It’s a beautiful summer day, but geez, it’s the end of June already! Good reason to go on an adventure and check out the one of many festivals that Chicagoans cram into a very short-lived season called summer. When we are hibernating and trying to get through the winter we are really conserving all of our energy for summer!
logan square arts festival
My plan for today is to ride my bike to the Logan Square Festival then heading to brunch at a friend’s house before the Pride Parade. Before heading out, I check out google maps to figure out the best (safest) route via bike. When you plug in directions it has the following options: car, public transportation, walking & biking. What we did before google maps I’ll never know. Almost to Logan Square I get lost and find myself on a Boulevard with no bike lane and in Humboldt Park (so that’s where the 606 is – material for another blog post). Finally, I reach the festival and I’m ready for a rest, but just a quick one since I’m behind schedule. I will be coming back to do a more detailed post about the history of the neighborhood, things to do here & restaurants.
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It’s a great set-up at the fest with lots of shade, seating and tents featuring local food/drinks, art, vendors, etc. Lots of people & families roaming around, eating, drinking, dancing & perusing the art & other wares on display. Ahhh, summer in Chicago. This is what we live for. After perusing the art & doing a little shopping (must support our local artists/vendors) it’s time to get to the parade.
tacos
I’m too late for brunch but hungry so I stop for taco’s at a place called Cafe Tola which I passed on the way to the festival. Something is vaguely familiar about this place and I finally figure out it used to be Hot Doug’s: The Encased Meats Emporium aka The Sausage Superstore. Hot Doug’s was originally in Roscoe Village (another neighborhood to blog about later) but burned down and rebuilt in this obscure location. Location obviously didn’t matter by the ever-present line wrapping around the building and down the block but it was worth the wait for the tasty foie gras hot dogs and fries fried in duck fat. I found a documentary on PBS about Hot Doug’s called Hot Doug’s: The Movie but you may have to be a subscriber. (One of the reason’s to support your local public television station). Though Hot Doug’s closed this location back in 2014 you can still try some delicious encased meats at Chicago’s most beloved sausage purveyor at Wrigley Field. A another good reason to plan a trip to Chicago & hire me to show you around!
Back to the tacos, certainly not Hot Doug’s but pretty tasty. I tried the steak tacos on corn tortillas, my usual, traditional style with lime, onions, cilantro & slice of avocado and of course, hot sauce. And washed it all down with a Topo Chico, my new favorite beverage, which I discovered while visiting my brother in Austin.
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pride parade
It’s getting late and I’m not sure the parade is still going on since my friends are at the beginning of the parade route so I decide to head to the end of the route in Lakeview (one of my old neighborhoods) to at least catch the end of it. Lost (again!) I end up by the north branch of the river stuck in a townhome complex. It’s kinda cool though because you really don’t feel like your in a big city and streets get a little wacky since the north branch throws off the grid. Anyhow, I find my way to the parade and catch the end.
One of the best parades ever! Though I’m sorry I missed my friends this turned out to be a fun & interesting adventure none-the-less which consisted of getting lost a couple of times, eating taco’s and catching the end of the parade
Stay tuned for the next adventure!