2 Things @ Once

Mother Nature Is Sure Making Nice

NaBloPoMo, Day 22

Twenty two days into November and we're still enjoying temperatures in the fifties. Unheard of. It certainly doesn't do much for your productivity when you keep jumping outdoors to enjoy what surely must be the last of the nice weather before we hunker down for the bitter cold of winter. Or so we've been telling ourselves for the last two weeks. Not that I'm complaining. I'm thrilled that I have yet to take out my winter coat.

Temps take a bit of a dip come Thanksgiving with the first chance for snow showers. I'll be in San Diego for the holiday and like anyone from the Midwest who travels anywhere warm and sunny between Nov and May, I'm hoping for a gripping cold spell here while I'm away.

Just a Moment Down by the Lake

NaBloPoMo, Day 19

Winter's coming.

Chicago Olympics 2016...Not

I don't know that I ever talked about it here, but I wasn't in favor of Chicago's Olympic bid. This city and Illinois are already besieged by enough financial problems, we didn't need to exponentially add to the money woes by hosting a huge international bash and getting stuck with the tab.

I was away from the Chicago media hype, having lunch in a dive bar in Wisconsin, when the IOC vote came down last Friday. When the bartender answered a fellow diner's question about whether or not "we" got the Olympics, I actually cheered.

Schadenfreude.net has posted a pretty funny take on Mayor Daley's reaction to the loss. Those familiar with Chicago politics--and especially the recent parking meter fiasco--should appreciate the humor.

Out With Wrigley Field and In With Orchestra Hall: Changing Venues With the Changing of the Seasons

Exchanging Wrigley Field and baseball with Orchestra Hall, the CSO and Lyric Opera--a sure sign that winter is coming.

Tonight's program was a great way to kick off my classical music season. Joshua Bell performed Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1; about as close as I'll ever come to really liking a piece centered around solo violin. The highlight of the concert for me was the second piece of the night, Saint-Saens Symphony No. 3 (Organ). Wow, is this ever a jolt of energy and a real crowd pleaser. It's got everything: a full orchestra, crashing cymbals, four hands at the piano, rousing brass, and of course the full-on pipe organ that you feel as well as hear. (That's organist Henry McDowell in the photo warming up before the concert.)

You've probably heard the Organ Symphony even if you're not familiar with it by name; portions of his have been used in TV and movies. It's lush and jolting and full of repeating layers. Very cinematic, which I love. To hear it live was a truly thrilling way to kick off my season.

Time to Put Away the Pool Toys

There's a thunderstorm warning and a tornado watch in effect right now, so I best get off the computer and will make this post a brief one. (Not to mention, it's past my bedtime and I'm dead tired.)

Today was absolutely gorgeous--warm and very windy--and I spent the better part of the day outside helping to dismantle the boat in preparation for sending it up the river and taking it out of the water. No more fooling ourselves; summer is finally over.

Mother Nature is driving the point home here tonight. Thunderstorms are on the leading edge of a front sweeping down from Canada, bringing Fall with it. Today's 78-degree temp will be replaced with a high of 59. Brrrrrr.

Absolutely No Wind

Look Who Has a Photo Published in Time Out Chicago!

All those sailing trips on Lake Michigan this summer, wandering back and forth from the Wilson Avenue water intake crib paid off when Time Out Chicago purchased one of my photos for publication. The photo (which appears across the top of page 16) accompanies a story about things in Chicago that make you go "Hmmmmm." My photo of the crib appears in both the magazine (on stands today) and online. They found it through my Flickr set and unlike most inquiries for use, they actually pay. Sweet.

Today's Chicago Air & Water Show: Not Enough Air & Too Much Water

I've been home now for three hours and I still feel like I'm rocking and rolling on Lake Michigan. Hold on a second. I think I need to put my sea sickness wristbands back on.

Okay, that's better.

