One of the benefits of working in downtown Chicago is that businesses often feel it's a great place to give out free samples. It's hard to say no to freebies when you can find them. Today was a double score.
On Michigan and Adams (across from the Art Institute) Falafill was handing out butternut squash falafels. Apparently, they offer a "seasonal falafel" on their menu, so I'm guessing this is it. Wow! I like falafels but I admit I'm really getting tired of all the falafel places popping up down here. Board now. But this one got my attention. What a fascinating (in a really good way) flavor combination. I can't speak to the rest of their menu but this taste will get me back. Well that, and the 20% off coupon they gave me!
Over at the JW Marriott Chicago they are handing out gourmet caramel apples to celebrate the arrival of fall. It says you need to show that you are a fan of their Facebook page when you ask for your caramel apple. I thought for sure they would be out of them by the time I got there at 1:30 but not so. Perhaps the rain is keeping people away but they will be giving them away until 4. I haven't tasted it yet but it sure looks yummy! I'd like to see more caramel on my caramel apple but it's FREE, so who's complaining.
Are you looking for something fun to do? The Time to Enjoy app
claims to be able to help. You can set it to identify your current location or
choose your city. It uses your calendar to help you find things to do when you
are available.
I was intrigued by the concept. I often find out about things
I could have attended on my lunch hour after the fact, so I thought this might
be helpful. Not to mention I was heading out of town for a few days over the 4th
of July holiday and could use some help finding out about events while on
vacation.
I first took the app for a spin while at work in downtown
Chicago. As you might imagine there were a number of events listed regardless
of the time of day I chose. Being able to reduce the search radius down to as
little as a 200 foot walk is a great feature in a big city. Well, maybe 200
feet is a bit small; it never seems to find anything that close. But when I
expanded the search it listed a few options. Searches can be filtered by
categories or just check them all to find everything listed. Under the settings
you can also indicate whether you attend certain types of events “Never,
Sometimes or Often.” Categories include crafts, festivals, food, kids, music,
etc.
A great example of the helpful type of information is movie
times. If there’s a movie theater nearby, it includes show times closest to the
time I searched. Some of the event listings are helpful. One event that came up
on my list I selected and I got a decent description of the event, the times, an address and a link
to purchase tickets. There is also a link to Google the event which gave more
information. In other instances, there was a web site I could also go to for more
information. The Google feature does seem to be hit or miss. Sometimes when I
Googled an event I would get search results that were relevant other times I
needed to tweak the search terms and resubmit, and other times it just wasn’t
helpful at all.
Unfortunately there are a number of negatives regarding actual
search results. A number of events that have come up during my searches were
not actually going on at the time listed. In some instances tickets were
available at that time but the event was months off. While this information
might be helpful it seems to go against the “spirit” of the app. One of the
days I searched it listed a venue for which there was no event scheduled. And a
few events were just listed with incorrect dates.
I only had any real luck testing the app results in Chicago.
There were a few events listed when I tried from my home in the south suburbs
but further information proved tricky to get at best. Most of the listings were
movie times. I think I was most disappointed by the app when I was on vacation.
I realize that Springfield, IL isn’t a big city but there were plenty of events
going on that were elsewhere on the internet. Repeated searches only turned up
movie show times, and not even a listing for the drive-in!
Overall the app is a great concept and is a well written piece
of software. The problem seems to be in its information source(s.) In the end
it’s a free app that has the potential to be a valuable tool, and judging by
some of the reviews in the iTunes store, may very well be in other areas of the
US or the world.
I'm a little behind in posting this but Ancestry has announced that the whole 1940 census has been indexed. Why Illinois had the honor of being one of the last states indexed I don't know. But finally I can attach all those 1940 pages! I've made it through the Kampfert/Scheifelbien family and will move on to the Bills next! So far everyone is right where I expect them to be. Which is nice, but isn't part of genealogy the excitement of surprises? :-)
I just received another update from Ancestry about the indexing of the 1940 census. They now have 25 states indexed. Unfortunately Illinois isn't one of them. I've found some of my family already because they hadn't moved or hadn't moved far from their 1930 residence but there are some missing yet.
Family search looks to have 27 states up and running. Illinois is 72% complete!
Last day! After a lazy morning we headed to Lincoln’s home to see if there were any
tours available. It’s a free ticket but it is timed. We were in luck and there
was one available about an hour and a half after we got there. We watched one
of the movies at the visitor center that lasted about a half hour and let D run
around the visitor center with the other kids (there were even some her age.)
They were all fascinated by the map of 1860 Springfield that lit up in
different spots depending on the color button you pressed. We happened to be
there when the second movie was preempted by a live performance of “Mary
Lincoln’s Springfield.” I saw the woman in the lobby and D was very attracted
to her purple dress but we did not see the show. No telling how a 2 year old
will act in a live performance!
