November Saturday in the Windy City

Trip Start Nov 06, 2008

Trip End Nov 10, 2008

Loading Map

Map your own trip!

Map Options

Show trip route

Hide lines

Flag of United States Chicago, Illinois, United States
Sunday, November 9, 2008

The day dawned cold but bright. I think the temperature dropped 20 degrees since I had arrived Thursday night. In typical Chicago fashion, the weather changed throughout the day. It stayed cold, but also got a little drizzly as the day went on. At least the snow that was predicted didn't show up. Due to the weather, we decided it not to go to the Northwestern-Ohio State game. This seems to have been a good decision since the game was all OSU based on the final score.

We decided to once again head into the city proper for the day. We first stopped for lunch at Julius Mendl located in Lincoln Square. This cute little place had fantastic dishes and desserts. I had a Mediterranean salad and a grilled chicken sandwich. The sandwich had a nice cheese and pesto sauce. For dessert I had the Nutella filled crepes. And having just watched "Talledega Nights" again recently, I just kept thinking of the scene where Jean Gideaux tries to force Ricky Bobby to say "I love Crepes" or the compromise "I love very thin pancakes"

Kerry with her Chai Latte

. Well I will say it... I love Crepes especially when they are filled with Nutella. Beth had a harvest salad and a pear with brie sandwich. I tried a little piece of her sandwich and it was great. The pear was warm and the brie nicely melted over a slice of multi-grain bread. She had a black forest mouse concoction for dessert. I also had a chai tea latte which warmed me up nicely from the plummeting temperatures.

From lunch we travelled to the section of town that has quite a few galleries. First we stopped in the Nicole Gallery which features some Haitian art. There were some pieces I really liked but I like the tray I bought while in Haiti better. Maybe just because it reminds me of that trip so vividly. From there we headed to the Zg Gallery where Beth has had some exhibits/installations though none currently. We looked at the current exhibit and chatted with some of Beth's friends there. I got to look at the two books they have with photos of Beth's previous exhibits/installations.

We then headed over to the Notebaert Nature Museum. They have a wonderful butterfly, or as I say flutterby, exhibit. It is a whole habitat that you walk through where the butterflies just flutter all around. It was very warm and humid in the exhibit room, just like the butterflies like

Beth and her dessert

. At the exit, they have a mirror so you can check to ensure you have no hitchhikers on you. They also had an exhibit in the marshland area having to do with rivers. It was interactive and I could see many children getting very wet. Luckily, they had the hand dryers.

We headed back to Evanston and hit Giordonio's pizzeria. We noticed many Northwestern and OSU fans there. We order a pepperoni and black olive deep dish. We also ordered a spinach and artichoke dip for an appetizer since deep dish takes a lot longer to cook than NY style. While we waited I decided to check the college football scores. I saw that the PSU-IA game was almost over but that the score was 23-21. I checked back after ordering and IA had scored making the final 23-24 and my hopes of another undefeated season/National Championship were dashed. I was a little down until the pizza arrived. With warm cheesy goodness, how can one stay down?