good food, fun fests, farmers markets

It was a good weekend. Friday night we had dinner at a place not known as much for its food as other things -- Dave and Buster's. If you've never heard of it, it's sort of a grown-up Chuck E Cheese -- a restaurant, a bar, and a lot of games, from traditional video games to trivia to hoops to pool. We didn't actually play any games, just looked around, but I will say, the restaurant impressed me. It was nicely decorated with big belt-turned fans and lots of rich wood, and the food was pretty darn tasty. We shared Philly Cheesesteak Rolls (cheesesteak in eggroll form!); I had mini chicken sandwiches, served with chips and guacamole and the husband had chicken fingers and fries. I'd go there again just for the food, although it would definitely be fun to have a night with friends, drinking a bit and playing some games.

Saturday we trekked about a mile and a half from our apartment to the Wood Dale "town square" for the annual Family Fun Fest. It was pretty warm on Saturday -- mid '80s with 85% humidity, whew. So we got pretty toasty walking over, and it turned out to not be as cool as we were hoping. There was a handful of food booths, a beer/bingo tent, a few other stands with assorted products/businesses promoting things, a couple of bouncy inflatables for the kiddies, a rock wall, and a small classic car show. It wasn't completely pathetic, but I was a little disappointed. I'd really wanted a lemon shake-up, but I settled for a slightly melted Blizzard instead. Still, we did get a neat bag of goodies from the chamber of commerce.

Sunday, we discovered a gem of a suburb: Mount Prospect. I'd been through Mount Prospect before, but only more light industrial areas, so I didn't really have the best image of it in my head. But I was delighted by its downtown, and we have to go back to the Farmers Market when we actually need some produce. They had some wonderful looking produce, as well as locally raised beef, artisan cheeses, and other yummy looking foods. And the downtown area is quite nice -- lots of interesting looking shops and cafes in a few-block area around the Metra station. I'm looking forward to going back not only for the Farmers Market but also to look around the shops more, which were pretty much all closed when we were there (around 10:30 a.m. Sunday).

This coming weekend I've got a birthday party in Milwaukee and family stuff in the southwest suburbs, but perhaps on Labor Day we'll find someplace fun to explore...