Old Town Walking Tour

This weekend has been pretty beautiful, weather in the low 50's, sunshine and we Chicagoans think it is springtime. This means being outdoors to grab as much of the nice weather as we can and with it being St Paddy's weekend, there is the added bonus of dressing up like dorks and acting like the outside world is one giant party. A friend and I decided to do a walking tour of Old Town, one of those sections of the city where I know about it but it never seemed like much was there so I didn't bother with it. I was completely wrong, there is a lot going on there, lots of little shops and restaurants and history too. We started off on N Menomonee and Wells and headed south and here is what you shouldn't miss: 1. Nookies-we were told this was a neighborhood fav brunch spot and it has something for everyone. They serve breakfast and lunch all day, its cheap food, not the best, not the worst. 2. Chocolate and Catering-awesome take out upscale food boutique, a whole counter devoted to just cheeses, another just for chocolates, and other unusual food items. 3. Greer-this shops logo is beauty, wit, civility and it has all kinds of paper products and cards, ribbon, unusual home decor items, and all kinds of oddities. Its a store that's hard to leave bc there is so much fun stuff to look at and you don't want to miss any of it. I walked away with some skyscraper playing cards in a tin. Old Town is home of Zanies, Second City, and Piper Alley as well as the Triangle District that has things like the last remaining fire relief cottage from the Great Fire. There is a Buddhist temple, a Louis Sullivan building, and Crilly Court. Like I mentioned before all the Irish pubs were bursting with business with St Paddy's Day revelers and people dressed in all kinds of green things. Then amongst all that, out of the blue and unannounced there was a Free Tibet protest walk. Only in Chicago.....

Kitchenette

Kitchenette in Lakeview, sounds like a brunch place, right? Wrong, sushi and Thai. Had a serious sushi craving tonight and was in the area and stopped in with a friend. Once you get past the surly greeter, its all good. We walked in and there was an entire room of tables open with only 1-2 guests and I wondered what kind of experience this was going to be. We were asked if we had a reservation, I was confused why we would even need one being the place was mostly empty but once we passed "inspection" we were taken to another room where there was only 1 table open. The place was packed-a much better sign of things to come. There are 2 menus, the sushi menu and then the Thai menu. The food was cheap and GOOD. The next time I'll try a Thai dish but had sushi tonight. The service was good, our water glasses were constantly being filled, we didn't wait long for our food. It was cute-nothing that would really stand out but still cute. One warning, if you pay by card they leave your card number on the ticket, a pet peeve of mine.

Days 2 and 3

The remainder of my Valentine's weekend with Mom was great. It was a near perfect weekend-it all went smooth and we did nearly everything we planned. Yesterday we hit Old Orchard mall, ate at Portillos (Mom's favorite restaurant), ate at Spacca Napoli, then headed downtown for Confessions with Kerry and Jenn. Today we had breakfast at Icosium, the crepe place in Andersonville, then we shopped at Lincoln Square (Urban General Store, Timeless Toys for Payton, the Chopping Block) and last of all ate again at Five Guys. The hamburgers were excellent (no fillers people) and made me miss summertime and outdoor grilling. The fries are actually made there from potatoes and there is a sign indicating where the potatoes that day had come from-thanks Idaho. The place was packed tho and a little disorganized, the bags of peanuts or potatoes were suppose to mark the path to the counter but didn't work out so well. Simple menu; big hamburger, little hamburger, small or large fries, or hotdog and drink. Makes me think of the In and Out Burger in Las Vegas. Definitely going back.

Valentine's Day

So, who needs a boyfriend on Valentine's Day when your mother spoils you?? She came in last night for a long weekend and we had a really nice day today. We got up and went to Flower Flat in Boystown for breakfast. Its a cute tiny cafe in the basement of a flat that is also a flower shop with gifts. We walked in and the cook's husband greeted us and made us feel welcome-he was a down-to-earth type of guy who was helping out his wife b/c their 21 y/o da was out celebrating her 21st birthday last night and had half the day off. There were all of 5 tables and fortunately no wait. They had an armoire where they stored their coffee cups, they had interesting dishes (some of which were hanging on the ceiling), coffee served in a French press, and a tiny kitchen with one cook. It was the closest thing in Chicago that I have found to a tearoom. A Parisian tearoom maybe. The food was good, the service was good, and b/c it was Valentine's Day they gave us a long stem rose.
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The 2nd restaurant we hit was Gibson's in the Gold Coast. Mom said that when she was here she wanted to get a big fat steak so I made a reservation. I've heard so much about this place. Having been there now, I'm not sure what the fuss is all about. I've been in much cooler decorated places and had better food experiences. It was just sort of plain, browns and golds, a few pics here and there and not much more. The service was good but the steak I ordered well done was more like a medium, too much pink for my taste. It was ok, nothing spectacular and I won't have the need to go back.

