We just got back from a nice day in Chicago.

There is only one express train into the city on weekends, so we rushed out of the house to make sure we made it. I didn't get to spend any quality time in the restroom at home, so we stopped at the W Hotel so I could use their facilities. It would have to be a dire emergency before I would do anything besides number 1 at Union Station.

Then we walked to State Street and hopped on the Red line to Chinatown. Sheri had nothing for breakfast and I just had a glass of soy protein, so we were ready to eat by the time we got there. We did a quick up and down on China Place and then decided to eat at BBQ King House.





We ordered a half order of barbecued duck and a small order of barbecued pork. They brought out a delicious pot of hot tea and two bowls of some of the most delicious chicken (duck?) broth I have ever had. Just perfect. It got our appetites really going.

Then they brought out the plates with the duck and pork and two bowls of rice.

Pork


Duck


Notice in the picture above what a rich color the tea has. A lot of Chinese restaurants make their tea so weak it is one step above hot water.

I LOVED the duck. The skin was very crunchy and with good flavor. The skin seemed thinner and much less fatty than chicken skin, but I still limited myself to just a few mouthfuls of it. The meat seemed to be halfway between white meat and dark meat. A great combination of flavor, moistness, and tenderness. It didn't come with a head; I suppose since it was only half an order.

The pork was also very good. Mostly meat with very little fat to pick out.

We spent almost two hours walking around Chinatown. We stopped into a couple places to split a sweet and a drink. Stopped in a few stores that had a lot of unusual things: shark fins, dried stomachs (I don't know from what animal), dried seahorses, deer antlers, bird nests (for soup), tons (literally) of ginseng, and about 1,000 other neat things I can't remember.

Sheri's neck and shoulder have been bothering her this last week, and this morning when she woke up it was really bothering her, so we picked up some Tiger Balm and I massaged it into the tender area.







We decided to hop back on the L and head up to Wicker Park and hang out in the Filter coffee house for a while. After just a station or two on the L we stopped, the doors opened and a guy went running past saying the train was on fire! We had smelled something odd, and it got progressively stronger, but we just thought it was a brake pad that was new or got stuck.





The station was filling up pretty quickly with smoke, so we figured the train wasn't going to be moving for a while and we had better find a different way to go north. Fortunately we were at the Roosevelt station which lets you transfer to other lines. We got on a green line for a few stops and then transferred in the Loop to the Blue line. It only took us a few extra minutes, plus we got a little adventure.

Sheri was excited to take me to Filter, but I didn't like it as much as she does. For starters they allow smoking, and just about everybody was. They can't be too serious about their coffee if they allow the smell of cigarette smoke to overpower the good coffee smells that a coffee house should have.

Secondly I didn't like the vibe the place had. Everyone looked like they were taking themselves way to seriously in a pretentious way. I have also never seen so many Apple laptops and iPods in one place. This crowd definitely more style than substance. And no, the coffee was very average.

Having said that we did have an enjoyable visit. I read the paper for a bit while Sheri worked a crossword, and then we both switched to doing Sudokus. It is an interesting place for people watching, I just didn't want to talk to anyone there.

After at least an hour there we thought we would see if Quimby's had anything interesting. On the way there we passed a pizza shop called Santullo's. The pizza slices I saw looked and smelled wonderful. Piece was just down the block and Sheri wanted to try that, so we kept walking.

Once in Quimby's I crashed. I could have curled up in the corner for an hour or two and slept soundly.

We went to Piece, but they don't sell slices. You have to get a whole pizza, which was more food than we wanted, plus we were running short on time before the only express train back home left.

We went to Santullo's and I think we are both glad we did. It is one of my new favorite pizza places. It serves New York style pizza and it is very close to the what we had in Brooklyn last year. We just got one slice and a drink to split, but I think we were both more hungry than we realized. Sheri denies it, but she woofed down about 2/3's of the slice, so we got another one. The crust is very very thin (like real New York pizza) and it will not support the weight of itself if you try to pick it up. That is why you have to fold NY pizza in half. It works perfectly. Kind of like a pizza sandwich. The cheese, sauce, and crust were all excellent quality. That is now on my list of places that I have to go when I am in the city or showing out-of-towners around.



We took the Blue line back to the Loop and walked to Union Station. Sheri got us a small bag of freshly (still hot) made bag of caramel corn from Nuts On Clark to split on the train.

We are both out of the shower now and don't know if we are going to watch a movie or just TV. I am on the tired side and might not be able to get through a whole movie without falling asleep.