of the el, or el related things. Like the footrest surrounding the bar? It's a train rail (looks like the deadly third rail, actually) that is bolted to the floor. Very cool.

The ride home was uneventful which was good. We were both tired and in bed by 10:00 that night. A fun, but exhausting weekend.