Yesterday, when elsaf and I finished watching The Bucket List, I woke up napping-judiang and the two of us walked to Taste of Chicago, armed with a large purse and a package of Saran Wrap. We had a to-go order from Elsa which the bag and cellophane were for. Once Judi and I had gotten and eaten our wares, we picked up items for Elsa and wrapped and stuffed ’em in the bag.

My Taste things for Friday were as follows:

• Las Tablas – empanada
• Harry Carey’s – chocolate chip cookie
• Robinson’s No. 1 Ribs – rib tips
• Abbey Pub – fish
• Vermillion – mango cumin-dusted fries with chutney
• The Noodle Vietnamese Cuisine – sesame beef on a stick
• Canaday Le Chocolatier – mascarpone gelato
• Franco’s Ristorante – lemon Italian ice

Today’s fare was a little less satisfying than Wednesday’s. The empanada was a little plain. The barbecue sauce on the rib tips was more ketchup than anything. The fish from Abbey Pub could have easily been from Van de Kamp’s. But I liked the fries – they tasted like samosa in a convenient fry shape. The gelato place had issues – first you had to wait forever in one line to deliver your tickets, then they gave you a colored stick and you waited in another line for your ice cream. And they were out of pistachio, which was my first choice. But I’d also been interested in the mascarpone ice cream, so that was OK. It was quite tasty, too.

Once back at the apartment, Elsa got to eat her late lunch. We then decided we’d have pizza delivered for supper. And I decided that, after the long walk, I wanted to go swimming to drop my core body temp a little. So, off to the pool I went. It was chilly, but not as chilly as the first night we swam. And it was very refreshing. I was only there for about half an hour, but it was what I needed.

Judi wanted more strawberry shortcake for supper’s dessert, but we needed strawberries. I talked her into trying peach shortcake since we’d have to go to the grocery anyway. Of course, when I say “we” it turns out it was “me.” They gave me a list of things to get and off I went with Judi’s wobbly grocery cart. As I was walking off to the grocery, I thought of how nice it is where Judi’s at that she’s got all these neat places to walk to. My town is so small, there’s not a whole lot of places to walk to. But Judi has quite a variety of walking experiences. One more reason to visit friends!

I peeled (??? we never peel ’em at home!) and sliced the peaches for peach shortcake, then got a conscripted cutting board (Judi didn’t know what the thing was, but we used it as a cutting board) out for the Gouda cheese and Toasted crackers we then snacked on. We sat and chatted while waiting for the pizza delivery.

Pizza was from Connie’s Pizza. We ordered the special (sausage, peppers, onions, mushrooms) in a deep dish crust. Judi was disappointed because they didn’t do the deep dish the right way (crust too thick) but it was tasty and satisfying. We put No Country for Old Men on while we ate and wondered just what the movie was about. I think we were all rather perplexed by the end of it. Still, the scene in the boot shop after the anti-hero returns from Mexico was laugh out loud funny. We also ate peach shortcake with ice cream (regular store-bought vanilla) while the movie played. Afterwards, Elsa and I watched the Edwardian Supersizers episode (the pilot for the series).

Unfortunately, although Elsa started out the day feeling better than she’d felt in a couple of days, she was feeling worse by the end. 🙁 Indeed, when she woke up this morning around 6am, she decided there was no way she could drive home. Judi got up around 6:30am and I followed 15 minutes later. We discussed several options. She finally decided on flying home today and flying back next weekend in order to drive her car back. She only took her essentials on the flight, so nothing had to be carried or checked. I paid for the cab ride to Midway because I didn’t want to drive there and back again in Elsa’s car in Chicago (a very unfamiliar place for me to drive). Judi got a wheelchair for her once we arrived and we walked with her and her chair pusher until she was outside security. We just received a text from her that she’s on the plane. Her bro will pick her up upon arrival.

It’s a shame she got to feeling so poorly once she was here. We did have a good time despite the troubles, but I know she would MUCH prefer to have NOT had the troubles. (Pain is really a bitch.) Get to feeling better, Elsa!

On our way back from the airport (using the El this time – less than 1/10 of the cost of getting there) we stopped at The Bongo Room for brunch. We both ordered the BLT Benedict – an eggs Benedict with applewood smoked bacon, spinach, and a tomato basil hollandaise sauce (though they were out of tomato) and hashbrowns. I also ordered a hot chocolate. It was very yummy! And we both preferred it without the tomato.

Judi’s now napping and I think I’ll do the same when I’m done with this post. Our plan is to get to Navy Pier for a late supper and fireworks watching. Perhaps we’ll catch a movie today too. Wall-E sounds like a good ‘un.