The Chicago Air and Water Show was this weekend and a group of us went out on the sailboat to take in the action from the lake, a great place to watch as the jets go screaming over head and you're not crammed elbow to elbow like the other million (and I'm not exaggerating) viewers on the lakefront. The show began at 10 a.m. so we met early on board for delicious eggs whipped up by our captain as we nearly polished off a 96oz box of coffee from Metropolis. All the while we tried to ignore the storm clouds rolling in from the west. (Rain and possible thunderstorms were forecast but not until the afternoon and anything can happen when it comes to predicting rain this summer.)

By 10:30, we were out of the harbor and in position, just south of the action happening off North Avenue Beach. The lake was extremely choppy, between the wind from the approaching storm (gusts of up to 30 knots) and the chop from all the power boats, some the size of small houses, motoring around us. We anchored with little problem and proceeded to watch a series of boats try to anchor in an open space near us, most of them monkeying around a lot, some coming dangerously close to our anchor line, and all of them eventually giving up and moving on.

Armed with two cameras, I took only a handful of photos, and most of them crap, because I put the camera away after just a few minutes of shooting. I learned very quickly last summer that looking through the viewfinder of a camera while bouncing around on the water is a sure-fire way to induce sea sickness. Today's seas were the roughest we've been in all season, including our sail in the BVIs.

The top photo is of a giant cargo plane that appeared early in the show. I kept the lousy cropping so a) you could see Karen and get some idea of how big and close this plane was, and b) you could see the dark clouds that were beginning to roll in.

We stuck it out for awhile, long enough for a round of bloody marys (Sunday brunch and all) and to see some great stunt plane work, including a helicopter that did some pretty amazing rolls, upside down flying, and free falls. Very cool. By two o'clock, it was pouring rain and we were all huddled in the cabin, save Captain Rick who stayed up top with Anne, just in case any other boats tried to park right on top of us. After 15 minutes of solid rain and a check of the radar (thanks iPhone!) we decided to pull anchor and head back to the harbor. Things cleared up a bit and we continued tooling around watching a few more performances, but then high-tailed it back to Montrose when another dark storm front appeared in the west and the marine weather forecast sounded grim. As we were motoring in as fast as we could, the wind picked up quite wickedly and the rain began again, and the radio announcers commentating the airshow warned that boats and people should take shelter; isolated tornadoes had been sighted. Yikes. Get me off this floating lightening rod.

Back in the harbor, after the rain cleared, the winds died down and a steady stream of boats were heading in to the marina after us. The show headliners still made their appearance to wrap up the show, beating another band of rain, this one packing thunder and lightening. We were able to see a good portion of the Thunderbirds performance from our slip in the harbor and were treated to an ear-popping after-burning, up close and personal view of one of the jets screaming directly over the Montrose Harbor on its way downtown to make a speedy entrance downtown. Wow! Absolutely amazing. Car alarms went off and the masts of boats around us were humming with the vibration.

The T-birds made a number of low-flying overhead appearances as they used Montrose as their turn-around point, and each time everyone around us in the marina stood and held their fingers in their ears. The Thunderbirds' salute.

Mixteco Grill Lives Up to the Wait

Mixteco Grill on Montrose in Lakeview is not the kind of restaurant you decide to dine at on the spur of the moment, which is about the only negative I'd pin on the place. I've tried unsuccessfully a handful of times to eat there and every time I was shut out or told the wait would be over an hour. Tonight, a middle-of-the-week night, we were able to get a table for three (with a reservation) which we probably didn't need, but by the time we left at eight, the place was packed.

Having finally eaten there myself, I now know why. Mixteco was dynamite. Everything we ordered, from the appetizer to the dessert, was fantastic. We started with an order of uchepos gratinados (corn tamales covered in a delicious creamy poblano sauce) that was quite tasty. We also ordered the test of any good Mexican restaurant, guacamole, which in this case was topped with chopped radish (a nice touch) and tasted extremely fresh.

