3 F's

Saturday, September 11

Food

It should come as no surprise that we live to eat, more than we eat to live. But unfortunately the capacity of our stomachs puts limits on our intake (unlike that guy from Strictly Dumpling who can pack away absurd amounts of food!) Every time we come back to Illinois, we hit up our most favorite places but seem to run out of meals before we can get to them all. It has been way too long since I've had wings from Buffalo Joe's, so I was determined not to miss out this time around. Knowing that we were going to have Lou Malnati's with family for dinner, we headed up to Evanston for an early lunch. Careful planning maximizes opportunity, people!

Pullman Revisited

Even though we were just here in June to visit family, we're back again in Chicago for a cousin's wedding this weekend. We got in yesterday around 7:00PM and grabbed dinner from the drive-thru at Steak 'n Shake. I was super bummed that the dining room was closed because you can't really eat Chili Mac while driving...

This morning we picked up R's dad for breakfast at Walker Bros. Original Pancake House in Wilmette. It's been ages since we've been here!

The Rookie

This marks our third time watching NBA Summer League games in Vegas. Our inaugural visit was in 2016 when we came with our good friends and fellow basketball junkies. It's pretty funny to look back on our first impressions of the rookies from that year! In 2018, we were in town for a family reunion (but without M who was on tour with his drum corps) and took the opportunity to catch a few games one day. And this year, we primarily came to watch our fellow Illini and Chicago Bulls rookie Ayo Dosunmu, but this time J is missing out.

Beginner's Luck

Our first order of business this morning was to walk over to Donut Bar to grab some goodies for breakfast! The shop is located downtown, just a couple blocks away from Fremont Street.

An Unexpected Journey

A week ago, R's college roommate G half-jokingly floated the idea of going to watch NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, in particular to see the Chicago Bulls' 2nd round draft pick and fellow Illini, Ayo Dosunmu. Despite the short notice, R found someone to switch work days with him, G was able to rearrange his daughters' schedules, and my colleague graciously offered to tend my lab experiment. By Monday night we were a go for launch!

Unfortunately, the bummer was that it wouldn't be all 8 of us. G's wife just started a new position and couldn't play hooky from work, and J had already planned a trip to Seattle with his buddies. 

And what about M?  Having turned 21 at the end of last year, of course he was all in from the moment he heard "Vegas!"

Sweet Home Chicago

For our last full day in Chicago, we headed downtown first thing this morning to play tourist. The CTA is running a promo ($5 all-day pass) to encourage people to return to using public transit, so we drove over to the Kimball station, parked the car, and rode the Brown Line to the Loop.

 

Happy to comply with the CTA mask requirement