Honoring Fox Lake's Fallen Officer

It's been strange the last couple days. On Tuesday, while we were both at work, the texts and Facebook messages came in. Friends let us know that an officer was shot in Fox Lake (the town we live in) and the 3 suspects were on-the-loose. Dave turned CNN on the office TV and watched helicopter shots of officers lining a two mile stretch of road that parallels the train tracks he rides on each day. Reporters were standing in front of the place he got his oil changed last Friday. The last two miles of the train ride home truly demonstrated how serious the manhunt was with officers, SWAT Hummers, and town vehicles blocking-off closed streets. The news reported that this was the first officer killed in the line of duty in our county in the last 35 years.

We have lived in Fox Lake for 13 years. If you put all the officers that serve our town in a line up in street clothes mixed with other people and asked us to identify members of our local law enforcement, Lt. Joe would have been the only one we could identify. We'd see him at the local 5K's, the town's Oktoberfest directing the Explorer's (junior police organization- kinda like scouting), or working to fill sandbags during floods. Holly would see him often at her gym and he always said hello. We saw Joe off-duty about 10 days ago at a local business' anniversary party. They are getting it right on the news - he was a known and loved member of the community.

Last night we watched the recaps of the lakeside vigil while reports were coming in of the possible location of two suspects a few miles south. We fell asleep with the iPad in the bed and the police scanner app running. We woke up to find the report was a hoax in order to gain attention.

Some local teens have started a Twitter campaign called @foxlakeproject with the goals of getting a memorial or park to honor Lt. Joe.

Hopefully they can end the manhunt quickly so the family and the community can get some closure and begin to feel a little bit safer.

 

Chain Livin': The Hot Dog Boat and some Randoms

We've lived on "The Chain" for 13 years and finally had our first experience at a hot dog boat. These floating fast food counters are converted house boats that anchor in high-traffic areas to sell food and non-alcoholic drinks to passing by boaters. We've always wanted to stop at a hot dog boat but could never find one when we actually needed one. Usually they'd show up after we passed their anchor point and we'd already ate lunch by the time we passed back. Other food boats we've seen on The Chain include the pizza boat and the ice cream boat.

Bub's is one-of-two hot dog boats we've seen on The Chain this year

Docking was relatively easy and the crew working the boat was having fun. We ordered hot dogs and fries and ate them a bit further down the lake. The food was good but hard to manage condiment packs and napkins in the breeze while the boat was rocking. The next time we stop at a hot dog boat will either be when we are in dire need of food or a water or if we have a guest on board that wants to enjoy this novelty.

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We came up with a name for our pontoon boat last year and developed a graphic to stick on the back. Of course, we finally got to applying the decal this year. We bought the graphics pretty inexpensively from buildasign.com. Dave messed up the first order and bought a non-transparent background graphic. We fixed our error by ordering a few transparent stickers the second time around. We decided a windy day was the perfect time to adhere a 18x18 sticker to the boat and in the process screwed up both the transparent stickers. The next day we went back out and applied one of the old non-transparent stickers vs. ordering more and waiting two more weeks to do this project. We will replace it eventually......

Going back into the Camera Roll history on the iPad reveals some of the inspiration behind our design. We wanted it to have the 50's Retro/Googie style which meant a lot of different shapes and use of multiple fonts. "Toon-In Lounge" and the TV is part homage to Disney's Hollywood Studios' bar the Tune-In Lounge. "Toon" was also a reference to the fact that our boat is a pontoon boat and "Lounge" because our seating configuration is lounge chairs.

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Dave went to Wal-Mart unchaperoned and arrived home with some unneeded things. One such thing was a $5 bubble gun that promised "bubbles inside bubbles". This thing actually worked. Of course he had to set up the GoPro and film it.

Chain Livin': Chain O' Lakes Brewing

It's been awhile since we had a Chain Livin' post so we thought we'd interrupt our reports from Utah and Idaho to talk about the new Chain O' Lakes Brewery in McHenry, IL.

Chain O' Lakes opened in the home of the defunct McHenry Brewery. Apparently that company was around from 1860's - 1950's. Never heard of it until now.

Right now there's a taproom open for a few hours a day offering 2-3 beers made onsite and a rotation of guest taps. The day we visited the two flagships were available: Fox River Scotch Ale and The Colonel's IPA. The Oktoberfest was coming online the next day. The owner/brewmaster said that beer would likely last two days because of the size of the batch and the amount of traffic they have been getting. We sampled the IPA - which you know we don't usually like. This one was decent with a relatively low IBU in the 40's. We had pints of the Scotch Ale and enjoyed it!
We talked to The owner/brewer (Curt) for a minute and he told us he prefers malt beers to hoppy beers. YES!!!

