Road Trip, Part 3: Chicago, Part 2

On Friday, Mac and I took the Green Line to the Garfield Park Conservatory. It was a bit of a cloudy day, but it only sprinkled on us a little bit while we were walking to the train. The Garfield Park Conservatory is one of my favorite places in Chicago (there are so many favorites!) and I was sad to hear that earlier in the summer they had suffered considerable damage due to a hail storm. Parts of the glass houses were still open, but many areas were closed with ongoing repairs. It was a little sad that Mac couldn't see all that the conservatory has to offer, but I was glad to go and show my support while they're still recovering. And the parts that were open were still beautiful as always! I just love this little pineapple:

All of the outside parts of the Conservatory were open as well, including the labyrinth, which is one of my favorites to walk, and the beautiful lily pond:

We enjoyed walking around the meadow and chasing grasshoppers off of the path and following this beautiful butterfly:

You see some of the damaged windows in the background here. All of the darker spots are holes in the glass roofs of the nursery greenhouses:

Here is one part of the conservatory where all of the glass has been removed and it's now ready for replacement glass.

After the Conservatory we headed downtown for a quick trip to Millennium Park. And when you're there you have to take a few photos at the Bean (officially titled Cloudgate by Anish Kapoor):

Mac wanted to make sure his moustache was looking good:

That's one happy handlebar moustache!

Can you find us here?

We enjoyed a nice stroll through the rest of the park and then headed back up to Mike's apartment to pick up the car, and Mike, and head up to Andersonville for the rest of the day. We took Lake Shore Drive straight up and got off at the Foster exit. Instead of going left and heading into Andersonville, we stopped at the Foster St. Beach since Mac had yet to get a good look at Lake Michigan. It was a beautiful greenish-blue color and a just a lovely day to be by the lake:

Another moustache fix:

And a cute shot of Mac and I with the skyline behind us.

And these two good lookin' fellas:

And beautiful Chicago:

After finding a parking spot on Balmoral in front of my old apartment, we walked down to Huey's Hot Dogs. It just happen to be Hot Dog Happy Hour, so we all got a dog, fries and drinks for $5 each. And these are some real Chicago hot dogs: charred (not steamed), mustard, pickle spear, huge tomato slices, celery salt, onions and hot peppers on a poppy seed bun. True Chicago-style goodness:

I cheated a little bit and got mine as a veggie dog with no onions or hot peppers, but holy cow it was good. Even just looking at this photo again makes me want to go back and get one! I think Huey's should open a second store in Princeton!

After hot dog eating, we wandered around Andersonville poking around different shops, seeing what's new (a lot!) and what's still there from the good old days. Lots of my old favorites still exist: Kopi Cafe, Middle East Bakery, the Persian grocery, Andie's, Women and Children First, and CAS hardware, among others. I spent some time (and money) at Women and Children First while Mike and Mac got some caffeine at Kopi. I met up with them for an awesome Mango Jet Tea and was surprised when the server asked me if I wanted vodka in it! One new addition is that Kopi got a liquor license! I opted out of the vodka option, but we always said it would be so great if we could get beers at Kopi and now you can!

We also stopped at Middle East Bakery to pick up some snacks (I love those little savory pies!) for the drive on Saturday and some other treats, too. We then headed to Hopleaf and actually found a table on a Friday evening (miracle of miracles) and enjoyed a few pints before heading to the Neo-Futurarium to see Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind, another old favorite. Here are Mac and I after the show:

It was such a wonderful way to top off our trip to Chicago. I was so happy to be able to show Mac my old neighborhood and revisit so many of the wonderful places that were a part of my everyday life from 2000-2006. Can't wait to go back!!