Sometimes I almost forget how much I love this city in the summer.
Between the street festivals, live music on every corner, and patio seating at any restaurant,
Chicago in the summer almost makes up for Chicago in the winter.
Almost...
We started Saturday off at the Lincoln Street Music Festival just a couple blocks from our house.
It was a pretty small event, but Skinny Cow was giving out free ice cream samples so I figured it was worth stopping by.
Harlow agreed.
After we mooched the free stuff we jumped on our bikes to head to Wicker Park for the Do Division street fest.
*our helmets are coming next week, don't worry.
Have you ever biked in a city? It's kind of intimidating. I would compare it to driving in Italy.
It's not like we're going super fast, or that the cars are going fast either,
we're all just way too close together.
I rode by a car with its window down and was able to pet the dog sticking his head out.
(The dog liked it, the driver didn't.)
Once we got to Do Division I was pretty mad we didn't bring Harlow because dogs were everywhere,
I should have known better because that's typically how Wicker is.
Thus the reason I have decided my next big purchase will have to be a dog bike trailer.
And if you think I'm joking you don't know me well enough.
We watched a few bands play just before we decided to head into a bar to catch the Blackhawks game.
Of course every bar on division was absolutely packed for the game so we decided to jump off the beaten path and found ourselves in an absolute dive bar ran by a Polish mom and daughter
who barely spoke any English.
It was great, so great in fact the bar didn't even have a name.
The sign just read "Liquor" outside the place.
Not only did the bar sell beers for $2.75, they also sold Slim Jims and PayDays for .75 cents.
The only downfall was their TV had most likely been showing hockey games
since the day the Soviets had a team.
And each time a new storm cloud moved in it temporarily lost reception, but with beers that cheap,
we were willing to put up with it.
We hadn't intended to stay at the Polish bar as long as we did, but a huge storm blew in and we weren't about to get on our bikes in the rain, so we had no other choice but to wait it out in the bar.
And to be quite honest, I don't think I would rather watch a hockey game anywhere else than a great
hole-in-the-wall with all the true Chicago folk born and raised in the city.
I'm not ashamed to admit I didn't have a clue about hockey before moving here,
but now it's my duty as a resident of this fine city to become a fan.
So that I have.
And I'm thinking I picked the perfect year to do it.
On that note, it's time for Monday.
Remember how last Monday you got to lay around all day?
Yeah, me neither.
Between the street festivals, live music on every corner, and patio seating at any restaurant,
Chicago in the summer almost makes up for Chicago in the winter.
Almost...
We started Saturday off at the Lincoln Street Music Festival just a couple blocks from our house.
It was a pretty small event, but Skinny Cow was giving out free ice cream samples so I figured it was worth stopping by.
Harlow agreed.
After we mooched the free stuff we jumped on our bikes to head to Wicker Park for the Do Division street fest.
Have you ever biked in a city? It's kind of intimidating. I would compare it to driving in Italy.
It's not like we're going super fast, or that the cars are going fast either,
we're all just way too close together.
I rode by a car with its window down and was able to pet the dog sticking his head out.
(The dog liked it, the driver didn't.)
Once we got to Do Division I was pretty mad we didn't bring Harlow because dogs were everywhere,
I should have known better because that's typically how Wicker is.
Thus the reason I have decided my next big purchase will have to be a dog bike trailer.
And if you think I'm joking you don't know me well enough.
We watched a few bands play just before we decided to head into a bar to catch the Blackhawks game.
Of course every bar on division was absolutely packed for the game so we decided to jump off the beaten path and found ourselves in an absolute dive bar ran by a Polish mom and daughter
who barely spoke any English.
It was great, so great in fact the bar didn't even have a name.
The sign just read "Liquor" outside the place.
Not only did the bar sell beers for $2.75, they also sold Slim Jims and PayDays for .75 cents.
The only downfall was their TV had most likely been showing hockey games
since the day the Soviets had a team.
And each time a new storm cloud moved in it temporarily lost reception, but with beers that cheap,
we were willing to put up with it.
We hadn't intended to stay at the Polish bar as long as we did, but a huge storm blew in and we weren't about to get on our bikes in the rain, so we had no other choice but to wait it out in the bar.
And to be quite honest, I don't think I would rather watch a hockey game anywhere else than a great
hole-in-the-wall with all the true Chicago folk born and raised in the city.
I'm not ashamed to admit I didn't have a clue about hockey before moving here,
but now it's my duty as a resident of this fine city to become a fan.
So that I have.
And I'm thinking I picked the perfect year to do it.
On that note, it's time for Monday.
Remember how last Monday you got to lay around all day?
Yeah, me neither.
