Tuesday, November 3, 2009

3 Autumn Days in Chicago


Thursday October 29, I traveled to Chicago for my mother’s 92nd birthday! From Ohare I hopped the train to the City where my sister picked me up and we headed to the parents place. At my parents place I was greeted with love and affection; I’m so very fortunate! Later that evening my sister, an old friend, my nephew, his wife and I went to dinner at my sister’s favorite restaurant, Garcia’s. Garcia’s is a very nice neighborhood Mexican restaurant with two locations one in Lincoln Square and the other on Lawrence Avenue; the Lincoln Square location is much nicer but it was closed for remodeling. The food was good, the margaritas were just what the doctor ordered and an evening with family and a good friend was priceless!

Friday morning, the actual birthday started at Molly’s Cupcakes http://www.mollyscupcakes.com/ where I picked up two dozen mini cupcakes ordered before leaving San Francisco. My two dozen cupcakes included the red velvet, vanilla, chocolate and the carrot cakes. I had a little treppredation about ordering the mini’s for fear they may not be moist but my fear was quickly dismissed with the first bite; so good! My parent’s birthdays are a little quieter these days but there was a steady flow of family members and friends paying homage all day and it was a joy to see everyone!

Halloween night was very special, my sister arranged a theater date at the Lookingglass Theater http://lookingglasstheatre.org/content/ , we invited a friend and had dinner before the theater at Restaurant 676 on Michigan Avenue. We had a very good meal, although I am craving spectacular, I had an arugula salad with apples and parmesan cheese and a bowl of Lake Superior White Fish Chowder. My friend had a white fish dish with clams and risotto. My sister had smoked chicken soup, I taste it and it was really smokey and good; followed by shrimp flatbread. The food was enjoyable not too filling for a pre theater dinner.

The play was Fedra Queen of Haiti; the Lookingglass Theatre is housed in the historic Water Tower Water Works Building. The historic landmark was one of the few structures to survive the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. The Theatre Company was founded in 1988 by eight Northwestern University graduates, Lookingglass ensemble notables include David Schwimmer of "Friends," Joey Slotnick of "Boston Public" and Tony Award-winner Mary Zimmerman. My husband is an alum of Northwestern Graduate School which did not factor into our decision at all to see the play.

The play is a must see; “an explosive retelling of Phaedra that would make Euripides, Seneca and Jean Racine blush.” This story of power and lust is set in a re-imagined Haiti evoked a range of emotions in a very satirical way. I have a love affair with the theatre and this production rates at the top of my many years of theater experiences here and abroad.
Chicago is such a great cultural city with world Class Theater, because it is home I don’t always have the opportunity to take advantage of all the City has to offer. But when I do it makes for a very special experience!
Early Sunday morning I flew back to San Francisco with great memories of a wonderful fall weekend in Chicago.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

It was wonderful spending time with you as well! Can't wait to hear more about your travels and adventures!

Hungry Broad said...

We have a really fun dinning experience coming up this weekend with one of the castaways from this year Iron Chef Competition so I should have something interesting to write about. XOXO