Chicago Distillery Tour

Whisky or Whiskey??  However you spell it, I've fallen for it.  Over the last few years, I've grown an appreciation for this delicious and smooth liquid.  In our quest to visit many incredible restaurants in the city, most have a bartender who makes a mean house manhattan.  Some have homemade bitters, and others have bourbon marinated with cherries.  Regardless, I get one, or two everytime.  At home I've gone to drinking bourbon or irish whiskey neat.  So when Tara suggested we head to the only Chicago distillery, I was all for it!  

Koval Distillery produces small batches of whisky, using various grains.  Rye, Wheat, Millet, Oat, and Spelt.  While I was aware of three of the five, Millet and Spelt threw me off.  They are two of the oldest grains in the world, dating back to the dawn of civilization.  All produced some different but delicious whisky.  I favored the Rye and Wheat, being a traditionalist.   

It was a fascinating tour, showcasing the detail and craftsmanship that goes into producing some incredible spirits in very small quantities.  We got to sample a lot of variety including a few liquors, like orange blossom and rose hip.  There was also a clear whisky, which was pretty rough but interesting.  Learning about the different cuts and how they are used makes you really appreciate the art that goes into distilling.  This is a family run distillery and we like supporting small craft, family businesses - especially those with awesome products. 

The tour was a great way to spend a couple of hours with friends on the weekend.  And as long as I've been a bourbon drinker, needless to say, Jack Daniels was never on my menu, and that won't change.  Cheers!

Being a dingbat and a foggy night

So after being grossly sick all week, I needed to do something fun and the fog rolling in on Friday after work was tempting me for some time with my camera.  After work we rounded up the dogs and quickly headed over to Lincoln Park.  After being there all of 30 seconds I had my camera out to do some test shots and discovered that I didn't have a memory card.  Very dingbat like. We decided to do a little walk...

 (a rare Daniel pic!)

But it was so pretty out that it was driving me crazy.  As we packed up to head back I decided I had to come back out.  Dan was sweet enough to tag along the second time and thus dogs were lucky enough to get their first trip of the season to the beach. 

It turned out to be a very fun evening.  Granted all four of us were starving when we finally made it home to eat dinner.  But all in good spirits.  And Dan found me a little shell.

It should be noted that the dingbat like move of forgetting the memory card resulted in an extra hour of driving as the roundtrip to and from our house took an hour.  To drive a whopping four miles.  Ugh.

I don't think that I will be forgetting the memory card for a while.

A perfectly lovely weekend

Some weekends outshine others.  Most of our weekends are good weekends; maybe we have a picked a super awesome spot for date night or get tons accomplished or something that makes it an excellent weekend.  But every now and then there is a weekend like this past one that is just fantastic... the kind where all four of us are completely tuckered out on Sunday night.

Friday kicked off the weekend with gorgeous sunlight, blossoms on the trees, and a crispy roasted chicken for dinner...

And then Saturday brought a neighborhood walk and computer time followed by a perfectly lovely visit to the Art Institute.  There was a photography exhibit for work from the early 1930's which I am so glad to have made time to see.  Dan's patience in waiting for spaces to clear out for just the shot I was hoping to get was rewarded with a trip to Macy's for new shirts.

And Sunday was the day of activity.  We got our behinds out on the lakefront path for an eight mile run and then made a completely delicious quiche (filled with bacon, leeks and gruyere cheese) before heading out to the Palos Sag Valley Forest Preserve for a three hour hike. 

A little bit of culture.  A little bit of nature.  A lot of activity with just enough relaxing time.  It was just what we needed to shake off the cabin fever from this slow start to spring.

It is definitely winter in the Windy City

So.  What does one do when they are feeling sad but needs to get out of the house even though it is disgustingly winter-like out? 

Yup.  We were one of the crazies out at Montrose Harbor when it was snowing and blustery a few weeks ago (for the record there were others- at least I had the excuse of trying to get some wintery photographs).  There were points where it was basically a white out as there were no buildings to break up the wind... which made me feel like I was in Iowa for a moment.

And we had a little winter driving refresher on how parking in a snow drift is not such a good idea.

Fall Walks :: Montrose Harbor

On Halloween weekend we went for a little walk up by Montrose Harbor...

seeing as that we live so far north that we are almost to Wisconsin this is were we ended up instead of our old stomping grounds by South & North Pond.  Walking around Montrose Harbor is nice but we were pretty bored after a few minutes.  The idea of driving down to North Pond was mentioned.  But then we found ourselves in front of a welcoming sign...

Lately the increasing number of signs like this in parks is just annoying.  The 'no dogs' signs all over the park near us is not adding any points to the 'do we still love Chicago' debate.  So...

 

So the boring walk was saved.  The dogs come alive when they have sand under their paws and dune grass to search through.  We headed home some what satisfied with this little bit of being in the great outdoors.

Fall Fun: Day Trip to Michigan

Pretty fall colors in the midwest are fleeting.  They certainly do not wait for one to rest after a busy month of vacationing and marathoning.  So when we saw that the weather was going to be absolutely gorgeous for Saturday we knew that this would have to be the weekend for a little day trip to Michigan.

 

We packed up the pups and headed to St Joseph, a little harbor town on the southwest corner of Michigan.  The dogs were in need of some excitement so they were up and monitoring where we were driving the whole time instead of napping. Both Dan and I felt instantly relaxed once we arrived and the dogs were instantly wild.  We walked around the quiet little streets checking out the pretty old houses before heading to the beach.

 

The beach was fun of course.  It was a perfect day- sunny and warm yet with a brisk fall breeze.  We really loved St Joseph. But a true roadtrip has multiple stops... so we headed off for our next spot.

The next part of the day was a series of trial and errors.  We were going to stop by a winery or two... but the first impression wasn't doing it for us so we skipped on by.  But the big huge sign for Fruit Acres that we stumbled upon by accident drew us in instantly.  I started taking photos (instantly) and headed into the little stand to find my husband munching on an apple... I was all set to be embarrassed when he pointed to the sign for samples with a little impish grin.

Then the chocolate place was a flop (all pre-packaged, really!?  Parisian chocolate shops may have added a layer of expectations for such places).  We stopped by an orchard with a cider shop but seeing the lines nearly immediately turned around.  So that was the end of Coloma.  Next we headed to South Haven for more strolling around.

The dogs were still going at 150%.  It is like they can instantly sense the direction of the lake. We ended the day with a walk out to the lighthouse.

And then back to the city.  It was a fun day.  Maybe not the most restful after our action packed month... but so much fun that I am glad that we fit it in before we hit the dreary part of fall hits.   

Spring + Beach

March is always such a tough month.  The transition to spring can be kind of like a roller coaster in the midwest and for a little family that is more inclined towards summer it is a very slow point in the year. 

However, there are always bits of goodness in there.  One is the fact that the beach experience in the spring is simply awesome.  The atmosphere is decidedly calm and relaxing yet rugged and refreshing.  There is room to stretch out and explore without fighting for space as in the summer.  Jackets might be required and the breeze might be brisk but there is a hint of warmth in the sun that peaks out from time to time.

A spring day at the beach is a nice little reminder of how much we love Chicago.