Summer Is a Time for Festivals 2015 Edition

Elizabeth:  As you all know, summer is a time for festivals in Chicago.  This year, we hit the festival circuit pretty hard during the months of June and July, including the weekend we attempted 5 festivals.  The season started off with the ever popular Printer's Row Lit Fest.

Michel: A festive yet bookish atmosphere where one can find good deals on books and posters and can get hooked up with any number of bizarre small presses.  Also, for some reason, a number of chiropractors.

Elizabeth: That's right!  The chiropractors were out again in full force this year!  That continues to be the main factor in determining a quality festival in Chicago. 

 The chiropractors

Our Rating: 7 books out of 10 small literary presses.  A solid and ever engaging street festival that is a perfect way to pass a lovely June morning.  Bonus points for the Roosevelt Creative Writing table.

Rib Fest June 12-14

Elizabeth:  We figured out how to do Rib Fest correctly this year!  What you do is you get a table for your group at one of the bars on Lincoln.  Then you send "Rib Runners" out to collect the tasting samples from 1-3 rib vendors at a time.  Everyone else orders the beverages, which are way cheaper in the bars than out in the festival, and then everyone gets to try ribs seated at a table in relatively air conditioned comfort. Because with all of the grills and smokers going outside, it's hot in the festival.

Michel:  As always, with its meat-based raison d'etre, Rib Fest is the height of festive occasions. While not all ribs are great, most are at least pretty good.  And in the rare case of bad ribs, one can be assured that better ribs are mere steps away.

 Our group this year: Jamie, Michel, Elizabeth, Lee, David, and Stephen

 Thank you, Tavern at Little Fort, for being totally on board with our lazy rib tasting plan.

Elizabeth:  Our conclusion this year is that there are really only 2 vendors whose ribs consistently meet the expectations of these rib connoisseurs: Texas Thunder out of Amarillo, Texas (no surprise there: best sauce in the festival) (Michel: Hands down.) and Mrs. Murphy's Irish Bistro, a delightful little restaurant within walking distance of our apartment that has the best meat on their ribs.  As such, we have decided that next year, we will be able to emotionally detach enough from Rib Fest to be able to attend the Superman Celebration in Metropolis, Illinois.

Michel:  In 1978, DC Comics declared the small town of Metropolis, IL, near the border of Kentucky, to be the official home of Superman.  And every June they host a 4 day long Superman Celebration that features Superman related guests, vendors, and is, as the name suggests, a celebration of all things Superman, which, for me, will be something of a pilgrimage when we attend.

Elizabeth:  The only thing that can pull Michel away from ribs is Superman.

Our Rating: 8 Texas BBQ sauces out of 10 smokers.  Bonus points for the delicious fried Milky Way and Oreos.  Sorry that we will be missing you next year.


The Weekend of Festivals 

The weekend of July 10-12, we attempted 5 festivals in 3 days.  We didn't quite make it.  Here is the run down:

Grant Park Music Festival

 
Elizabeth:  The Grant Park Music Festival is a series of outdoor classical concerts that is oddly named because it takes place in the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park rather than the titular Grant Park.  However, this summer they had a killer slate of concerts ranging from Beethoven symphonies and Brahms choral works to short operas by Barber and piano concertos by Saint-Saens.  We started our weekend attending A Sondheim Celebration, having a dinner picnic on the lawn with my co-worker, Lee, and her boyfriend, David.

Michel:  The orchestra was great, and the singers were pretty good.  The setting is especially nice.  It's a beautiful green space surrounded by distinct Chicago architecture.

Our Rating: 10 Sondheims out of 10 Hammersteins.  Going to a concert or movie or anything in a park is one of the coolest things to do in the city each summer.  We now have lawn chairs and a picnic basket, so we are super ready for next year!

Roscoe Village Burger Fest

Elizabeth:  We didn't make it, but we drove past it on the bus on the way to West Fest.  It looked like the burger version of Rib Fest.

Our Rating:  17 pretzel buns out of 9 cheeseburgers.  We don't really know, but how can a burger version of rib fest be bad?  We're definitely going next year.

West Fest

Michel:  Although we passed Roscoe Village Burger Fest on the way to West Fest, we did not actually attend West Fest.  Frankly, I don't know what West Fest is.  Maybe a cowboy thing?

Elizabeth:  I think it's a street music festival, but I don't know who any of the bands were.  We met a bunch of my co-workers at a bar where we were going to all hang out and eat pizza before heading to West Fest.  I just nodded and made vaguely affirmative noises when anyone started talking about the bands.  We ended up having to leave before the group actually left for the festival.  West Fest remains a mystery to us.