The other places we went to were pretty much the usual for us. We got chocolate covered strawberries and hot chocolate from Ethel's. Tried to get in on the no sales tax day at the 900 Stores but no luck. We did, however, catch the Hello Kitty model at Bloomingdale's w/o his shirt and lovely abs, which was just the icing on a really good day. We hit Water Tower mall, Anthropology, ordered in Sarpino's, and had great luck with public transportation. :))))

Zella's

Zella's---Lincoln Park, North and Clybourn. Its a cool looking place from the outside with its brick walls and black zella sign. I called earlier today and no reservation needed for the time we were going. I understood why once we arrived-there was only one other table occupied. Our water came out in plastic cups (hey-at least I knew they were clean--pet peeve is dirty glasses and silverware and it happens to me all too often) and then I realized that Zella's is more of an upscale bar than a restaurant. People arrive later to drink. The place was still pretty cool on the inside if not simple and spacious but definitely not a typical restaurant environment. I ordered the skirt steak, Jenn the hamburger and the food was surprisingly good for its venue. The service was fair. B+

I never tire of being a passenger in the city of Chicago. There is so much to look at and so many cool buildings and cool places. It never fails that on the way to and from my destination I can find many more places I want to visit in the future. I discovered a closer Jamba Juice than what there has been before (red line to Belmont, head towards lake). New destinations to visit: Vanille, Flower Flat, Hollywood Mirror. I never tire of the endless options, never tire of the different neighborhoods. I can't wait till the new Target opens in my neighborhood and I would LOVE if the area that its going in would clean up and new cute boutiques/restaurants/coffee shops would open up. I'd love Uptown to be the next Lakeview.

Weather tonight: 5 degrees. Looking forward to spring and my new flip flops.

Massage and Sarafino's

Backtracking now....A week ago Saturday Jenn and I went to check out this massage place in Lincoln Park. We were first time customers and so got the bargain of a $35 massage for 1 hour, unheard of, esp here. We trekked out in the crazy snow that was falling to accumulate to about a foot to our appts. The massage therapist was Stephanie and she was excellent-if you are looking for a good, intense massage therapist, this is the place to go. First off, it is in a chiropractic office (with cool orange walls) and you meet with the actual doctor and go through your complaints. He is young, down to earth, and warm-I felt comfortable with him. Then you meet with her and I was surprised by what she could figure out about my muscles without my having said anything and not very long into the session. Now, if you like a light touch for relaxation purposes, this might not be your gal. But if you want to feel like knots are being worked out and can bear a little short term pain, this is your place. If you go back within 30 days of your previous massage, it only costs $45 for a hour, again, a pretty good bargain.



I checked out the pizza joint across the street while I waiting on Jenn, called Sarafino's. Apparently, they have chains in the burbs too, I saw a billboard on my way into the city last week advertising them. Its a cheap, in and out (no dining tables, just a bar that would seat maybe 5 people total) place but really good. I was sad that they didn't deliver in my neighborhood.

Florida

Ok, so I know I said that my blog is about my experiences in Chicago, so I lied. Its not all about Chicago all the time. I also include some of the trips I take elsewhere. My friend Kerry and I decided, basically at the last min, to take a warm trip somewhere being prompted by the neg zero temps and truckloads of snow. We settled upon Florida-thinking we'd do a eastern FL tour. We left early Friday morning for Midway airport from Kerry's place in a cab in -15 degree weather. There were multiple accidents on the interstate thanks to black ice, including one blocking the exit ramp to the airport. I was glad to be getting out of here! We flew into Tampa and headed south to Sanibel Island. Sanibel is close to Ft Myers, a small island known for its shelling. Its a quaint little place w/o street lights or traffic lights and an emphasize on being environmentally friendly and being kind to the animals. We stayed at the Holiday Inn but it isn't the traditional style as you can tell if you looked at my photos-very island-ish and colorful and it was right on the beach. Unfortunately, Florida was also having a bit of a cool front so the 70 some degree temps had dropped to the mid 60's, almost 70. Still it was that many more degrees warmer than Chicago and no snow, only sunny skies. The island closed up early and a lot of the people visiting, well, let's just say Kerry and I were very young. :) We shopped (I found a couple new tops and new summer flip flops) and ate at great restaurants. We had oysters, clams, fried scallops, salmon, grouper, cod, shrimp, calamari, monkfish-literally every meal (except at the Over Easy Cafe) was seafood. It was wonderful--I do believe that seafood has made it into my top food category along with Asian food. Saturday warmed up some more and we got some beach time and time with the beach rats, otherwise known as sea gulls that some of our annoying beach neighbors insisted on feeding. We witnessed a wedding, we read, shelled, and relaxed. We had big plans of laying in the hammocks, playing ping pong, and biking but that didn't happen. Sunday morning, to my insistence, we got up early again (how did we plan this vacation with only 1 days worth of sleep in time???) to head back to the Tampa area for meeting. My thought was I wanted to meet with another friend of mine who used to go to my grandparents meeting way back when I lived at home-about 15 years ago. The bonus was that the meeting was at the home of someone I currently meet with on Sundays-her parents and they come up every once in a while to Chicago and are in my meeting. Then the extra bonus was I was going to see another man and his family that I met with when I lived in Elgin. HA! We got there late and then I didn't see Lynda anywhere. Turns out I had my wires crossed and she actually went somewhere else. I did get to see the Jamaican couple that I wanted to and the spouse of the man I used to meet with in Elgin so those were all good things but I did/do feel like an idiot. The weather yesterday was gorgeous too and we went to the baywalk and saw the kite festival and walked along the beach. I had such a nice visit with my friends, ate great food, enjoyed the weather, and got to start the Twilight series. Bliss.....