Jonesing

Earlier in the spring Maverick and I ventured off to Chicago for a weekend getaway. Outside of layovers in O'Hare, this was the first experience in The Windy City for both of us. We had an absolutely fantastic time. It was great to get away from reality, if only for 48 hours, and experience a new city together.

We shopped a tad on Michigan Avenue. We took a tourist trap architectural tour of the city via boat through the Chicago River. Which, even though the guide was a little obnoxious in her overly cute speech, was actually was a quite interesting and informational little view of the city, especially if you don't have a lot of time to see it. We met up with a college friend for brunch at a fantastic Southern style restaurant. It was heralded as one of Oprah's favorite joints, and being that I can't stand Oprah I was skeptical. It was phenomenal though.

We took in a Cardinals/Cubs game at Wrigley, and sort of delighted in the physical dump nature of the place. The nostalgia is there, but the place is actually a dump. Don't get me wrong, Wrigleyville is freaking fantastic. The stadium, however, blows. Not enough bathrooms, not cleaning the place between games, falling concrete, Old Style (who in the hell drinks that crap?) and poles in your way. If you really want to see an old park, I suggest you skip Wrigley and go straight for Boston. Fenway is a religious experience for any baseball fan.

Sorry for the tangent. Back on track....

We hung out with an old co-worker after the game at one of the bars in Wrigleyville, and mingled with the locals. That was lots of fun. We stayed in a cute little boutique hotel downtown. We enjoyed the fruits of an adequate public transportation system. I was kind of mesmerized by the elevated train system, particularly in The Loop. This also provided great rain protection on Sunday.

All of these wonderful memories from that weekend and pretty much the one and only thing we talk about now is the pretzels we had at dinner one night. We were told to try this place by several people, so we figured it had to be good and said "let's go". We ventured off to said pub, Elephant & Castle. Let me start by saying that every single thing we ordered was outstanding. However, everyone who recommended this place said, "you have to get the pretzels!". Let me assure you, they were not joking. Almost two months later and I still crave them.

They were so soft, moist, and unlike any other pretzel I've ever tasted. I have zero clue if the dough is that much different, or if they're basted in some sort of flavored butter, but whatever it is, it rules. The dipping sauce served with them is a Bass Ale Mustard sauce. The whole combination is orgasmicly good.

I've really been wanting pretzels today and sitting at my desk right now, this special little yummy gift of goodness is pretty much all I can think about.

I've discovered that Elephant & Castle is small chain across America and Canada. It looks to only be in very large cities. According to their website one of those cities is Boston. I'm not sure how we've never seen it before since it's right near all of the things we usually do there, but I know exactly where we're going the next time we go up to The Hub to visit Maverick's parents and brother!

Preeeettttt-zels! Preeeeetttt-zels!

Note: The preceding sentences should be read aloud like Cookie Monster says "Coooooooo-kie".