Since they have been opened for just a few days the taproom still has time to develop its character. The seating available was one long bench along a wall and several kegs turned into stools. Each keg was hand painted with a different design.

Curt is a retired Marine and has a wall dedicated to those currently serving or killed in action. You can bring in a 5x7 photo and he'll hang it up. Nice touch. There are a few nods to the former brewery in the taproom as well as a full line of merchandise.

This won't be our last visit. Shocking.....

Chain Livin': Kiddie Pool Sunday

We are in our 40's with no kids. And we have a kiddie pool. It's part of our weekend. Saturday we hit the chain for lunch and maybe a band at Blarney Island, but Sunday is about relaxing in the backyard.

 

Holly wanted to watch the Tour de France while in the pool today so we set the old Mac up to pull off the Directv receiver with Slingbox.

 

We used to have this pool, but it got a hole in it. It was expensive and lasted one season.

 

The new pool is from Walmart and cost 1/5th the price of the fancy one. We like it so much we bought two more for backups.

Really good pool

 

Random side note: this guy was on our patio table this morning.

 

 

Video of the Action at the Bird Feeders

We have two bird feeders in the backyard.  One is a large tower feeder that hangs in a tree.  The other one is  a smaller basket feeder we have on a hook by the deck.  Both feeders can be seen from our kitchen window.  In Northern Illinois we seem to get quite a few different bird varieties visit the backyard.  The feeders also attract their fair share of squirrels.   Not only do these little guys eat a ton of food, they also knock a bunch of seed all over the ground.   Recently, we have seen deer having snacks from the feeder.

We set the GoPro camera up by the feeders one morning to catch some of the action.  This was done mainly to experiment with frame-rates and slow motion.  Although not our most exciting video, this one gives you the flavor of some of the different birds we see in this part of the country.  Next time we'll rig something up so the camera is angled farther out from the tray to get a wider view.

If you want to play along at home here's a link to Whatbird's list of Illinois Birds.

Chain Livin': Blarney Island in a Country Video

Around August 17th country music singer Joe Bachman filmed a video for the song "Small Town Rock Stars" at Blarney Island. Some good shots of the island and of the usual tie-up parties at the Petite Lake Sandbar.

Tomorrow is one of the last weekends the island is open for the season and the temperatures should be in the 40's-50's. Yeck!

 

Chain Livin': The Sandbar Restaurant - Antioch, IL

Given the family-oriented nature of "The Chain" many of our dining-out choices are limited to places serving sandwiches, pub grub, and pizza. One of the best places in our opinions to get those items is The Sandbar in Antioch, IL. This is not to be confused with Sandbar just over the border in Twin Lakes or the Petite Lake Sandbar where 100's of boats tie-up and party on the weekends.

The Sandbar is on the south side of Lake Marie, near the Bluff Lake Channel. To get there by car you'd have to drive down a long country road and find the right narrow side-street to make it lakeside. The bar itself is in a smaller building with low ceilings. Back when Illinois allowed smoking indoors we avoided the place. Now we love dining inside in the winter when you can look out the picture windows at the crazy people ice fishing. There's more outdoor seating than indoor seating. During boating season you can sit at picnic tables in the sand or on the concrete patio.

For entertainment you can watch people attempt to dock at their long and narrow rickety piers or enjoy watching boats launch from their ramp. You often see kids playing in the sand (making messes and getting yelled at by parents).

On weekends they offer a Chicago hot dog cart for a quick bite. New this year, Hawaiian shaved ice on Fridays and Saturdays. The Sandbar makes great chicken sandwiches and burgers. It's one of the few places in this area offering bison burgers as an option, along with sloppy joes. The pizza and calzones are great. They will half-bake pizzas for you to take home for later. Daily specials are a good deal. Dave's favorite is Saturday's BBQ ribs special. $10 Half-rack, $15 full.

Great place summer or winter. We'd link their website, but they don't have one.

Chain Livin': Blarney Island

One good thing about living in a "summer home" area is the fact that there are places catering to folks who want to have a good time. Summer is short in these parts so we take advantage of it every way we can. One place to definitely have a good time is Blarney Island

As the name implies, this bar is on an island in the middle of Grass Lake in Antioch, IL. We're not sure if there's much physical land left to the island, but it's a good size thanks to all the decking and docks built around it. You can get there on your own boat, or take the Blarney Island Shuttle from their sister mainland restaurant, The Port o' Blarney. It's only open from May until Early-October.