Our Rating:  6 spurs out of 14 Stetsons.  Because why not?

Taste of Chicago

Elizabeth:  We had to forgo discovering the mysteries of West Fest because we had a date with Taste of Chicago, a giant food and drink festival in Grant Park.  (And actually in Grant Park, not in Millennium Park.)  When we arrived, the sky was threatening to open up with a deluge of epic proportions (for Chicago, anyway), but the crowds were undaunted.

Michel:  If you've ever wanted to see the entire population of Chicago in one place, come to the Taste of Chicago.

Elizabeth:  Lines were long, crowds were slow moving, the festival was free but the tastes were expensive, and that helotes-topped pizza from earlier was starting to sit very badly in our stomaches.

Michel:  In your stomach, not mine.

Elizabeth:  But you weren't feeling good either.

Michel:  Yeah, but I didn't eat the helotes pizza because gross. 

Elizabeth:  Anyway, we wandered the length of the festival, didn't find anything that was worth the price to try, and decided to head home and get ice cream because ice cream is good for headaches and stomach aches. 

Our Rating: 2 million people out of 0 tastings.  We came, we saw, we decided we had better things to do.

Square Roots

Elizabeth:  Square Roots is the blues festival that takes place in Lincoln Square.  Unfortunately, we were pretty wiped out by Sunday, and Michel had to work on his thesis.  So I went on a walk around the neighborhood and walked by it a few times.  It looked pretty great.  Definitely adding this to the list next year.

Our Rating: 5 Buddy Guys out of 6 B.B. Kings. 


Ravinia  August 2, 2015

Elizabeth:  Our last festival of the summer season was our annual trip to Ravinia, another outdoor concert opportunity.  Last year we heard a concert version of The Marriage of Figaro, and this year we went with some friends to see Gladiator with the score provided by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.  It was as awesome as it sounds.

Michel:  We didn't have a straight on view of the screen, but that didn't really matter.  It was still a pretty great experience.  Unfortunately we were not able to stay for the duration of the film as the weather became unruly. 

Elizabeth:  Lightning finally forced us back to the car and home, but it was still worth the trip.

Our Rating: 100 centurions out of 50 legions. 

And that's it for the Summer Is a Time for Festivals 2015 Edition! 

"At the Violet Hour"

Last November, I went to National Harbor, Maryland for the annual conference of the National Council of Teachers of English.

Michel:  Elizabeth, you're just assuming that this is all from your point of view!

Elizabeth:  No, I am simply setting the scene.

Michel:  From your perspective as if I was not a part of this blog post.

Elizabeth:  I am getting to you!  Don't worry!  Anyway, while there, I ended up cabbing to Old Town Alexandria, Virginia to meet my college friend, Harsh, for drinks before grabbing dinner with him, his boyfriend, Rashad, and one of Rashad's friends.  Harsh's bar of choice was a DC speakeasy called PX.  Now, unless you count the Green Mill, I had never been to a speakeasy, so I didn't know what to expect, let alone how to direct the cab driver.  It ended up being one of the coolest things I've ever done.  PX is only marked by a blue light on the side of a building....

Michel:  You're taking a long time getting to the part of the story that includes me.

Elizabeth:  Ok, fine.  Anyway, there is a blue light, a door that only opens a crack until the host confirms you are on the list, a dark staircase, and the tiniest yet coolest secret bar that I'd ever been in.  Harsh opened my eyes to the greatness of speakeasies, and so when he and Rashad came to Chicago for Memorial Day weekend to visit friends and play tourist, I wanted to return the favor.  Michel (see, there you are) suggested The Violet Hour (winner of the 2015 James Beard Award for Outstanding Bar Program).

 

Yay for visits from friends!

Michel:  The Violet Hour is a speakeasy in Wicker Park that has, rather than a sign, an ever-changing mural and a single lightbulb to designate its location.  It opens as 6:00 p.m., but on the inside it is perennially 11:00 p.m.

Elizabeth: Or twilight, described by TS Eliot as the violet hour in "The Waste Land", the poem from which the bar derives its name.

Michel:  Yeah, but it feels later than that to me.

