Two more days under our belts now. Yesterday was a very full day. After breakfast at home, we headed off to Andersonville for shopping & eating.

We took the 22 bus on Clark down to Andersonville and got off to check out a couple of neat stores that Amy had been to. Junk, antiques, and items made from junk and antiques. Then we continued down Clark stopping in all sorts of neat shops and galleries.

We saw a deli across the street (JBs) when we were pecking so popped in for lunch. We split a pastrami on marble bread sammich, some rosemary & olive oil kettle chips for lunch. We also got two black & white cookies but decided to have them later.

We continued exploring Andersonville, popping in & out of shops as either of us were intrigued. At the bookstore Women and Children First, I bought a book because I had to, you know. Eventually we went to Dollop (not attached to a Hoosier Mama) for beverages to have while we munched our cookies. While there, Amy discovered that we were 10 min away from a distillery, so of course we had to go there.

Koval is in Ravenswood and turned out to be a fun visit. We had our own personal expert who introduced us to several of their spirits. They were quite tasty. Amy bought a whiskey sampler and I bought her their gin pair as a belated birthday gift. I also bought a glass & t-shirt.

We walked on to Replay back in Andersonville in order to check out their video game selection. I had their cider and Amy a beer while we played Galaga, Ms Pac Man, Centipede, Frogger and a racing game. Fun nostalgia and only for the price of a couple of drinks instead of stacks of quarters.

Our final planned destination was The Northman Pub, a cider pub. They have a large assortment of ciders on hand (and many beers & wines). The menu also looked good. They let all their (adult) customers try their Northman house cider first, and we both liked it. Then I ordered three 4oz pours of ciders while Amy got a beer. Vander Mills Nitro Fluff was fun & fizzy. Aspall’s Imperial was my favorite of the night. Seattle’s Three Peppers was fun and went well with our Welsh rarebit, but I won’t get it again. We also ordered their rabbit pie and beet salad. Tasty night!

We decided to pick up dessert on the way home at a place called Cookie Spin. They bake cookies as thick as brownies. We got a 6 pack of small cookies. The three flavors I got were s’mores, birthday cake, and chocolate caramel. I had the s’mores last night once we were home, and the birthday cake with breakfast this morning. Too tired to keep writing, so I’ll write about today tomorrow.

I’m currently in Chicago visiting my sister. You might have seen my Instagram posts to that effect.

I arrived Tuesday evening and took a cab from the airport to Amy’s pad. We had pizza and salad from Pete’s Pizza (which arrived a few minutes after I) and watched the finale of Sense8 on Netflix. (Amy’s Internet connection died out during the playback, so we had a short delay in the middle. We also paused at one time to recap what had gone on before & figure out who was who.)

Yesterday, we walked to Dollop Coffee & The Hoosier Mama Pie Company for quiche (mine was asparagus, sage, ricotta) and a shared slice of their sugar cream pie. Everything was tasty, though their sugar cream pie was more flan-like in texture than we’re used to. We continued our walk by going to a news agent (Chicago-Main Newsstand) and buying some periodicals (I got a ‘zine on the Pet Shop Boys). We explored a bit more of Evanston before walking back along the Lake. The weather was perfect and the walk (and company) delightful.

Just before we returned to Amy’s place we popped into Charmers for iced coffee (Amy), English toffee Italian soda (me) and a brownie (both) which we enjoyed on Amy’s “back stoop” while we read our books. I started The Underground Railroad by Colton Whitehead, which is looking to be an excellent book.

After afternoon naps followed by plate of apple slices, we got ready for our evening in the theatre district. Back in January for my birthday, Amy surprised me with tickets to see Carol Burnett at the Chicago Theatre. And last night was the night. We took the red line to Lake, then meandered to our supper spot Wow Bao. This is a steamed bun place, so we got their orange chicken combo w/ steamed rice, cold noodles (very good w/the peanut sauce), and pork pot stickers. We also tried four bao, pork bbq, curry chicken, salted caramel, and chocolate. It was all tasty but the winner of the bunch for me was the chocolate.

Security was going to be extensive at the theatre, so we were advised to arrive an hour early, which we did. We were even earlier and waited a little. The Chicago Theatre is a lovely old building with lots of period decor (this is me not knowing the architectural/historical terminology) and about 7 thousand stairs, which we got to climb. We had a box, with just the two seats for us. We sat with our drinks (I had a Virtue cider) and people watched. Amy’s friends, Jason & Michael, arrived a bit later and we could see them from our seats. Carol came out, showed clips, answered questions, and kept us in stiches. It was a delightful evening.

After the show, we walked a little with the boys, then walked to the Chicago Athletics Association for a cheese plate & drinks. I tried a negroni-based cocktail that had pineapple juice as well as campari (a bitter liqueur) and it was tastier than not. The cheeses were lovely.

Today’s adventures may include Andersonville, Wrigleyville, Boys Town, an arcade (pew pew), and a cidery. It’ll be fun whatever we do!