Yesterday I took you along on the first three days of my vacation in Chicago and then my hosting site kind of crapped out due to posting so many photos and text. So here’s the last two days of my trip to Chicago! Sherman...set the Wayback Machine for...
TUESDAY
This is the last day of the vacation in Chicago! I met my friend, Justin Glawe at the apartment he shares with his girlfriend Sarah. Justin’s a writer and you can check out some of his work by clicking on these links: The Daily Beast, Vice and Mask.
And here’s Justin with Sarah and their dog, Ranger! Great to see all of them and as you can see, Ranger’s a lively pup!
Alright, Dan has shown up (who we last saw at Amber’s birthday party) and now it’s time to hit the bars!
We’re starting early because I have to catch the train back to P-town in the morning and I have to get up early, so I’m going to call it an early evening. I actually started drinking beer at lunch, so things might be a little fuzzy by the end of the evening! Here’s the first stop, a nice German bar called, Huettenbar.
Really nice in here and makes me think of Hofbrau House back in Peoria! I need to get back to my beer tour when I get back there.
This is Irma, who’s not only the pretty bartender on duty, she’s owned the bar since 1985! Justin saw that picture that’s below Irma, guessed it was her back in the day and sure as shit on a shingle, that’s Irma serving up beer from a couple of decades ago! She’s very nice and it was fun to chat with her about the history of the bar.
I really liked this back bar and here’s a shot of three of the bar’s regulars, Jason, “Captain Dangerous” and Rhys. They’re friendly guys and we had a nice conversation about Peoria, Chicago and New York.
The next stop is Ricochets! Fire and fall back!
This is another fine neighborhood bar and check out the stained glass! Love that!
Here’s Sean who’s bartending today serving us up more beer!
Roger’s a regular at the bar and told me he’s been coming here for years. Nice chatting with him.
This is one of Justin’s favorite bar, Spyner’s Pub. You gotta love the Michelob Light sign, classic!
As soon as we walked in, I instantly fell in love with this place!
Just in case you forget where you are, there’s a handy, dandy sign over here to remind you!
Here’s the two smiling bartenders on duty, Colleen and Diane, proudly displaying bottles of Michelob Ultra Light.
After I took this shot behind the bar, I noticed a familiar sight next to the cash register...
It’s a Little Nut Hut! Love the Little Nut Huts!
Check out the classic tin ceiling and light fixtures in here!
Here’s Justin, Dan and I relaxing at the bar.
After Spyner’s, we thought we’d take a brief break from the bars and stop in to Laurie’s Planet Of Sound record store.
Here’s Sam, posing behind the magazine rack.
There’s a huge selection of vinyl, compact discs, cassettes and DVD’s and it’s kind of overwhelming!
Alfred knows the best way to cure the blues! Alright, on to the next bar!
Remember I said that things might get a little fuzzy by the end of the evening, well that time is now! This is the last stop for me and this bar is called, Carola’s Hansa Clipper. I didn’t get a shot of the outside of the bar (here's one I found online), but here’s the inside!
Joanne was bartending for the evening, she’s originally from Poland and we had a nice conversation with her at the bar.
Okay, here’s the last shot of Justin and Dan at the bar before I packed up the MBIP camera and crawled into a cab! It was great to meet Sarah and Ranger and thanks to Justin and Dan for hanging out with me and taking me on this great afternoon/evening pub crawl!
WEDNESDAY
The party’s officially over but while on the train back to Bloomington I got this comment from MBIP pal and fellow food roadtripper, Nathalie Khoury on facecrack. Well, looks like there’s one more stop to make when we get to Bloomington...
And here it is, the last stop of this vacation journey, The Rock Restaurant! Just as Nathalie said, it’s within walking distance from the train station, let’s go in and check it out!
Wow, it’s really nice in here and the food must be great, because there’s a decent crowd at the front counter and it’s well past lunch time.
Frankie was behind the counter looking very pretty and she took my order.
And here’s Nathalie’s cousin, Charbel, who owns The Rock with his brother, Said. Even though they were very busy, Charbel took time out to say hi and he told me that Nathalie had told him I was coming. This is a very friendly place and it was great to meet Charbel!
The food at The Rock is Mediterranean and American cuisine and Charbel suggested I try the gyro, so that’s what I got and it was so good! Best gyro anywhere, it’s worth a drive from to Peoria to try this out, I guarantee you!
And I thought I’d end this virtual MBIP vacation with an obligatory bathroom mirror shot in The Rock’s bathroom! Thanks to everyone who hung out with me on this trip, it was a real blast! We’ll see you all tomorrow, back here in Peoria!
Related Posts: On The Road With Gumby (Part One: Automobiles, Trains, Boston Blackies And A Nap), On The Road With Gumby (Part Two: Please Handcuff Me) and Broadcasting (Not) Live From Chicago!
The Handcuffs - “Dirty Glitter”
Surprise link, click on it...I dare you!
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Bonus Nearby Nite Life Typo!
While hanging out with Brad and Chloe, Brad showed me the best typo in the world! It comes from his collection of Nearby Nite Life newspapers and you can read it below, it’s underlined in red. Ha ha ha! Big thanks to Brad for giving me a copy of this, I’ll treasure it always! It rivals this Curb Your Enthusiasm scene, but it’s better, because it’s real!
