Randoms: July 2016

It's been a while since we had a random topic post. Let's see how this goes.

Chicago Weekend

We spent a weekend in Chicago with a bunch of friends from all over the place. The Chicago Rock & Roll Half Marathon Weekend has become a tradition for Holly (legacy runner with all 8 under her belt) and our friends. On Friday Dave hosted lunch at Howell's & Hood, then took his friends on a tour of his office on the 76th floor of the Aon Center - the country's 7th largest building. Later that evening bar stops included 3 Dots and a Dash, the Renaissance's new rooftop bar, Miller's Pub, and dinner at Stout Barrel House.

The next day 14 of us took to the Chicago River in kayaks on a tour from Urban Kayaks. Our 2 hour private tour was perfect for novices and included a lot of Chicago historical facts along the way.

 

On race day there was a bit of lightning and rain during the event, but it cleared out quickly. A few of us a couple of songs from the headlining band - Echosmith. They were very good and so young (ages ranged from 15 - 21). We had lunch at a Printer's Row favorite: First Draft. Later that night was date night with drinks at Siena Tavern and dinner at RPM Steak.

Summer TV

TV for us this time of year means a few hours a week dedicated to Big Brother and movies we've DVR'd during the year. We caught up on the 4th season of Orange is the New Black and found a few other gems this season:

Stranger Things on Netflix is a well-done eight part Sci-Fi series set in 1983. The story follows several pre-teens and their families as they try to solve a mystery surrounding some disappearances. The 80's theme is everywhere: toys, clothes, Trapper Keepers, TV commercials, and background music fitting an after school special. The entire season is available.

The Night Of on HBO is not as family-friendly as Stanger Things, but it's a story that draws the viewer right in. Without giving too much away it's about a good college-kid that has a chance encounter changing his life forever. Episode 1 lays out the premise and the rest (so far) is dealing with the aftermath and trying to determine the truth. Episodes are released weekly and as of this post four have aired.

Pokemon

We tried Pokemon Go. We liked the initial concept, but the game is not fun for those of us in the rural suburbs of Chicago. There is no way for us to progress in the game. There are no Pokestops near the house and the nearest gym is miles away.

Dave has been enjoying the other recent Pokemon release: Pokemon Trading Card Game for the iPad. You collect cards, win decks and other rewards through trainer tournaments to create your own decks. You can join Online tournaments and play against others.

Jackson Hole

Our next big trip is coming up in a few weeks. We are going to Jackson Hole, Wyoming for their marathon. We're going to be joined by 3 other couples and enjoy our time visiting the area including the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone.

Olympics and Beers from Around the World

This was the year Chicago was supposed to host the Summer Games, but the city lost the bid to Rio. This will be a fun year to watch for Dave since he works closely with many Brazilians and will enjoy their POV on how their country is portrayed.

Our Olympic tradition continues this Friday: Beers From Around The World. This is when we buy a bunch of international beers and film our review while watching the Opening Ceremonies. We may take advantage of some of the new broadcasting tools like Periscope to bring a segment or two live.

Link to 2014 video

Link to 2012 videos

 

We are Tired! Chicago/Wisconsin Weekend

Lately we've been the poster kids for the phrase "work hard, play hard". Lots going on at both our jobs and Holly's car died on her far from home. It took over a week to fix and we just finally got her back. When the opportunity to spend an overnight in Chicago became an option, we jumped on the chance to enjoy a fun night out. In our usual burn-the-candle-at-both-ends approach, we took this little jaunt right before a weekend trip to Wisconsin (which really isn't far) for a wedding.

Chicago

Dave had a late-day cardiologist appointment in the city (all good!) and we decided we could Hotwire a room and stay overnight. We found a decent price for the Sofitel (we read the reviews for context clues to predict before we book), which is a property we don't mind. The rooms are smallish, but the bathrooms are spacious and pretty.

Dave's goal for the day was to tour two rooftop lounges we have not visited. First we went to Vertigo Sky Lounge. We arrived pretty close to opening time, but found the nice looking rooftop empty. When we tried to order a drink we were told the event starts at five. They were closed for a convention party. After that let-down (we will try another time since it was nice) we went to the Godfrey Hotel to try their lounge. The outdoor area was closed for a private party, and the inside lounge tables were all taken or blocked off. We ended up with beers at the inside bar. Ugh.... At least the bartender was nice and we met a brewer for Deschutes.