Elizabeth:  We arrived at 5:45 p.m., giving us the number 2 spot in line.  Each group is brought into the bar one at a time through giant, heavy, grey curtains which serve to split up the seating areas.  Along the wall are the house rules:

1. No cell phone use inside lounge.
2. Proper attire is requested.
3. Please, no baseball hats.
4. Sorry, no reservations.
5. If you have a party of four, we'll give you four chairs. If your party is eight, we'll arrange eight chairs for you. No "party add-ons" without prior notification.
6. No O-Bombs. No Jager-Bombs. No bombs of any kind.
7. No Budweiser. No light beer. No Grey Goose. No Cosmopolitans.
8. And finally, please do not bring anyone to The Violet Hour that you wouldn't bring to your mother's house for Sunday dinner.

It was easily the coolest place I'd ever been.

 

Michel:  This place is the idealized movie speakeasy brought to life minus the torch singer.  The atmosphere is so cool that everyone within it is as cool as Frank Sinatra and Lando Calrissian combined.  However, The Violet Hour is not just ambiance without substance.  It is also an establishment that serves some of the greatest cocktails we've ever had.

Elizabeth:  It's been long enough that I don't remember all of the cocktails that we had.  However, the most exciting moment for me was when I did a dealer's choice on a tequila, lemon, and ginger cocktail that was beautifully smooth and delicious!

Michel: I had a mezcal cocktail that was easily the best drink anyone ordered that night.

Elizabeth:  I think the rest of us would disagree with you as I'm pretty sure that all of us felt that about our drinks, too.

Michel:  I didn't just mean at our table.  Out of everyone in the world, I ordered the best drink that night.  Don't feel bad.  No one ordered as well as me.  It's ok.

Elizabeth:  You just keep telling yourself that, darling.  After our cocktails and some pretty smashing bacon wrapped dates, we headed to dinner at an Italian restaurant near Second City where Rashad and Harsh were meeting friends for the late show.  It was good, but the star of the night remained our cocktail hour at The Violet Hour.  And getting to hang out with Harsh and Rashad, of course!  And it is important to note that Rashad has viewed with amused exasperation Harsh's love of speakeasies until now.  The Violet Hour changed his mind!

Come back and visit soon!

Michel:  Toward the end of August after catching up over dinner with my high school friends, Justin and Hayley, and Hayley's boyfriend, Josh, we went back to The Violet Hour, and we are happy to report that it remains wonderful.  Unfortunately, we have no photographic evidence of this visit.

Elizabeth:  Despite it's cool charm and delicious cocktails, The Violet Hour has yet to be featured on Best Bars in America.  It's certainly worthy of a spot.  

Chicago Blackhawks vs. Minnesota Wild

In the pantheon of sports greatness, no one currently means more to Chicago than the Chicago Blackhawks.  The Hawks inspire a devotion, nay, a complete dedication of mind, body, and soul within the people of Chicago.  And so it is with a bunch of these fanatics that we, who watch hockey every four years at the Olympics and whenever Miracle is on TV, attended our first Blackhawks game, the last regular game of the season.

Michel: As a half-Canadian, I have long felt that I should probably follow hockey more than I do.  As such, I was super excited to go to my first NHL game.  My previous experience with live hockey involved singing musical theatre for a crowd of about 17 at a Monday night Houston Aeros game when I was in high school.

Elizabeth:  And as I work with an office full of hockey-obsessed Chicagoans, I was excited to finally be able to give the correct answer to the question, "Did you see the Hawks last night?????"

 Deedle dee dooo, deedle eet deet doo

Deedle dee dooo, deedle eet deet deet deet

 

Bum, badda, badadada, badadat dat dat dat daaaa DAH DUH!

The FINAL COUNTDOWN!

Rules of Hockey as Told by My Co-Worker Ellie Lee:
1.  Don't get up or leave your seat during play.
2.  Don't yell at the players to "Shooooot tha puuuuuck!!!"
3.  Drink beer and have fun.

Michel:  Because the Blackhawks had already made the playoffs, this game did not, strictly speaking, count for much.  However, that was not reflected by the excitement of the crowd, which was on the same level as a UT football game.

Elizabeth:  The crowd was really intense and seemed to understand everything that was going on, including what the refs and players alike were doing wrong, which was helpful for me in following the game play. 

Michel:  It also helped in knowing when to make crowd noises.

Elizabeth:  I found that a general AaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaHHH! seemed to work in most cases.

Michel:  That's also how you order in restaurants.

Elizabeth:  Well, you know, I like to get my point across.

