Pastrami and Playboy

At the beginning of May, my mom came to visit.  Visit is a liberal way of putting it - it was more of a stopover on her way to a conference in the Twin Cities.  I'm glad she could spend a day with me!  She really wanted to see the reason to be in Chicago in May: the tulips.  They're everywhere in the city and they're beautiful!

My mom also suggested we take a food tour, something I had not yet done in Chicago.  After careful consideration, we went with Chicago Food Planet Tours.  We opted for the Near North tour as it is close to my apartment and an area A and I haven't visited frequently.  Turned out to be a great choice!

First stop: Ashkenaz Deli for their version of a reuben... using pastrami!  Delicious!

Next we stopped for cranberry mango iced tea at Tea Gschwender.  Learned more than I ever knew about tea, and had a realization.  I like tea!  Not really into hot tea yet, but iced tea (with minimal sweetner - we're not talking McD's tea here, people!).  I ended up going back and buying three yummy flavors!

We took a short walk from the Gold Coast towards Old Town.  Along the way, our guide pointed out interesting historical buildings.  Such as the original Playboy mansion.

Yes folks, Hugh Hefner started his enterprise in Chicago's Gold Coast neighborhood.  Apparently when he owned the mansion, the rooms without a lake view in a building across the intersection had the highest price tag.  The view of the Playboy sunning roof overpowered Lake Michigan!

I liked this house because 1) it shows how Chicago lots work - long and narrow and 2) it has oil lamps which burn 24/7.

This home was the most intriguing... it's built with steel beams between two neighboring buildings.  The architect didn't bother to build side walls - he used the walls from the buildings next door!  (With permission, of course.)

Our first stop in Old Town was at The Spice House.  The name is self-explanatory, but let me elaborate.  Any spice you want, they have.  It's going to be a dangerous place for me and A.  Our "tasting" here was different types of cinnamon.

After that we went two doors down to Old Town Oil, a shop specializing in olive oils and vinegars.  We mixed different oils and vinegars to create some unique tastes.  My mom and I both loved the Italian Herb oil.

Next up: A chocolate and candy store!  We had their homemade caramel chocolate bars - yum!  This is a 10-pound bar of chocolate they get from a manufacturer.  It was surprisingly heavy!

Chocolate-covered raisins!  (We almost stole some.)

After that we moved on down the road to Delightful Pastries, a Polish-European bakery.  (The owner is Polish!)  We had one savory item, a cheese and potato pierogi and one sweet item, some sort of fruit-filled pastry.  Delicious!

Mom liked the chicks.

Then we had a longer hike to our final destination: Bacino's pizza.  They gave us huge slices of spinach stuffed pizza.  And it was yummy.

It was a great tour, and a great day!

There Were 5 Mass Extinctions?!

My sister S came to visit while she was between contracts (she works for a cruise line) so I got to play tourist!  First stop: Field Museum of Natural History.  S liked the gigantic columns.

We saw a cool exhibition about the horse (where we couldn't take pictures).

Next up: All the animal displays which at first we thought were fake but are actually quite real!  

Scary bear!

Our feet compared to other mammals'.

Stinky (fake) poop!

Go Gators!

Thigh for thigh, I think the dinosaur wins.

S got to learn the same truth A and I did the first time we visited the museum - there are four other mass extinctions they don't teach you about in school!  The fifth one was the extinction we're all familiar with.

We both enjoyed touching meteorites - rocks that actually came from space!

The next day we ventured to Millennium Park to see the hot spot for tourists: Cloud Gate.  (Commonly referred to as "The Bean".  In fact, I'd venture to say about 85% of Chicagoans don't even know it's actually called Cloud Gate.)

We also stopped by the Art Institute to visit the lions.

The day had started off foggy and cloudy, so we thought we'd have to skip Sears Willis Sears Tower.  However, the blue sky came out so we headed there next.

We were told the wait time was over an hour once we got to the basement. (Yes, you have to go down to go up - it doesn't make sense to me either.)  Thankfully, the line wasn't long at all (I've been in worse!) and we were quickly about to load up in the elevator.  Except something was different... our group was directed into a freight elevator.  No explanation given.  We were told we would stop at the 31st and 62nd floors and to not get out.  I especially loved the sign in the elevator.

After surprising a furniture mover on 62, we arrived at the 103rd floor.

It was still foggy when we first looked out the windows, but it cleared up to a nice view.

The longest line was to get into the Ledge boxes.  Four glass boxes which extend 4.3 feet from the Sears Tower.  You're basically standing 1,350 feet over Wacker Drive.

Difficult to get the entire Tower in a picture!

After Sears Tower, we got some infamous Garrett popcorn as a snack.  (S is sad the line is longer than the one at Sears Tower.)

We got cheddar, but the famous Chicago mix is cheddar + caramel.

That night all three of us went to a comedy show.  No, not Second City.  We went off the beaten path to an hilarious show called Pimprov.  The idea was pimps doing improv.  It... was... unbelievably funny!  No pictures, though, sorry.  

The next day S and I did some window shopping on Michigan Avenue.  We stopped for lunch at a place I have to take all my family members to see.

The Billy Goat Tavern slogan is infamous in our family.  Unlike my mom, S was excited to try the food.  Yum!

After a long day of exploring the city, we had some very tasty deep-dish pizza at Gino's East.  

This Gino's location is well-known for its decor.  I've never seen so much graffiti in one place and in so many layers!  We neglected to bring a marker (which is encouraged!), but we used a pen to add our names.

All in all, it was a fabulous visit with my sister!  And Orion even got to know her - by the end she was cuddling up against her just like with A and I.