Letter from Key West, May 24 2020

9.34pm on Sunday evening and my thoughts go to coffee shops and what the future looks like for them.  I sure don't want to sound selfish or self-absorbed, and definitely don't want to sound like I am not aware of, or don't care about all who have been really badly affected by Covid19.  But god damnit I sure do miss my Starbucks.

Not for the coffee!  I can get coffee anywhere.  I miss Starbucks, and independent coffee shops too, for what they provide more than just the coffee. Back when I lived in Dublin there was a wonderful big 24 hour Starbucks on Stephen's Green, just around the corner for me, where you would find me most Sunday evenings savouring the last bit of the Dublin weekend atmosphere while avoiding the temptation of the pub.
And when I spent the month in Chicago at the end of 2018 I spent many a happy time, whiling away an hour or three, in awesome coffee places with my laptop and big mug of caffeine.  My favourite  being The Wormhole.

This photo is of me actually in The Wormhole when I wrote this little retrospective blog post of 2018. Happy days.

Happy days indeed. So what now, in these days of love and covid, and social distancing?  Will hanging around our neighborhood coffee shops be frowned upon and discouraged?  Will people who use them as hotspots for their job have to find an alternative?  Will independent coffee shops make it through at all??

All I know it, it would be a tragically sad day to find myself in Wicker Park, on a cold snowy Chicago day and not be able to enjoy a Koopa-Troopa (iirc!), served up by a friendly barista, with a healthy dose of 80's nostalgia on the side....if you've been to The Wormhole you will know what I mean ;) Hell, come on like, they've got an actual scale size DeLorean DMC 12 in the store!!!!

Stay safe, stay well friends.

Neon Wilderness, Wicker Park

I was excited to check out the new Wicker Park bar, Neon Wilderness, which had opened since I was last here.  It has a cosy ski lodge/winter cabin, laid back feel with a cool drinks menu - good beers, nice mixed drinks.  We decided to go with wine and chose a nice Cote Du  Rhone.

It was really relaxed and a nice treat on a Monday evening!

Ps.  The name Neon Wilderness comes from a short story by Chicago writer Nelson Algren

Chicago Trip Report (with photos)

With Photos!  An understatement if I ever heard one. 

There are over 40 photos in this post.  I've never ever posted as many in a single post before.

 

Also, because there are so many photos you will find this post is slightly different from my usual trip reports which tend to be a straightforward timeline of what I got up to each day. 

Indeed this is a bit more of a cacophony of Chicago! Please enjoy!

 

Departure

I arrived early to Dublin airport so as to have a smooth passage through security and immigration.

As I was early and because the airport was crazy busy I figured I would check into the airport lounge.  It was cool and calm, and as I sipped on my flat white martini and read the newspapers I was glad I made the choice.

 

I may also have arrived early to the airport because I was so excited to get going! Here I am on the airplane looking very excited :)

Arrival!

It must be said that it is so handy to get from Chicago O'Hare straight into downtown Chicago.

Here I am on the blue line train looking very excited.

 

Jetlag

The jetlag hit me hard on this trip - but not so much that I was tired during the day or wasn't enjoying myself.  More so that I was awake early every morning (6am-ish).  The first morning however was particularly spectacular.  I woke up at 3am and simply could not sleep.  I eventually gave up and this is me drinking out of my favourite N.Wood Street mug and enjoying sunrise on the balcony at 6am

 

 

Summerfest!

I can now add Wisconsin to the list of US states I have visited

We arrived before it started so I had some time pottering around on my own.  I love this photo of the sky ride/gondolas while they are empty and at a standstill

 

I got to see the bands on all the stages (6) doing their warm ups/sound checks which was very cool

 

Did you know that Milwaukee is famous for Harley Davidson, Beer and Cheese?

 

 

It's also famous for their fish frys.  And for some strange reason instead of going for a fish fry or even something cheesey (beer battered cheese curds anyone?!) I ended up going for the most awful Chinese food ever.  Ah well.  Lesson learned!

 

Summerfest is located on the shores of Lake Michigan in Milwaukee.. 

Later on I sailed on Lake Michigan (in Chicago)...so this begged the question how big exactly is Lake Michigan??! 

