Walking, Eating, And Napping Around Chicago

5/15/2018

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Walking, Eating, And Napping Around Chicago

...Continued from yesterday:

After the Heroes Breakfast (see yesterday's post), Claire and Miguel had some work to do, so we made a plan to meet up later for dinner. Then Miguel and Claire went their way and Tom and I went ours.

Tom's and my way consisted of a stroll along beautiful Michigan Avenue to take in the sights,

...and also to take in a couple of donuts at a Dunkin' Donuts we happened upon. Tom and I love us some Dunkin' Donuts.

Then we continued walking,

...until we reached the corner of Michigan Avenue and Washington Street where is located the Chicago Cultural Center, which we entered.

The Chicago Cultural Center is a wonderful free museum,

..famous for its Tiffany-domed ceiling,

...and its variety of changing exhibitions.

On this day the works of several artists were on display.

This guy was my favorite,.

In one room there were a number of foreign students working on a group project.

There was also an exhibit on the the music scene in Bronzeville, the historically African American area of Chicago.

And while I found the old photos and artifacts interesting, it occurred to me that I'd much rather be able to listen to the music of the times rather than just look at records and pictures of the people who made the music.

But then I came upon this phone booth,

...inside of which was an old-fashioned rotary phone and a list of numbers one could dial to hear recordings of the music covered in the exhibit.

So I dialed and listened. It was great.

After we finished our tour of the Chicago Cultural Center it was time for lunch.
We decided to walk to Union Station, about a mile away, to have a Chicago dog from our favorite hot dog stand, Gold Coast Dogs, located in the basement of Union Station.

Now, I hadn't slept much the night before but, veteran insomniac that I am, a night with little sleep usually doesn't affect me much the following day.
But today, for some reason, soon after we started our walk to Union Station I started feeling tired and slightly nauseous. The more we walked the more tired and nauseous I felt, until by the time we reached Gold Coast Dogs my desire for a Chicago dog was 'way less than zero.

So Tom had a gorgeous-looking Chicago dog,

...while I - sitting in a molded plastic chair at a table we shared with another diner in crowded, noisy Union Station - took a nap.

    I'll never understand why I have so much trouble sleeping at night in a clean, comfortable bed in a dark, quiet room but can fall into a great sleep mid-afternoon sitting in a plastic or even a folding metal chair. I've fallen into many's the fine nap sitting in a folding chair while supposedly listening in on my children's cello, violin or piano lessons.
     Anyway, my brief nap in Union Station was of such high quality that when I awoke I was almost in the mood for a Chicago dog.
     However, as we were to meet Claire and Miguel for dinner, I decided not to press my luck, and we opted to just take the subway back to the Holiday Jones,

...our Wicker Park hostel (see post from 5/13/2018).

At dinner time we met up again with Claire and Miguel.

I'd thrown down the challenge to Miguel that the burgers Tom and I had had the night before at Mac's Wood Grilled were the best on the planet, and he was willing to take the challenge. (Claire, being a good-natured vegetarian, was amenable to checking out the pub's vegetarian fare).

Miguel had the Bacon and Eggs burger,

...Claire had the Grilled Cheese with a tomato bisque which she thought was really good,

...and Tom and I shared the burger I'd found so exquisite the day before, the 'Shroomin,

...and the delicious salad.

Miguel's judgement was that his was not the best burger he'd ever had. In truth, though I still found my burger very good the second time around, and I'd gladly go back again, the thrill of flavor I'd experienced upon tasting it the first time was absent the second time.
I guess thrills never do last.

We finished the evening with a walk,

...and a visit to Stan's, a popular Wicker Park donutery.

After we said good night to Miguel and Claire Tom and I walked to a local supermarket to buy provisions to make my cherry almond streusel pie - everybody's favorite - the following day.

The following morning, Friday morning, Tom and I partook of the Holiday Jones's complementary breakfast,

A little later we hopped back onto the subway, ..which we rode to the Western stop in Logan Square.

...which offered a cool view from the platform:

We walked from the train to Claire and Miguel's house,

...where we were greeted by one of their kitties, Rosie,

...their other kitties, Sassy and Siri, being busy with the naps they enjoy taking on their kitty hammocks.

Claire, Tom, and I then walked from their house to the 606,

...the former subway line that has been re-purposed as a walking and biking path.

View from the 606:

We exited near our destination,

...the Yolk test kitchen,

...which is where this local restaurant chain tests recipes for use in its other Yolk restaurants,

...and where met up with Miguel for brunch.

We all thought the food was delicious. Tom had blueberry pancakes,

...Miguel had the Short Rib Benedict,

...Claire had scrambled eggs,

...we ordered some pancakes to share,

...and I see that I forgot to snap a picture of my avocado toast, but as I recall it, too, was very photogenic and tasty.
After brunch we walked through Wicker Park and Bucktown,

...stopping at the landmark Bucktown Walgreens that used to be a bank,

...with a vitamin vault where the bank vault used to be.

We also passed by the building that used to house our formerly favorite hostel, the IHSP (see post from 11/19/2015).

Then we walked back to the 606,

...back to Miguel and Claire's house,

...where we spent a pleasant rest of the afternoon.

The kitty house.

The boxes of artificial flowers and garden statues Claire set up for the little neighbor preschooler to play with:

...instead of picking her flowers.

I baked a cherry almond streusel pie, the recipe for which I will once again share:

Cherry Almond Streusel Pie
The Pie:
2 cans of tart red cherries.
2 tablespoons of quick-cooking tapioca
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 9-inch unbaked refrigerated roll-out pie crust

The Streusel:
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup slivered almonds
Mix the cherries and their juice with the tapioca, sugar, and cinnamon. Let stand for 15 minutes.
    Mix the flour and brown sugar then cut the butter into the flour and sugar until the mixture is crumbly. Mix in the almonds.
    Roll out the pie crust, place it in a 9-inch pie pan and spread the cherry mixture into the pie crust. Spoon the streusel mixture over the cherries.
    Bake at 375 degrees for 45-50 minutes, until the filling is bubbly and topping well-browned.

When dinner time rolled around we set off for the bus stop,

...from where we hopped a bus to Miguel and Claire's favorite Mexican restaurant, Las Palmas.

The food was fantastic.

Claire had tofu tacos,

...Tom had salmon,

...Miguel had the Enchayotadas: "Corn tortillas stuffed with grilled chayote, carrots, portabella mushrooms and crispy corn chips, in creamy jalapeño-tomatillo salsa, topped with melted Chihuahua, crema, queso añejo, & garlic vinaigrette salad."