Suburbia

Hanging out with our friends RH and C at the Cubs game on Tuesday wasn't enough, so we also spent the day with them yesterday, too! We met them for lunch at Barnaby's in Northbrook. I guess it used to be a big Midwestern pizza chain, because both R and RH remembered going to Barnaby's (different locations) with their families as kids growing up in Chicago. Now there are only a few left...

Barnaby's is known for their crispy, thin crust pizza

Then we went back to C's parents' condo in Northbrook, while we decided what to do next. The guys ended up going down to Skokie, while C and I went to Glenview to check out Dino's Sports Fan Shop because C knew that they carried a huge selection of licensed fan gear. J has been on the hunt for a Derrick Rose Bulls jersey for awhile now, and they had several to choose from. After a lot of back-and-forth texting about sizes and cost, I got the white DRose jersey for him.

Success!

While waiting for R and RH to finish up their male bonding activities, C and I went to Westfield Old Orchard to walk around and chat. The four of us met back up for dinner at Portillo's in Skokie - yum! So grateful to have the chance to spend time with old friends!

Since J was having second thoughts about the jersey, R and I drove back to Glenview this morning to exchange the one I bought for a less expensive version, as well as to get a larger size for him. And because we parents should at least try to treat our sons fairly, we also got a second red DRose jersey and will let the boys sort out which one they want.

After completing our transactions, we drove east from Glenview to have lunch at Capt'n Nemo's in Winnetka. When we lived here, we used to get subs and the best split pea soup from their location on Ashland near Addison in Chicago, but that place closed awhile ago. Back in November 2023 when we were in Chicago for the funeral of R's dad, we intentionally schlepped up to Winnetka for Nemo's and were super excited that everything was just good as we remembered! That's still true today!

And if you ever find yourself in Winnetka enjoying Capt'n Nemo's, the McCallister house from "Home Alone" is not far away!

Kevin! (pic from 2023)

We stopped by Oberweis Dairy in Skokie for some ice cream on the way to O'Hare. I dropped off R for his flight home to LAX, then I drove all the way down Cumberland Ave. to River Forest so that I could stop by the headquarters for the Forest Preserves of Cook County to collect some passport stamps. 

The flowering tree by the entrance just seems to shout, "Spring!"

Then I drove back up to R's aunties for my last night of vacation in Chicago. Tomorrow I'm on company time...