Chicago!

One of my October new things was an academic year weekend getaway. Oh, I've gone out of town for a weekend during the school year before, but only for family get together or conferences. This past weekend, I flew off to Chicago to visit friends, and I had a wonderful time. Just before my sabbatical ended, I made a "note to self" to remind myself of the things that made me happy over the past few months, and I pledged to continue them once school started. Travel and friends were at the top of the list.

Chicago is a fabulous city: big and friendly and sitting smack dab on a Great Lake. And when you have friends like Nell and Peter showing you around: amazing. First, we went to the Illinois Holocaust Museum in Skokie. I know: not an upbeat start to a weekend away, but it was so interesting. The largest population of Holocaust survivors in the US settled in Skokie after the war. In the late 70s, neo-Nazis threatened to march on Skokie, and the survivors and their supporters rose up to prevent that from happening. One of the things they did in the aftermath was to create the Holocaust Memorial Foundation of Illinois and the, later, the museum itself. The museum is a good one, and I've seen plenty: the museum at Auschwitz, the Imperial War Museum's exhibit in London, and the US Holocaust Museum in DC. I'm glad I saw it. As an added bonus, my students got to hear all about it when I got back to Cincy.



Our next stop was the Baha'i Temple in Wilmette, IL. Wow. If you've never seen the place, have a look at their website. The building reminds me of a giant wedding cake. http://www.bahai.us/bahai-temple/. The gardens there are lovely, even in October. The place was a nice antidote for the heaviness we felt after a couple of hours in the museum in Skokie.




Besides the great conversation, I think my favorite part of the visit was the food. Nell and Peter took me to a place in their neighborhood called Green Zebra on Saturday night. They serve small plates of the most wonderful food, so you order several things, and each dish was delicious. I had Butternut Squash Soup with smoked apple, blue cheese, cider, and spiced pecans; Black Truffle Farm Egg Raviolo, with celery root, caramelized parsnip, and pea tendrils; and Country Flatbread, with smoked white bean puree, tropea onion, broccoli florets, chili oil, and sesame. Oh man! Absolutely fantastic. Nell and Peter ordered a birthday dessert for me, so that was a lovely surprise! The next day, we went to brunch at a place called North Pond Restaurant in Lincoln Park. I loved this place. It's housed in a hundred year old building with an arts and craft style interior. I had Shrimp Polenta, Arctic Char, and Apple Caramel tart. We had a nice walk along the lake shore after lunch, so I got my Great Lakes fix.

My first weekend getaway was a great success, thanks to my friends' generosity. Thanks, Nell and Peter!

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