After those two fails we kept our sights on ground level bars for fear of another shut-out. We opted for BlackFinn Ameripub because we remembered from prior research they had a decent beer list. Lots on tap to choose from with reasonable prices for the tourist town area. We had pints of Scurry from Off Color.

We know everyone is waiting for it: the next stop was Three Dots and a Dash. We lucked into some bar seats and settled in since dinner wouldn't be for another two hours. A benefit of serving each drink in its signature glass is it allows patrons to keep easier track of the beverages they have sampled. This visit we tried:

For dinner we paid a repeat visit to RPM Steak. We had great food during our first visit, but a horrible table in the overflow room. This time we made sure we would be seated in the main room and received a nice booth. The food was wonderful once again: Bacon appetizer, Parker House rolls, and nice filet mignons. We opted out of desert in favor of having a final drink at The Peninsula Hotel's bar.

Breakfast the next morning came from Stan's Donuts. Dave bought a few before his his doctor's appointment (tip: Don't walk into your cardiologist visit with a sack of donuts) and our chosen favors included Biscoff, Captain Crunch, and Banana Nutella. They were good, but huge which made eating a whole one in a sitting challenging.

Beeriversary

Our local brewery (Chain o' Lakes) was celebrating their 2nd anniversary with releases of special barrel-aged beers throughout the day. We enjoyed a few beers in the Biergarten, listened to some live music, and had some decent brats served on pretzel buns. It was a great event, but we couldn't stay long because we had to head to...

Lake Geneva, Wisconsin

We were attending a wedding in nearby Lake Geneva, which is a town that was developed by Chicago's elite in the late 1800's. Mansions line the lake and the town offers dining, shopping, tacky t-shirts, and hordes of people that can't walk when the light turns green or follow traffic signs. We planned to stay over two nights at Geneva Ridge because of the hotel's booking policy.

We had a great time Saturday celebrating the marriage of a fantastic young couple, catching up with friends, and enjoying the terrace overlooking Lake Como. Best wishes to Mike and Nora.

Sunday we forced ourselves out of bed (we may have stayed out late) on an overcast morning to take the 10am Mailboat Cruise on Lake Geneva. Holly has never taken a cruise on the lake while Dave has taken two. The Mailboat is a large 75' boat that slows down at docks to let a teenager jump off, deliver mail to a lakeside mailbox, and jump back on. On Sunday they deliver papers. Luckily for us the skies and rain cleared up as soon as we left the dock and we had a very pleasant cruise.

We toured a few stores in town (most of our favorite places have closed), toured the craft fair, and had our first so-so experience at Sprecher. We returned to the hotel exhausted and even had thoughts of packing it in and going home. After relaxing a bit at the pool we felt better and had a nice time enjoying the patio bar area (great fire pit) and an almost private dining experience in the Lakeview Lounge.

The next morning we left separately for work. At one time there was a conversation about seeing the One Direction concert Tuesday night at Soldier Field. Thank goodness we didn't follow through with those plans. Hopefully we don't get some crazy ideas for the upcoming weekend (ignoring all ads for Chicago Food and Wine Festival). Even though we don't take advantage of most area events and attractions it is nice to be in a location where you can do so many things within a 90 minute drive.

 

More from a Chicago Weekend July 2015

Holly covered the Rock and Roll Chicago Half Marathon in our last post. Here are some other highlights from our recent weekend in Chicago.

Rock and Roll 10K

While Holly ran the Rock and Roll Half, Dave joined a few friends in the Rock and Roll 10K. This was the first R&R 10K in our area and we originally guessed it would run the first 6 miles of the half course, giving us a nice tour of popular Chicago landmarks. Silly us....... We were given the last 6.2 miles of the half course which meant our start line was a mile away from the main start and our view was of a less-spectacular part of the city. We got to "enjoy" not having enough porta-potties at the start, with most never stocked with paper.  For Dave the course was ok for a one-and-done since we are "local" and do not frequent that part of town. If we came to town planning that the 10K would hit Chicago's highlights we would have been mad.

We watched most of the Andy Grammar post-race show and we actually enjoyed most of the songs. He's the kinda singer that you've heard their songs but had no idea who sang them.

