Fall 2010

September brought visitors and touristing. We got to Uncommon Ground in Wrigleyville for brunch and dinner, and we did a lot of Logan Square exploring:

• Lula Cafe's Monday night farm dinner
• 90-miles Cuban Cafe's Cuban food
• Revolution Brewing's local beer and Oktoberfest celebration
• Sunday Dinner Club's secret supper - a highlight of my foodie world

In October we traveled to San Diego for a wedding and enjoyed beautiful warm weather. Highlights included: the Little Italy Farmers' Market's refreshing beverages and local pomegranate, walnuts, and dried fruit and brunches at The Mission and Hash House a go-go.

November took us on a 10-hour trek to West Virginia. It was all worth it for the Hellbender's burritos, Sirianni's pizza, and most of all the company of the uberbuddies in a winter wonderland! See the picture of Dolly Sods Wilderness Area!

November has brought more visitors, and this time we were on a mission for some must have Chicago standards. With advice from my Mad Science of Chicago folks, we tried Portillo's for Chicago-style hot dogs and Lou Malnati's for deep dish pizza. Coffee at Intelligensia and pastries from the French Market (Sweet Miss Givings' cherry chai scone) also fortified us for a sunny afternoon at Garfield Park Conservatory and finally for the tour at the Newberry Library. FYI, they have an awesome bookstore. It's paradise!

incognito explorer - UP September 2010

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The U.P. and Lake Superior

I have been woefully out of touch, but our latest trip was fantastic. See below and our pictures on shutterfly.

We enjoyed canoeing down the Au Train River twice, where we saw lots of wildlife - turtles, muskrats, but also herons and a bald eagle! We also canoed on the Fox River in Seney Wildlife Refuge.

Picture Rocks National Lakeshore is beautiful, and we took a 9+ mile hike on a gale force wind day and the Park Service Boat Tour, so lots of views there.

The towns of Marquette, Grand Marais, and Taquamenon State Park offered us breweries to sample and lots of other fun.

Our sunset pictures from the eastern side of Painted Rocks were definitely a highlight.

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

ie Yosemite May 2010

Yosemite Valley

Susan, Greer, and Daisy - the dog of the woman taking our picture!

Too much fun in waterfall season at Yosemite with college buddy, Greer. There are more pics on shutterfly!

More Fun in Wisconsin

Taliesin III, near Spring Green, WI

View from Devil's Lake State Park, WI

It's been too long folks, but here are a couple pictures from our trip earlier in April to southwestern Wisconsin. We visited Devil's Lake State Park, Cedar Grove Cheese, the Old Feed Mill, Spring Valley General Store, Usonian Inn, Taliesin just south of Spring Green, and Wollersheim Winery.

Cross Country Skiing, Take 2

The rolling landscape, Lapham Peak Unit - Kettle Moraine State Forest, WI

Susan & Frank on skis at Lapham Peak Unit - Kettle Moraine State Forest, WI

Winter scene, Kettle Moraine State Forest - Southern Unit, WI

This past weekend, we picked a cross country ski destination a little closer to Chicago. At right around 2 hours away, it was FABULOUS.

While most of our friends and family were buried under 2-3 feet of snow in the Mid-Atlantic region, in Wisconsin/Illinois, our 1-5 inches didn't really materialize.

Despite pretty icy conditions on the trails, we had a great time skiing at the Lapham Peak Unit of the Kettle Moraine State Forest and Kettle Moraine State Forest - Southern Unit.

Cross Country Skiing

Minocqua Winter Park Lodge, Minocqua, WI

Susan on her new skis at Minocqua Winter Park

January 16-18, 2010, Frank and I trekked over 300 miles north to Minocqua, WI. The draw: cross country skiing at Minocqua Winter Park.

Frank has had cross country skis for many years, but I only tried my hand at cross country skiing a few years ago. (Growing up in Tennessee is not very conducive to winter sports!) Though the first attempt at cross country skiing in western Maryland was not very successful, tries 2-4 in West Virginia went pretty well.

So, what was the perfect Christmas present now that we're wintering in Chicago? Cross country skis for me, and the three-day weekend was a perfect time to take them out for a spin.

Minocqua was a serious cold weather culture! People were snow mobiling and ice fishing all over the place. SUVs parked ON the lake and night snow mobiling ACROSS the lakes!

Ice fishing shelter

The skiing and town were fantastic. In fact, the town has a pretty good brewery, the Minocqua Brewing Company. We highly recommend a visit!