Eating in Chicago

Headed for the Windy City?

Here's my food suggestions for Chicago ... 

My favorite places to eat are Giordano's and Gino's ... I can eat

there two or three times each trip and never have the same thing.

My favorite is Giordano's ... several locations .. and I now get my

Chicago Italian fix when I go to Florida.

http://www.giordanos.com/main.php

They have a good selection of Italian cuisine in addition to the pizza.

Gino's ... aka Gino's East

http://featuredfoods.com/cgi-local/SoftCart.exe/a-store/c-GinoAns_East.shtml?E+scstore+ginos

They also serve thin crust pizza and you can get pizza by the slice

For "hamborgerz" and history, there's nothing like the Billy Goat

Tavern ... which originated "The Curse" on the Chicago Cubs.

http://www.billygoattavern.com/locations.html

The original is downtown and there are other locations.

And what's a trip to Chicago without a hot dog (or two)??? There's a

real Chi Town treat!!!

My recommendations are:

Superdawg ... it's MY favorite ... great atmosphere

http://www.superdawg.com/

Another with a great history is Demon Dogs but when I was looking at

the web, they don't have a dedicated site - several locations - but

can't tell which ones are open. If you see one, enjoy.

http://www.hollyeats.com/DemonDog.htm

Portillo's is another great hot dog spot (and they have several

locations ... and the family has other restaurants)

http://www.portillos.com/

if you're out towards Evanston there's Bill's Drive In for hot dogs.

If you're by Wrigley Field, there are several places ...

Cubby Bear and Murphy's Bleachers are bars ... activity will vary

depending upon the baseball schedule. Both are legends!

Harry Caray's Tavern, Dugout Bar and Grill, and Vines on Clark offer

bar and grill type food and unique atmosphere.

Here's a note for Astros fans not used to the concept ... you CAN carry in food (and drinks) to Wrigley!

Finally ...

Harry Caray's Italian Steakhouse ... a little pricey but a good

value. Very good steak! Lots of baseball memorabilia!

http://www.diningchicago.com/2008/show_banner.php?restID=270

I have a friend who recommended it over some of the more well known and pricier steak places.

there's also the Weber Grill. You know the grills in the backyard? This a restaurant where they just cook on the kettles ... YUM

http://www.webergrillrestaurant.com/

if you like beer ... Goose Island is a local brew ... they have brew pubs ...

http://www.gooseisland.com/pages/home/56.php

Those are the places I've been to and eaten or have a good recommendation from Neal Scott and my sister (who goes there often).

Lots of good food to choose from in Chicago ... let me know how your trip went and where you ate.

Blogging

I saw the movie Julie & Julia yesterday. 

Friends now understand blogging a little better, but they all probably wonder - who cares? or ... who reads what you write?

Julie Powell does what we'd all like to do (well, those of us who fancy ourselves as writers or journalists) ... write ... and then write a book ... get it made into a movie ... and then write another book ... and get PAID to do it. She's done two books ... and she still blogs.

I remember an interview with John Grisham. Bryant Gumbel asks - "does it bother you they changed things from your book to the movie?" "No," Grisham replies with that Southern boyish twinkle in his eye, "the check cleared." And in Grisham's case, there's lots of 000's on that check. Writing and getting paid. What a concept!!!

Julie and Julia was well done ... one of the kinds of movies I like. It's semi-factual, funny and serious ... and it made me wanna do something. I left the movie and bought butter at Sam's Club. Four pounds for $6. The movie did not seem 123 minutes long. It was well paced.

It also made me wanna write more. I looked up Julie Powell on the internet ... read the articles, bookmarked her blog.

It got me misty eyed ... twice. Once, where Julie puts a pound of butter by Julia's picture in the Smithsonian (as close as Julie came to meeting Julia). When I visited Jack Buck's grave at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in July, someone had left a 2009 Cardinals schedule at his grave. The other time ... well, that's personal.

You'll enjoy this movie more if you like to cook, I think. Or have ever tried a recipe from the paper or PBS or the Food Network and failed.

I always tell my photo students, if you are afraid of taking bad pix, don't pick up the camera. Julie and Julia had accidents in the kitchen but it didn't stop them from cooking. They adapted and had fun.