The Lincoln home tour was nice. There was a different ranger in each room
throughout the house instead of one tour guide. It certainly seemed to give
different perspectives of the life of the Lincoln family. We wished it had been
cooler so we could investigate the rest of the block. I know at least one other
house is open to view. There is an audio tour that you can call from a cell
phone as you walk the block. I may still call that number even if I didn’t get
a close look at all the houses.
We took the advice of a friend and had lunch at Maid Rite Sandwiches. They
claim this is the oldest drive thru window in the US. The sandwiches are a
crumbled ground beef instead of a patty. It was a pretty good sandwich. They
are also known for their home made root beer. I don’t think I’ve ever liked
root beer but Kevin gave it a try. He said it was really good so I had to take
a sip. I almost liked it! Really that’s a ringing endorsement :-) Given the heat that was pretty much our day. We
did venture out for dinner at Saputo's Italian Restaurant. Despite having a
reservation we had to wait 10 minutes for a table in a half empty restaurant.
That was odd. Other than that the service was good. The food was also good,
though it didn’t pass the toddler test. Apparently she was not in the mood for
pasta.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Thursday, July 5th
The big destination! The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum was the main reason for this trip. It's one of those things that's been on the list since it opened and one thing led to another and we still hadn't seen it years after the opening. I found out after our visit that they are celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Morrill Land Grant Act and are offering a $5 discount to graduates of all US colleges and universities. Check the web site for details. Also note that while the web site says lockers are available for free, they are now 25 cents. The Museum was worth the trip. The 2 presentations were both very well done. While D didn't want to sit through the Ghosts of the Library presentation, I was able to catch it and Kevin caught a later showing. I'm a history geek and I love to research. This show was the first time I've heard put in to words the feeling I have while doing research. The Holavision is an amazing tool for a live performance! I won't spoil it by describing it here. Just go see it! The "Lincoln's Eyes" show comes with a warning that some loud noises may not be for all viewers. Wouldn't you know, this is the one D sat through. The first loud rumble got her attention and she sat still for the rest of the show! It uses 3 screens and is another well done show. The exhibits at the museum are also well done. The obvious highlights are the two "Journeys." Journey One has a facade of a log cabin and follows Abe's trip from boyhood to the White House. Journey Two is the White House years. And of course I can't forget Mrs. Lincoln's Attic. D went straight for the Lincoln Logs but there were many other "Lincoln era" toys. There was also a dress up area and a play kitchen. We could easily have spent the day here. Lunch at Garden of Eat'n I had a really yummy BLT half wrap that was actually plenty for me for lunch. I ended up saving the half Greek salad for later in the afternoon. Delicious dressing. They had a a grilled cheese sandwich for D and her daddy was very happy with his big ol' salad as well. We didn't get back for dinner but apparently the menu changes to kabobs and Persian inspired food. If it's as good as lunch was I'm sorry we missed it. Dinner at Obed and Isaac's. This microbrewery & restaurant has only been open since February but had a decent crowd for a steamy week night. The turkey burger with goat cheese was amazing. Even better was the side of potato salad that I asked for in place of fries. It's definitely home made. The only one I've ever had better is my mom's! The building has a great history too! It was originally a house built in the early 1800's and has been a judges quarters and a funeral home/crematorium.
We started the morning off with the complimentary breakfast at the Statehouse Inn.
I love the fact that more and more hotels are going to this hot
breakfast offering. This was an excellent variety of eggs, potatoes,
biscuits & Gravy as well as make your own waffles. There were plenty
of other breakfast options available. And once I found hot tea I was
happy! So what to do on this Independence Day... The Illinois State Museum
was open for regular weekday hours (8:30 A.M.-5:00 P.M!) FYI the
children's play museum closes an hour earlier. This whole museum is very
hands on (except the art gallery) and took less than 2 hours (with a 2
year old tour guide.) The play museum on the lower level was where we
spent the rest of the afternoon. The volunteer on duty was excellent
with the kids and very nice to us adults too! There were lots of things
for D to investigate. Including this cave...
The museum supplied small flashlights and hard hats. Very cute! From a microscope with bugs and stuff in "glass" to view, to a bone excavation site complete with shovels. There was so much there that I don't think we played with everything, but she tried! She could have easily spent hours more there but nap time got in the way. Did I mention this was FREE? Not a bad way to spend a steamy 4th of July.
Not much open food-wise because of the holiday so we ended up Hardees for lunch. For the record, this does not break the rules because while it is a chain, we can't get it at home.
We attended the Capitol Celebration of the fourth in time to catch the bands. D was more interested in the marching band and naming all the instruments so we didn't hear the country band. The Springfield Municipal band was very good. As we were pointing out instruments between songs, a very nice woman held up her french horn for D to see. Dinner was a corn dog from a street vendor. Not to healthy but yummy! We watched the fireworks from the van in the hotel parking lot because there was nowhere to park to go in to our room. D thought they were pretty :-)