Our room came with a guard dog. We named him Spartacus.

Virgin Hotel

We used Hotwire.com to book our weekend accommodations. We have discovered that if you read ALL the reviews of a hotel offer, and our familiar with your destination, you can figure out where you could be staying. After much investigation we found we had a decent offer available for the new Virgin Hotel. This is the first ever hotel for the record label / airline.
It was a wonderful experience. The staff was very pleasant and very customer focused. We were asked why we were in town and responded that we came in for the race. After being in the room for ten minutes a staff member visited to give us a Kind Bar and bottle of water with a hand written card saying good luck.

Our room was spacious given the very different layout of a two-section chamber. Your shower is actually part of the room and not in a separate bathroom. The mini bar is not a rip-off and guests can enjoy free drinks at social hour each night in The Commons Club. By free, we mean whatever you want (we think within reason) so the signature cocktail menu was not off limits. The restaurant decor was a mix of modern with kitschy casual. We did not seem to fit-in with the other clientele: model types, GQ fashionistas, and ladies dressed up for a big night out. But what was nice was the staff never gave us odd looks or made us feel out of place. If you need a quick ride and the car is available you can get a lift in the Tesla (we did - fun!). The hotel also has a rooftop bar (which you know we love) but it was a bit small and cramped for our taste with few outdoor seating options.

Food and Drink

Places we visited during the weekend:

Cerise: Rooftop at the Virgin Hotel. Beer list was lacking and it was a bit small compared to other rooftops. We didn't make it to the lower-level indoor bar, but we all need goals.....

Three Dots and a Dash: the basement tiki bar was able to accommodate our (then) group of five for 90 minutes at a table. We had fun finding out the guys at the next table flew to Chicago just to visit this bar. We delighted them by pointing out the bar's founder moved on to open another tiki bar in the city's north side. We came home with some unneeded drinking vessels.

Bottlefork: We stopped here for a drink before dinner and enjoyed the outdoor communal table. The beer list was unique, but not deep. The cocktail list looked tempting and the food that passed by looked great. Maybe next time we will spend more time here.

Weber Grill: Our friend Charlie said he loved Weber Grill during another visit to Chicago so we figured we'd get a ressie for our party of nine. As "locals" we often forget about Weber Grill since the city always buzzes about new restaurant openings. The food was great and reasonably priced for being in tourist central. We discovered a local beer we liked from Off Color - Scurry Dark Honey Ale.

McCormick and Schmick's: We went here for a few reasons: 1) Too early to go to bed, 2) Weather was awesome, 3) Patio on Wacker looking at the Trump Tower and Wrigley Building, 4) $50 gift card leftover from Christmas. Specialty Berry Mule was nice.

The Common Club: Virgin Hotel's second floor bar serves most day-parts with food and great cocktails. The crowd is a bit fashionable, but there's enough casual around to make anyone feel welcome (board games, comic books, light fixtures made of toys).

Jake Melnik's: Frequent readers are not shocked we stopped here. Great food and beer list just two blocks away from the madness of the Mag Mile. Everyone in our party enjoyed their food including BBQ sandwich of chicken, pork, and brisket and Jake's famous chicken wings. Be sure to try the PB & J wings.

Howells and Hood: (Another shocker) Stopped to have beer on the patio (over 120 on tap to pick from) but then the deluge arrived when the waitress brought our drinks to the table. Headed inside to keep out of the massive downpour.

Pizano's Pizza: We had problems here last year when they lost our reservation for 16 people and we had to make other plans rather quickly. A voicemail left for the owner ended with a personal apology and a gift card. Now Pizano's is on Opentable.com and they worked with us as we switched our headcount a few times. Folks enjoyed their pizzas and huge bowls of pasta. The generous gift card covered all 10 people with a few bucks leftover.

First Draft: Dave discovered this Printer's Row location last year and wanted to share his find with friends. Great beer list with unique options like a cucumber wheat and grapefruit radler served over ice with vodka, The poutine and burgers were excellent.

Fortunately we had a pretty successful weekend.

