Taste of Chicago: Day Two
Saturday was Taste of Chicago trip number 3…this time with actual people and not just trying to cram food down my throat and leave…
So I met up with Emily at the bright and early time of noon oclock and we headed out to the Taste. We were pretty much starving so we wandered about and tried some mustard fried catfish before anyone else showed up. Then we shared some yummy deep-fried artichokes, which are my staple every year because I love them so much. I may have to get them again…
Throughout the day everyone was calling with crazy stories. Jeff calls and tells me he was in a bar fight the night before. Heather calls and asks what one wears when testifying in court. Josh calls and says someone fell into the lake the night before so the patrol helicopters were out all night keeping him awake (and THEN he showed up with a black eye!)
JoeJoe texted me and Emily at some point. Em texted him “Go Cubs!” so I texted “Go Sox!” JoeJoe replied to me “kick Emily.”
Jeff finally got there and so we wandered tasting things. He got an arepa which looked really disgusting. We watched this group of kids who looked like they were going to come out and do hip hop but instead started tap dancing.
We saw Budweiser Clydesdales and Jeff stole my water. And Josh came and had a black eye. He looked more like what I expected Jeff to look like when he’d said there’d been a bar fight.
After everyone was there we headed over to watch the Stevie Wonder concert. But, since we couldn’t really see him or hear him we headed off pretty soon after it started. (Later we still kept hearing him play…I think the dude played for like three hours straight.) Joe and Alina and Jen and Andrew were going to meet us, but they were at the Sox game and it hadn’t ended yet. That didn’t matter though because at last the Sox won!!!
We got a little bit more food before Josh and Jeff headed off, but then, alas, they had to leave 🙁
Mustard-fried Catfish (B.J.’s Market & Bakery), Beer-Battered Artichokes (Bella Luna Café), Pistachio Gelato (Canady Le Chocolatier), Rum-battered Fried Tilapia Fillet (Polo Cafe & Catering), Toasted Cheese Ravioli (Tuscany), Fresh Pineapple Seafood Salad (Grazie! Ristorante), Petite lamb chops (Morton’s)
Em and I then tried to wander off the Navy Pier but totally went the wrong way (seriously Chicago, stop being built on levels). On the way back we saw plenty of signs pointing us the right way that we should have seen in the first place…
Finally we made it to the pier and got set to conquer the beast: the Navy Pier Ferris Wheel!
I have never been on the ferris wheel because I am afraid of heights and, well, ferris wheels. The last time I actually went on a ferris wheel was probably sixth grade. I braved up the nerve to go on one at a fair, and of course it broke down and kept going back and forth instead of in a circle. That was the last time I set foot on one of those creatures.
So Em and I decided to brave the big tall scary one on the pier. I was actually perfectly fine all in line and when it first started moving…but then I started to freak a little, but by the end I was mostly fine. But I did it!
We celebrated by going to Joe’s Be-Bop Cafe for mai tais and desserts. Only we would go out for dessert after spending the entire day at a food festival. Then we headed back to Em’s where we attempted to watch the Incredible Shrinking Woman.
At one point Em asked if we should turn off the movie and just go to bed. Considering that her asking that question woke me up we decided that that was probably a good idea.
More photos from our day at the Taste of Chicago:
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