Summer in Chicago

Wow, it's been a while since I last updated this blog. I've been flat out since I left for LA. LA was a great holiday but I'll tell you about that in a seperate post. This post is about the awesome weekend that I just had.

Friday night's dinner was spent at Mia Cucina. Stay tuned for a review shortly. As is the case in the US, we had a coupon to use there. $25 off the bill. Normally this coupon costs $10 but we had a discount code which allowed us to buy the $25 off coupon for $4. Checkout restuarant.com for more great eating offers.

Saturday was spent at the beach. If you are familiar with the state of Illinois you'll know that it's in the mid west and not on the coast. For the extra knowledgable (or locals) you'll know that whilst there is no ocean coast, Illinois does border lake Michigan. Saturday's temp was around 95degF (33degC) so what better place to go to than Warren Dunes (aka the beach). Technically it's in Michigan but it's only just over an hours drive away. On the way we stopped off at Tabor Hills winery. Not bad wines. They had some interesting cherry wine and some 'fruity' whites. The reds were ok but I think I'm biased to Aussie reds. We then made our way to the Dunes where it seemed like a hidden oasis. Brigitte, Yannis, Peter, Fenwick, Su-Yin and I spent the day out in the sun and in the water. Again not quite the beaches that I'm used to but spectacular by mid-west standards.

Sunday was spent downtown in Chicago. First we went down to Chinatown to buy a wok and associated accessories. Then we made our way to Wired's Nextfest. There were some interesting exhibits, dominated mostly by GE, GM and Motorola. But the highlight of the day was the Taste of Chicago. This annual food fest is the biggest one in Chicago. I managed to sample coconut shrimp, turkey leg, polish dumpings, chocolate dipped cheesecake and turtle cheesecake. Yes I was full at the end.

Check out some of the pics here.

Bring on the summer weather. Friends, food, wine and good times. Bring it all on.