I ordered the wood-grilled carne asada, which was topped with a spicy cascabel-tomatillo salsa that had just the right amount of heat. The rib-eye was smokey and tender. I also sampled the enchiladas in mole negro, a sauce perfectly described on the menu as "complex." The flavor was multi-layered and surprising. (Was it the spice? The chocolate?) Whatever it was, it was all good. Everything arrived at the table beautifully presented on the plate.

This was the kind of meal where you're stuffed but you keep eating because it's that good. We decided to go for broke and split a dessert because so far everything was great and who knew when we'd get back in here again. An order of the chocolate mousse, never my first choice, was highly recommended by our server and so far he hadn't steered us wrong. The mousse, served on a layer of light cake, was garnished with strawberry and pineapple and topped with a goat milk caramel sauce that was the perfect compliment of flavors. Outstanding.

Discovering Mixteco Grill eases the pain of losing one of my favorite restaurants--Rique's, a restaurant featuring regional Mexican cuisine that mysteriously disappeared a few months ago. Entrees at Mixteco are $15-20 bucks, a bit too steep to make it a regular event, but absolutely worth the price. Better yet, it's BYOB. The wait staff was extremely friendly and attentive, and the space, while a tad cramped, is comfortable and brightly decorated. Parking on a weeknight was no problem. On a weekend, I can imagine a different scene.

Will I be back? Absolutely. There are at least eight other items on the menu I'm dying to try.

Venetian Night

Every July, Chicago holds a boat parade in Monroe Harbor and calls it Venetian Night. There's a theme and boats decorate accordingly, motoring through the harbor, on-board sound systems booming, folks dancing and waving to the crowd in character. The parade follows along the lakefront, where spectators are camped out, from the Shedd Aquarium down past Buckingham Fountain. The whole thing is followed by a fireworks display because Chicago can't do anything outdoors without pyrotechnics.

The harbor itself is filled with spectator boats and we were one of them this past Saturday. We left Montrose around four and motored down in about an hour. Heading downtown via the water is always a great trip, rounding Navy Pier and taking in the entire skyline of Chicago. It never fails to impress, no matter how many times I make the trip.

We got in to Monroe and picked up our buoy in plenty of time. (The harbor is shut down after six-thirty--no in or out until after the fun is over.) We had a pot luck dinner, the centerpiece of which was steaks, masterfully grilled by Captain Rick. All the while, we watched the sun set behind Chicago and the storm clouds roll east, dumping on us a brief shower. The weather was warm (not sweltering, thankfully) and the breeze was perfect. As was the view.

Monroe Harbor, on the water, is truly one of the most spectacular ways to take in the Chicago skyline. The perspective from the Shedd Aquarium point comes closest, but there's something about being on the water with the cityscape wrapping around you from ear to ear that makes you really feel apart of it.

The storm clouds and the sunset put on quite a show as we waited for the parade to start. The Field Museum seemed appropriately decked out.

The parade was a hoot, though we were all shocked by how few boats participated. Only 22 float boats in all of Chicago? Come on! The theme this year was "Hollywood on the Lake." Since all the floating floats played to the audience on shore, we boats in the middle saw only the backside and our crew had a good time trying to guess what movie each boat was trying to depict. Not surprisingly, there were two Michael Jackson Thriller boats. I think this one was Roger Rabbit.

The moon appeared as the sun set and we watched it sink behind the skyline. Then fireworks.

Some of us opted to sleep on board since the plan was to sail the boat back to Monroe the next morning. The temperature was perfect for sleeping on deck, which I did. No matter that the cushion wasn't the most comfortable or that the party boats in the harbor rocked 'til the wee hours and squawking geese on the nearby jetty held a shouting match at 4 am. If you have to be awakened every two hours, who cares when you have the changing view of the Chicago skyline to greet you every time you raise your head. I've seen the sun come up over Lake Michigan, but never like that before!

The next morning, after coffee and bagels, we left the harbor and had a very pleasant early morning sail. The wind was good, the morning light beautiful, and very few boats were out on the lake. It was just about perfect. 

Here's a link to my Flickr photo set from the weekend.