Elizabeth:  Game play was fast, furious, and shockingly lacking in the Flying V, which we all know is integral to winning any hockey game according to The Mighty Ducks.  It also looked like the hockey version of one of my brother's PeeWee League baseball games. Morale was a bit low at the second intermission with the Minnesota Wild playing particularly well, but none other than Elwood Blues himself made an appearance to support the Hawks. 

Michel:  I suspect that they were saving most of their juice for the playoffs.  Which, spoiler alert, seems to have paid off.

Elizabeth:  And then!  When all hope seemed to be lost, the Hawks scored!!!!!!!!!!!  Na na NA NA na na Na na Na-ah-ah na!  (That's the Hawks' scoring song, in case you couldn't tell.)

Michel:  Unfortunately, the Hawks were unable to pull off their strategy of scoring more goals than the Minnesota Wild.  The final score was 2-1, Minnesota. 

:-(

Michel:  But then a month and a half later, the Hawks won the Stanley Cup.  So it all worked out.

Even though we lost, the Blackhawks game was super fun.  Here's hoping for another great season!

March Happenings

With the advent of March in Chicago comes the slow roll toward the summer festival season, starting with St. Patrick's Day and the Macy's Flower Show.  We've written about both of these events before, but each year is slightly unique. 

Michel: Imagine, if you will, taking in this view while standing in front of the dumbest family in America.  The mom of this family was convinced that each plane in a very normal flight path toward O'Hare was on the verge of 9/11-ing Trump Tower.  

 This gentleman was getting a lot of attention.

 Notre Dame Pipe and Drum Band

 And, of course, the dying of the river

Elizabeth:  We did a better job this year and actually made it to the part of the river that is dyed much earlier in the morning, though we still missed the actual dying.  It's always fun, but honestly, I think 2 years is probably enough for this Chicagoiest of traditions.

Michel: We may have covered this last year, but I can't be bothered to go check.  Either way, it bears repeating.  Chicago becomes the sloppiest, drunkest place in the entire world on St. Patrick's Day.  We are fairly certain we saw a guy in his last moments on earth due to severe alcohol poisoning.*  Luckily, his friend pulled an ad off the train wall so that he might vomit into it.

Elizabeth:  The above underlines why we may be done with this tradition.  But it was definitely worth doing at least once!  On to the Flower Show.  This year's theme was artists through time.  While last year had a really great Dali section, this year each section represented a different artist from Michelangelo to Mondrian.  I didn't like it quite as much as last year, but it's still pretty cool what they can create from flowers and greenery.

Michel:  I don't know that the Flower Show was actually better last year, but after last winter, I think we needed it more.

 Lichtenstein

 This looked a little like the chocolate room in Willy Wonka

 Van Gogh

 Michelangelo 

(Different floral patterns were projected on the statue of David)

 Picasso

(This frame is actually a hole in the wall looking into the rest of the Picasso section)

 More Picasso 

(The real baboon sculpture is installed in Daley Plaza here in Chicago)

Mondrian

Elizabeth: But March was not all pre-gaming for the the summer festival season.  We did indulge our inner Julia Childs...

Michel: Or "Julias Child".

Elizabeth: ...Julia Childs and take a knife skills class.  You know that scene in the movie Julie and Julia where Julia Child is learning how to chop onions, and, after a Rudy-esque montage, she finally masters it and chops a huge pile of onions really fast?  

Michel:  Nope.

Elizabeth:  Yeah, that's not us.  But at least now we know how to chop better and what we are doing wrong, even if we're still not very good at chopping. 

Michel:  I'm very good at chopping.

Elizabeth:  Sure.  

 The class was at The Chopping Block in Lincoln Square and was part of my Christmas present for Michel.

 It was an early Sunday morning class, so they gave us a little biscuit as a snack to start.

 We got to use all of the different types of super nice and super expensive knives The Chopping Block sells.

We have very good taste in knives now.

 Michel:  I chopped these onions with my bare hands.  No knife needed.

Elizabeth:  I don't even have to look when I chop.

Michel:  All totaled, only six people lost fingers, although a seventh lost an entire hand.

Elizabeth:  And the best part was we got to keep all of our chopped veggies, so we made soup that week.  It was better than usual because the vegetables were all properly chopped.  

Michel:  I don't chop with the speed of a TV chef or anything, but I do feel like this class made me a much more competent knifesman. 

Elizabeth:  Agreed.  Our chopping may not be perfect, but it definitely goes a lot more quickly now, which makes cooking dinner a more enjoyable experience.  I guess we'll just have to go back for the advanced knife skills class!

*We don't think that guy on the train actually died.  But we bet he was hurting the next morning.