And maybe THAT is the moral to the movie ... don't worry about failing ... do what you love ... and have fun!!! Blogging!

Two Tours

The first tour was the Boy Sc outs of America Museum. 

Neal and I are both Eagle Scouts and Order of the Arrow.

It was a great tour and we could have spent more time there.

Cool part ... about a DOZEN Norman Rockwell ORIGINALS in their own special room.

I'll add more later.

Tour two was the brand new Dallas Cowboys Stadium.

What can you say about the new eighth wonder of the world?

Things are big in Texas.

The TV screens, there are two of them for the sidelines and two more smaller ones for the end zones. The main screens weigh as much as a 747 fully loaded. The speakers are the size and weight of 18 wheelers. and they're hanging from the rafters!

The place seats 80,000 and can hold 30,000 more on 6 party decks (SRO tix are $29).

We toured the suites, the seats, and the Cowboys Locker Room.

I'll write more later.

Some pix are posted .

pix are at ...

http://picasaweb.google.com/mikerine56/

click on Dallas Road Trip 02 and 03

Dynamo Loose

From the Houston Chronicle ....

FRISCO — Jeff Cunningham scored in the 20th minute to help FC Dallas beat the Western Conference-leading Dynamo 1-0 on Thursday night.

Cunningham, fresh off a four-goal performance in last week’s 6-0 victory over the Kansas CityWizards, beat Dynamo defender Geoff Cameron to a loose ball and dribbled past two other defenders before firing from outside of the penalty arc and into the right corner of the net of goalkeeper Pat Onstad. It was Cunningham’s ninth goal of the season and 113th in MLS play, leaving him one behind Chivas USA’s Ante Razov for second place on the career list.

FC Dallas (6-9-5) won consecutive games for the first time this season, while the Dynamo (10-6-5) missed an opportunity to extend their six-point conference lead.

Seven minutes before Cunningham’s goal, Onstad had denied the forward on a penalty kick that was earned after Dynamo defender Bobby Boswell was called for a reckless foul on Cunningham.

Onstad made a diving save to his right. He finished with two saves.

The Dynamo never mounted a serious challenge to tie the game, forcing only one save out of FC Dallas goalkeeper Dario Sala.

FC Dallas outshot the Dynamo 11-6.

The game featured seven yellow cards — four to the Dynamo and three to Dallas — as well as a bizarre red card in the 73rd minute.

FC Dallas midfielder Dave van den Bergh slid to chase a loose ball into the Dynamo bench area, and several Dynamo players got up in an apparent attempt to avoid van den Bergh and get the ball to their teammate for a throw-in.

Brad Davis, who had been substituted out of the game, was then issued a red card, possibly for leaving the technical area.

Dynamo captain Brian Ching left the game at halftime due to fatigue, the team said.

Ching, the club’s leading goal-scorer with seven goals this season, was replaced by fellow forward Kei Kamara, who returned after missing a game with a quadriceps strain.

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Mike_in_Richmond wrote: Great to see all the Dynamo fans at Pizza Hut Park ... about 75 in section 120 and probably another 25 orange jerseys scatted throughout the stands. Also, thanks to Wade Barrett, Craig Waibel, and Bobby Boswell for coming over and recognizing the fans. It made the trip worthwhile, even in a loss.. Also, the waves of Coach Kinnear were appreciated!!!! 8/7/2009 12:08:07 AM Recommend: (15) (1)

made it to Dallas

Took the back roads in the MX-5 ... not a Miata ... used to be ... Mazda changed their names.

Went through Anderson, the County Seat of Grimes County and stopped at the court house and the Confederate Park. Neat old courthouse. Pix upcoming.

From there it was through Roans Prairie, Singleton, and Madisonville. M'ville was our second courthouse of the day - it had all the ambience of a bank.

We then stopped at Buc-ee's. The first time Neal and I stopped there was on the same day but 8 hours apart. To our disappointment, they we sold out of bear claws. We wandered and looked at all the stuff in the outdoor store ... great BBQ stuff, chimneaeas and other interesting items. A hat from recycled truck tarps in Brasil.