Specifically the question; is Lake Michigan bigger then Ireland maybe?! (Insert shocked face emoji here).

The answer is No. 

 Ireland is bigger than Lake Michigan.  JUST!  Ireland is 1.21 times the size of Lake Michigan

 

Food! Glorious food!

In no particular order, here is some of the scrumptious goodness I ate

Lobster tails! (Pre being butterflied, buttered & garliced)

Lobster tail on the barbeque...or as Americans call it the "grill"

This lobster tail and shrimp tasted divine.  That is all I can say

Waffles, bacon and Canadian 100% pure maple syrup.

More divineness

The usual order from The Smoke Daddy.  BBQ spare ribs, cornbread, mac and cheese. 

 Cannot be beaten

Dove's Luncheonette. 

This was a new find for me.  I of course adored the décor!

But my God I simply cannot describe how amazing this dish tasted.

The first time I had tamales was in Chicago at Christmas but jeebs this lifted it to the next level. It was filled with country ham and carnitas, over mole verde.  If you remember on my last trip I was excited about trying mole?  Well I'm addicted.

Jeni's Ice-cream

Peanut brittle, chocolate and espresso

Yes a flight of three. What I can say? It was HOT (36 degrees Celsius)

 

More grilling!

 

Chicken and Steak Kabobs

 

Taco De Pescado (beer battered tilapia fish) from Big Star

 

Taco Al Pastor (pork)

 

These are the lobster tails from up above in the supermarket

 

Sushi!

I first tried sushi in 1998 when on my J1 in Florida and I did not like it. I've never tried it since.

Well, twenty years later, I like it.

 

One last treat in the airport before going home.  I love Bao Buns.  You cannot get these in Dublin/Ireland so I stuffed myself full lol

 

The Bean

No two ways about it this is pure amazing.  I don't care if it's really touristy.  I don't care that there was myself and a million others there looking at it.  It's just beautiful

I love this photo I snapped of it peeking out from behind the greenery as I arrived upon it

Seriously!!! Beautiful right?!

Can you spot me?

One last glimpse back before we headed down to THE BOAT!!!

 

Sailing on Lake Michigan

This was absolutely the highlight of my trip

 First of all there was a cooler with beer, sodas, and my alcoholic beverage of choice ;)

Secondly, views like this

And this

And finally.  There is me. On the tiller. For two hours solid.

Check out the captain behind me.  He looks pretty chilled and relaxed with me in charge eh?!

 #IrishSailor

 

 

The Robey Hotel, Wicker Park

 

A really cool art deco hotel with beautiful MCM furniture

Did I mention the most beautiful MCM furniture?

These chairs were so comfortable!!!

Two very good cocktails.

The top one (Holy Cow!) was nicer than the below (Fire over Lake Michigan).

Spectacular views from the rooftop bar

Only 13 floors up but unbelievable views.  Look how much green there is!

There's the blue line!  (Right hand side of the pic) 

 

I really enjoyed the little drink in The Robey.  Those views! Swoooooooon.  If you are in the Wicker Park area this is definitely a Go See.

 

Speaking of Wicker Park...!

 

Well of course I had to go visit my favourite coffee shop and ogle the life size DeLorean

And the coolest little Mexican bakery.  With prices so cheap I seriously have to question how they are surviving??  Coconut cake that I pay $5 for in Key West can be had from here for 80c!!

I took a pic of these bar signs as I was walking to Velvet Goldmine on Division.  Some day I will do a whole blog of shop/bar signs - particularly all the old 1950s ones on Milwaukee Avenue.

 

I don't have any photos but Velvet Goldmine was amazing.  Beautifully curated pieces at not the worst prices.  I've been following them for a while on instagram and I'm glad I got to check it out in real life.

 

Time to go home!

 

All in all another wonderful trip to Wicker Park.  Hard to believe but (ALL of) those photos above probably don't capture everything.  There was loads more great stuff. Some of it the most simplest of things eg. hanging out on the balcony, having evening drinks and chatting. Watching the world cup and chatting.  Chatting. Did I mention chatting?

 

All good things must come to an end however!

Insert sad face emoji here

Until the next time Chicago :-)

 

More Chicago..