Holly's 2015 Chicago Rock and Roll Half Marathon Report

Hopefully you read my post about coming back to races after surgery. This would be my first race back and I was both excited and very nervous. I was hoping to get a decent time for this race and use it as a proof of time for a better corral at the Star Wars Half Marathon at Disneyland coming up in January. My training times were going well so I was optimistic. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate. The forecast was looking like a typical summer July day, hot and humid. The forecast was correct so I threw out the time goals and just wanted to finish the race and not feel horrible.

Dave and I got up at 4:30 am and headed over to the Palmer House to meet up with the rest of our friends (we got a Hotwire deal for the new Virgin Hotel - loved it!). Soon we were on our way to the start corrals (Dave and a few friends trekked farther south to the 10k start).

It was quite humid and we all said we would just slow it down and today was all about survival. It took forever to cross the start line but finally we were racing. I was so excited to be finally out on the road again. Julie, Stan and myself started off together and stayed together most of the race. We lost Julie at a bathroom stop but Stan and I managed to stay together for the entire race. I felt pretty good except for some normal effects of the heat and humidity. It’s amazing how much that can really drain you.

We had our savior Laura, at Mile 9 or so. She had delicious cold orange slices for us and that was enough to get me to the finish. It was too warm for gels and I was able to stomach only one for the entire race. The dreaded tunnel was as hot and stinky as always, but Stan did a great job of leading the way though it and I was happy to get it behind me. The bands on the course were lacking and I really miss the old days of this race when there were so many bands along the way. They really kept you going.

Finally the finish line was in sight and we saw our friends, Molly, Tom, Jan, and Dave (who missed us completely) (Dave here: We heard that another member of our party was at mile 12 and Holly was just ahead of them. Didn't think they meant that much ahead. I got a picture of her shoe.) cheering us in to the finish. I was very happy to cross a finish line again. I got my medal and my streak of perfect finishes in this race is intact at 7. I was very thankful for the icy cold towel and they brought back the popsicles this year, so good. A special thanks to the Chicago Fire Dept. for having a very nice cooling/misting system set up. It was great. We then headed over to the park to hear Andy Grammar sing and drink a few beers. A great morning. So happy to be back!!!

 

 

 

 

A Bunch of Chicago

Dave said it feels like he's been in Chicago more this past month than any other time in our almost 20 years of living in Illinois. We've had lots of new experiences during Chicago's Rock & Roll Race Weekend (see post). In addition, Dave's dad was in town from New York recently which led to two more visits to the city.

Day 1 we took the Metra into the city. Our first stop was The Field Museum. We've been here before but there's always something new (or old....Ha Ha!) to see. The main reason for today's visit was to see the special exhibit on the 1893 Chicago World's Fair (The Columbian Exposition). But before going into the special exhibit we made our way through the entire Africa and Egypt exhibits.

The 1893 World's Fair exhibit was mostly focused on recreating displays that guests would have seen attending that particular event vs. featuring the creation and design of the fair. That means we saw a lot of rocks, taxidermic animals, and jars of oil. Still very interesting. We learned that the fair's structures were temporary except for the Palace of Fine Arts (Today's Science and Industry Museum); which became a museum after the fair featuring donated items from the fair. That museum morphed into the Field Museum and moved to its current location in 1921.

The exhibit dumped us in a gift shop where they had 2 interesting items. There was a cool book called Chicago Then and Now combining old pictures of well-known Chicago locations with today's photos. Another item was a pint glass that reminded me the Field had their own exclusive beer. The glass was fun. We didn't have the Field beer since other beer was in our near future (and it sounded hoppy).....

We needed to grab Holly a souvenir. Fortunately a Mold-A-Rama featured one of her favorite animals. In case you've never seen one, the Mold-A-Rama is a Chicago museum staple - put in $2 and watch a plastic statue being made right before your eyes!

Soon-after, the fact settled in that Dave was stuck carrying this thing the rest of the day.

After a brisk stroll through the taxidermic animals on display (they have a lot of them) we called it quits, jumped in a cab, and visited a new Chicago bar located in Printer's Row: First Draft. The place was fun and had that old-time after-work bar feel: tin ceiling, dark wood, and high top tables. There were over 60 beers on draft featuring a good mix of all styles and a few local options. We made sure to try a few with our lunch.