Photo borrowed from the Lake County History Blog

Originally, the island was built as a small fishing resort In 1906 under a different name. Visitors were also drawn to the area by the big beds of lotus blossoms. "The Island" at one point used to be connected to land, but when the dam went in downriver, Grass Lake rose and left the rest of the property as an island. You can read more at the Lake County History Blog and see some other great photos.

Lotus blossoms today

Nowadays it's a party destination. There are several themed weekends like "Key West Fest", Parrotheads, Blarney Gras, and 80's. There are some night parties like New Year's Eve, Pirates, and Pimps and Hos. We've never been to that last party, but we've seen some revelers at The Port and they really fit the theme. Thursday nights they host drag races. Hundreds of boats come out and anchor to watch the action. The last weekend of the season is the Drink Us Dry Party. Why lug it all back?

 

Bead tossing during Blarney Gras

Blarney Gras is the biggest weekend. The bands are a bit better than usual and during parts of the event they throw beads from the roof. Sometimes body parts are revealed. According to their marketing Blarney Island is "The Key West of the Midwest" and "A Mile Away from Reality". No wonder people feel safe throwing their inhibitions.

Top:  The Island about ten years ago.  Below:  More recent picture.
Bonus if you can find Dave

We've seen changes over the last ten years. Food used to come from a small BBQ grill and be limited to burgers and brats. Today they have a full kitchen and serve a fine chicken sandwich and the best chicken tenders around. Beer was Bud or Miller. Then Bud had exclusivity for seven years (known in our house as "The Dark Days"). Now MillerCoors has exclusivity! The main floor used to be one one level with picnic tables. Now it's nicely tiered and we have pub tables. There's over 350 boat slips and a helipad. 

What makes Blarney Island fun for us is the people-watching and live music as early as 2pm on the weekends. You see everything here: bachelorette parties, expensive boats, young folks partying hard, and some bad dancing. For some that grew up here, the first trip to Blarney as a 21 yr old is a rite of passage. We've been going to Blarney Island for ten years and we still can't believe how entertaining a day here can be.

Here's Blarney Island's promo video.   We are in it toward the end, but you need to look really hard for us.  This was filmed during a Blarney Gras - it's not always this crazy this early!

Chain Livin': Touring the Blossoms

"The Chain" was put on the map as a recreation destination over 100 years ago. Busy Chicagoans took the newly expanded train route to Fox Lake in order to find a relaxing distraction from city life. One of the main tourist attractions in the area were the "Egyptian" Lotus Blossoms.

Back in olden tymes people would visit Fox Lake and Antioch to see the famous flowers that only grow in two places around the world: Egypt and The Chain o' Lakes, IL. There are a few pictures and old postcards online showing the blossom tour as a true attraction through the '40's and beyond.

Blossoms in the "K"

The "Egyptian" portion of the blossom is still a common myth today. We thought these flowers really were only here and in Egypt until we researched this post. Cooter's History Thing Blog quotes the 2010 Grant Township (Which Fox Lake is in) Historical Society:

Fox Lake, Illinois', official flower is the very fragrant lemon-colored Egyptian Lotus Flower. At one time, when the Chain of Lakes was much lower and boat traffic much less, huge lotus beds covered parts of the lakes.

Today, there are far fewer, primarily near Crabapple Island where the water is too shallow for boating.

The Chain of Lakes, here in northeastern Illinois, is the only place in the US where they have been found growing in the wild. No one knows for sure why that is.

The Lake County History Blog presents a different story:

The lotus caused quite a tourism sensation from the 1880s to 1940s. Vacationers were drawn by word of their beauty and by the legend. The legend, created out of a combination of naiveté and marketing, stated that the lotus actually originated in Egypt and were brought to Lake County by bird or by an early settler. This myth made for great advertisements and was generally accepted as fact by area residents, but simply wasn’t true. 

The lotus, known as Nelumbo lutea, or American lotus, grow not only in the Chain O’ Lakes, but also in Illinois’ major rivers and lakes and ponds, and shallow water areas throughout the eastern United States.

We checked out wikipedia and it seems pretty clear that Nelumbo lutea is the flower in our lakes. No matter where they are from, they are very pretty and add character to the places they still grow.

With the blossoms in bloom we decided to take a boat ride and take a closer look. Here's a quick video we made from our tour and some pictures.

Some photos were sourced from the Internet for educational purposes. We do not claim the copyrights.