Following on from my previous post about my trip for your reading pleasure here is some more Chicago/Wicker Park musings!

The Smoke Daddy BBQ

If you are anywhere near Wicker Park you simply must visit The Smoke Daddy!

 

Fall off the bone Baby Back ribs

Incredible, thick and gooey mac & cheese

The most SUMPTIOUS moist cornbread ever - so sweet I was tempted to save and eat it as dessert

Little vodka to accompany the ribs.  Plus a generous helping of their fab sauces to make the ribs even more melt in your mouth.  DIVINE!!!

 

Oh!  If you want to sound like a local be sure to call it Smoke Daddy's :)

 And also, did I mention the live music every night? 

 

 

Wicker Park

In my previous post I spoke about the great location I stayed in and all the great bars, restaurants and shops nearby. But most important of all I haven't mentioned the vibe!

There was a really cool and friendly atmosphere - a mixture between hipsterville USA (friendly and laid back) and the apres-ski of Europe (chilled and up for the craic).

 

So to that end here is me vibing out and having a great old time in Wicker Park :-)

 

 

 



Chicago trip 2017/18

My gosh where to start! 

This was my first ever visit to Chicago and (understatement) it was brilliant!

 

There is just too much wondeful stuff to report so below you will find just some of the highlights

 

Rick Bayless' Frontera Grill

In 1987 after an extended stay in Mexico, Rick Bayless brought his Mexican cooking to Chicago.

 I was excited to try "mole sauce" which is a sauce made from hot chillies and chocolate.  For a starter we got a chicken and green mole with tamale bread (a moist doughy corn maize bread) and it was  amazing.  For mains we got a delicate and tender pompano fish dish, and Shrimp a la Diablo.  The shrimp!  Wowsah.  It was hot!!  With hindsight...the server said it was hot (me and my silly big mouth "oh I love hot, oh I can do hot") and also, look at the name of it [Diablo]. 

It was lovely though I must say, but jeebs yes it was HOT.  But sure look that meant that we simply had no option but to go for a drink after dinner in Fado bar downtown right?!

 

 

Hancock Building

I really enjoyed seeing this massive skyscraper and going to the bar on the 95th floor.  It was a snowy cold day and the visibility was not the clearest - but in fact I liked that more, how often do you get to see the shoreline of Lake Michigan frozen over?!

Pizanos Piza
Ok so I like pizza.  Well now I can tell you I looooove deep dish pizza.  We sat at the bar eating pizza, drinking vodka, wine and beer and I pretended I was on the set of  La La Land with their lovely Christmas decorations and lights.

New Years Day
This may have been one of my best New Years days ever.  A brunch of tacos (mmm), vodka (mmm) and bloody Mary (bleugh lol) in BigStar.  Then a little stroll to the local bar (Macs) for €3 vodkas.  Yes you read that right.  More drinks, lots of craic and chats, a few games of pool (Goldstar bar) and sushi to finish it all off.  What a day!



The Wormhole
I had read online that the coffee from this place was fantastic.  And they have a real life size DeLorean car which I decided I simply must see.  The coffee was fantastic.  So good that I went back three times during the trip.  Which nicely brings me to the area of Chicago, Wicker Park...

Wicker Park
What a great location!  I was staying right between Milwaukee Ave with it's cool hipster clothes shops and record shops mixed with old 60s & 70s style furniture shop, and Division with loads and loaaads of cool restaurants and bars.  I loved it in the Winter but apparently it's even better during the Summer having cool drinks on the bars patios.




The Weather


The Chicago weather deserves a whole blog of it's own really!  Temperatures were low and it felt it.  But it was lovely.  I had all the right gear - boots, fur mittens, heavy coat, woolly hat/fur hat with ear flaps - so all was good and it didn't stop me getting out and about (lol to The Wormhole for coffee!).  Still it was cold.  And dry!  It was the funniest weather I've ever encountered and totally unlike that damp "get in your bones" cold of Ireland.

I may do some separate blog posts about some other things I did in the lovely Wicker Park.
 But for the moment I shall finish here by saying it was a 10 out of 10 trip!

...and if you'd like to read more about my trip click here!