The next day we had another trip to the city: this time driving to Evanston and taking the El to Wrigleyville. Lunch was at one of our favorite places: Goose Island Wrigleyville. A lot of people write-off Goose Island nowadays because of the purchase by InBev. However, Goose Island still runs its two Chicago brewpubs independent of the mothership which still gives them lots of creative freedom. We had Belgian darks, Weiss beers, and their Wrigleyville Cubbies Blueberry exclusive. We lucked-out and nabbed a beer garden table where we enjoyed pulled pork and Cuban sandwiches.

After lunch we walked over to Wrigley Field for the Cubs game. Dave's dad loves baseball and seeing games in old parks. We don't share that love. Wrigley Field is a pit and the north side baseball team deserves a stadium redo like almost every other ball team. The Cubs aren't good so give us something to occupy our time, like a Jumbotron or a bunch of mascots running the field.

Dinner was at Smylie Brothers Brewing in Evanston. Things would have gone better here if two things didn't happen: the kitchen losing our order and the porter being replaced a day before our arrival. Holly didn't find any beers of interest so we went with Moscow Mules. We were there an hour without receiving food and our waitress offered no explanation or apology. The two beers Dave sampled, the Cali Common and Berry Weiss  ("Purple Line") seasonal were decent. The wood oven pizzas were very good.

That should be the end of some Chicago adventures for the next few months. The fall marathon season is gearing up so we'll be visiting some other exciting cities soon: Logan, UT is next.

2014 Rock & Roll Chicago Half Marathon and 5K

Holly's Half Marathon Report: This would be the sixth year in a row for me to run the Rock and Roll Chicago Half Marathon. I am currently “perfect” as it has only been run 6 years. I was excited to run this year as a bunch of friends were coming in to town for it. After a very fun Saturday we all got up early and made our way to the start area for a 6:30 start time. We had quite the group. The 5k crew: Maria, Olivia, Dave, Molly and Anna. The Half: Eddie, Joe, Stan, Pam, Mike, Julie and myself. And our cheer section: Laura and Jan.

Joe, Stan, Mike Julie and myself planned to run together using 2:1 intervals. It took us about a half hour to get to the start line and we were off. The course was much different this year with a lot of out-and-backs through the loop area. No bands for the first 6 miles because of a noise ordinance in the residential areas. This is a new rule apparently as there was always music previously. The buildings were wreaking havoc with our GPS and had me running a 5:00 minute mile at one point. I wish!!

We finally left the loop area and headed
down Michigan Ave. We lost Stan and Mike here due to a potty break. Julie, Joe and I kept on going. I was feeling pretty good, much better than last year. It was much cooler and I was much more hydrated. We got to the dreaded tunnel and I was definitely dreading it. The tunnel is a portion of the course that goes under McCormick Place. It is dark, full of potholes and car fumes, as this is where taxis and buses sit and wait to pick up people. Joe did a great job of leading the way like a linebacker and we flew through that tunnel in under 2 minutes. It was a piece of cake. Unfortunately, we lost Julie in the tunnel. Sorry Julie!! We finished up strong and while not a PR, I’m still pleased with my time and had a blast running with everyone. We made it through the chute and got some goodies, but no popsicles! This was always my favorite part of this race. We ran over and got my free beer and then headed out to shower and get ready for our post race lunch.

Dave's 5K Report: The plan for the morning was to kick-back on the 5K. I wasn't really motivated to go for a time: I was downtown and had the chance to enjoy multiple beverages the day before. When we hit the start Anna escorted Olivia (age 11) on a 1:1 run-walk pace. Molly took off after mile one to help loosen out her knee. That left Maria and I time to have a nice easy walk full of fun conversation. I didn't bother taking pictures since I've been on this Lower Wacker/Lakefront course many times. We had three bands on our course, which was nice. There were more spectators around the finish line then I remember from previous years. Snacks are usually good at R&R events. I enjoyed: chocolate milk, pretzels, Larabar, banana, and lime Fla-Vor-Ice (thank you Jel Sert for keeping green the traditional lime flavor and not switching to trendy sour apple).

I agreed to join Miss Olivia in wearing a set of patriotic deely boppers. Took me about 5 minutes to figure out where to put them on my head so it wouldn't feel like pine cones jammed against my skull. As previously mentioned Olivia ditched me at the start; leaving me the only person around wearing deely boppers that don't remotely match the rest of his outfit or race theme. Can't really say it was the first time......
Our post-race fun was covered in an earlier post.