Neal had never been to the Collin Street Bakery in Corsicana, neither of the stores. We stoped at the freeway location for a pit stop and email check - they have free WiFi.

We are now at the Knox Street Apple Store in Dallas ... just north of Downtown. dallas has fiev stores - soon to be six with the new one in Frisco the concierge just told us. We're updating the Mac OS with the latest software update.

Visiting Apple Stores is another hobby. It doesn't cost anything, doesn't take up space, isn't fattening.

Photos to follow - I'm using a digital camera and downloads and uploads are still a bit convoluted. We're off to lunch ... some where ... headed to the hotel ... meeting up with Terry for a quick bite before game time.

Weather in Dallas is 95. The Texian Army left Houston at 11:30 on their bus (it's 1:00pm now). Several of the Dynamo went to The Cheesecake factory for dinner last night, according to the tweets of Mike Chabala and Brian Ching.

Road Trip - Dallas ... Good Morning

It's 5:30 and the coffee is is perking. Neal and I are both stirring and have less than 30 minutes before departure. While we haven't hit the road, the Dallas adventure has begun.

This is our fifth road trip. For those who don't know us ... we're SHSU grads, college roommates, Eagle Scouts, O/A, Alpha Phi Omega brothers, Mac users, Canon camera users (first with the Ftb and A-1, now each on our second digital Rebel). We were also in each other's wedding and share a bazillion secrets ... none of which have a national security clearance. We each visited the other's children the day they were born and we remind them of that as well.

Road trip one occurred in college - February 1978. That was a week from Huntsville to Kansas City. In the snow!!! It never got over 30 degrees in KC.

Details to come.

Road trip two was eerie. It began the Friday after 9/11. It was also to Dallas. We went to the very first Apple store in Texas (in Plano), toured Dallas and Ft Worth.  And on the day Alan Jackson sang of, when a record number of American's were in church, the two of us were driving around the Metroplex amazed at the quiet that had befallen. The auto race had been cancelled. No planes were landing at DFW. Just ... very ... quiet.

More details later.

Road three two was November 2007 when we went to Baltimore and Washington for the Dynamo Championship game ... also know as Mike and Neal eat their way through our nation's capitol.

Add some details here.

Last Summer's trip was a full day from here to San Antonio, up to Austin and back. We did so much we should have stayed the night. The rational for the trip was the Grand Opening of the Apple Store in the North Park Mall in San Antonio. You know, the one with the HUGE cowboy boots.

http://picasaweb.google.com/mikerine56/AppleStoreSATGrandOpening#

more d'tails here.

Which brings us to this trip. Two guys, two cameras, two MacBook Pros, two soccer games, one Miata. 

Zoom. Zoom!!!!!

Going to Seattle?

How long are you there??? Do you have a car or transportation??? Where are you staying??? What do you want to see???? I've done Seattle with and without a vehicle.

 

Pike Place Market is THE place for me ... I try to do it every other day when I'm there if I'm not staying near there ... actually START my day there ... get the good stuff ... then come back at closing and pick up bargains. You can negotiate for bread at the end of the day. Also, got 3 lobsters for less than two - my favorite deal everrrrrrrr!!!

 

Ohh ... Rainier Cherries!!! They're my faves ... could eat them until I was sick (again - I have ... love them). And I find a way to cook my own seafood and buy it fresh at the market - then go get some herbs and veggies and bread ... wines and beer ... local berries ... and I'm a happy camper.

 

There’s several good places to eat around the market. And there’s two originals. The very first Starbuck’s is in the market. I don’t drink coffee, but I do enjoy the place and the aromas. The other is Sur la Table. It’s full of all kinds of stuff you don’t have in your kitchen but could find a way to use, if your kitchen was twice as large! Just walk around the place and have fun.

 

Eats ... any place you feel comfortable in Chinatown ... grilled fish along the waterfront from any of the guys grilling on barrels ... Pyramid Brewing Alehouse across from Safeco Field. It's more than beer ... but if you LIKE craft beers, it's awesome.

