This post has been a long time coming - apologies! A's parents visited us at the end of September for a few days. They also visited us during the same time in 2010, and it was crazy to see how different the weather was. 2010 = Hot and sunny. 2011 = Cold and rainy.
We headed down to Chinatown to eat lunch and walk around. It rained off and on.
I love all the Buddhas.
We could have picked out our lunch. If we were willing to cook it.. we're not that brave yet!
Instead we opted to eat prepared food at a highly rated restaurant down a side street. Delicious!
A found out Goose Island Brewery - local to Chicago - does tours and tastings. We took the train uptown to one of their breweries.
One of their brewmasters showed us the business side of beer brewing, then walked us through a tasting.
A took a look at the amount of beer on the table and remarked that he would be quite inebriated at the end of the tasting because he'd be drinking mine as well as his. I'm not a fan of beer. Keep trying it, but don't particularly like it. Our tour guide asked if I liked wine. When I said yes, he said I would like the 4th beer we were going to try.
He was right! I liked a brew they call Matilda - a Belgian Pale Ale.
A still got to finish mine off. :)
Empty glasses!
After the tasting, we headed to Michigan Avenue to stroll among the shoppers. We came across these cool ads for Chicago Ideas Week.
I really like this one.
That evening we headed down to Navy Pier to check out Octoberfest.
There was a gymnastics group there who let people take a spin in their hoops. A was the bravest of our group!
We headed into the food and drink tent where we tried some bratwurst and listened to a live band. The music was okay - traditional Octoberfest type music - it just got repetitive after about three songs. Oh yes, and no dancing on the tables.
A and I had wanted to try out one of the popular Ethiopian restaurants in Chicago, but we knew we needed to go with more people (family style dining) and they had to be adventurous. His parents fit the bill, especially since they've already been to Africa.
This is one of the "traditional" style tables.
Our dinner platter - three main courses and three sides you pick up with injera - a flat spongy bread.
A wasn't sure about the bread.
It was yummy! Definitely different, but in a good way!
One morning we headed out to the suburb of Oak Park to take a Frank Lloyd Wright tour. He built multiple homes in Oak Park, and had a family home and studio there. We had headsets with MP3 players to listen to the tour as we walked around the neighborhood.
This is his home and studio.
Some of the houses he designed.
Some of his famous glass windows.
These aren't Wright houses, but this is what Oak Park looks like. Just beautiful streets, tall trees, cute houses.
This is actually a church. Pretty modern design.
I love the windows!
After we worked up an appetite in Oak Park, A decided to take his parents to his favorite "fast food" restaurant in Hyde Park. He used to get food at The Nile all the time when he lived in Hyde Park.
He loves the lentil soup.
And the chicken schawarma.
After lunch, we took a walk out to the Osaka Garden. It was built on a small island in a large pond near the World's Fair area.
That's the Museum of Science and Industry in the background. (The only standing World's Fair building.)
That night we ate at the Red Rooster. Very tasty French food in a small, one-room restaurant. There was one waiter, and one busboy/water server/bread server.
After dinner, we caught a comedy show at our favorite venue, the iO Theater. It was an interesting show. This guy (below) would come out and do a monologue based on one audience suggestion, telling stories from his life (they seemed believable). Then the rest of the group would do improv based on his stories. Very different, but very funny!
All in all, another great visit with A's parents!
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