 

If you have time and want to really see things, I recommend a Seattle City Pass. Besides going up in the Space Needle (it now gives you two trips - one in the day, one at night), it offers admittance to the Aquarium, Science Center, Woodland Park Zoo (incredible place to take animal pix). It’s also good for a cruise in the Harbor. PLUS, you get a choice of the Museum of Flight or the Music Project or the Science Fiction Museum (I took the Museum of Flight – spent the whole day there ... it has one of two Concordes in the US, the Air Force One 707 Lyndon Johnson was sworn in on, an SR-71 Blackbird, 747 number 1, and 727 number 1,000 .. among other great planes). When you’re at the Space Needle, ride the monorail, the first one in the USA.

 

The City Pass will save you half of what you’d pay to see these individually. But if you do the Space Needle, Harbor Tour and Museum of Flight, then the rest would be free.

 

http://www.citypass.com/city/seattle.html

 

also around town … If you didn’t do the Harbor Tour, then jump on a short Ferry trip ... probably cheaper … and ride across and back. If you liked "Frasier" head into the north side to see the views allegedly seen from his home (pretty homes and great views). Kubota Park is also cute. Take the Underground Tour – they raised Seattle 20 feet and you can see the old Seattle.

 

Into music? Seattle is the birthplace of grunge music but a wide variety of musicians are from the Emerald City. It’s the home of Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam, Jimi Hendrix, Kenny G, Alice in Chains, Qunicy Jones, Chris Cornell, Queensryche, and Heart. You can go listen to music in the places where they started. You can  visit the Hendrix Memorial at the Greenwood Memorial Cemetery just outside the city. Check local publications for live music at places like The Crocodile, The Paramount, Moore Theater, OK Hotel and The Vera Project.

 

 

 

Getting away from the city …

 

Microsoft is headquartered just across the bay in Redmond. Take one of the floating bridges to get there.

 

Head for Snoqualmie for scenery (the falls are higher than Niagara but not nearly the water amount) and wineries.

 

The best oysters are at the mouth of Hood River on Puget Sound on the Olympic Peninsula. Take a Ferry to Bremerton and drive from there. If you have a rental car ... ??? I’ve had Dungeness crabs on Dungeness Spit – and all other kinds of seafood there as well.

 

There are two great lighthouses on the Pacific just north of the mouth of the Columbia River … North Head Light House is my favorite. Volunteers take turns staffing the lighthouse to give tours. You can rent the keeper houses by the day, week, or weekend. It’s at Ilwaco on the coast, it’s picturesque and awesome – great seafood just off the boats in town. Pretty views.

 

Other Ideas ... head for Mt Rainier - there's horseback riding at the base of the mountain that's fun ... the Boeing Plant in Everett ... orca's off San Juan Islands ... Mount St Helen's ... Columbia River (go down to Portland!) ... Tacoma Wildlife Park ...

 

Sports wise, there’s Mariner baseball and Sounders soccer. This November, the MLS championship game will be played at Qwest Field. Hope the Dynamo will be there!

 

Let me know if you need any additional (or more specific) suggestions.

 

 

 

here's a Seattle credit ... from my 2003 trip ...

 

http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20030720&slug=watch200

 

 

This time to the top of the Space Needle in 2003 was special for several reasons (besides the newspaper interview). It was part of our 25^th anniversary celebration. We could see all three mountains at the same time (Rainier,  Baker and Olympus – only happens about 20 days each year). It was the last time I took film pix with my Canon A-1 SLR (Mount Rainier at sunset).

Sorry I haven’t written much

Wow … to actually POST a blog, you have to write. Sorry this won’t just hook up to my brain and take down my thoughts. I think of some really good stuff that should be on here. Really! While I’m driving, in the shower, when I’m about to doze off. You’d think me being connected to a Macintosh that it’d somehow connect to my brain and voila? But no.

 

Things I’ve thought about for the blog…

 

Food in St Louis

 

Travel Notes

 

Friends

 

BBQ

 

Road Trips

 

Shaving accident

 

Plane Trips

 

Grilling Tips

 

Taking Pix

 

Environmental thoughts

 

 

So, I’ll work on getting some of my thoughts on line before I sleep, shower, or hit the road again.

 

Thanks for reading.

 

As always, pix are at ..

http://picasaweb.google.com/mikerine56/