A week on vacation to my home state IL. How did I do??? Day 1 - 2

Hello everyone, I'm right now writing to you from my hotel room. One more day here and I will be returning home. I took my father for his 88th Birthday to his long-time residence in Waukegan, IL. It's the halfway point from Milwaukee, WI to Chicago, IL. We are just a few miles from the beautiful Lake Michigan. It's been several years since I returned to the place I called home. Waukegan  is a suburb and had very cold winters and dreary rains. Although this week we didn't have any rain, and it wasn't dreadfully hot either. What is Waukegan known for in food? Mexican, pizza, and BBQ. In Chicago, they are obviously known for their Pizza, hotdogs, varieties in food from Poland, Ireland, and many other countries. It's a huge melting pot in that city. So if you think I was a little skeptical if I was going to gain weight. You were right. I was DEATHLY afraid of it. So here is what I embarked so far food wise.

My first day in my cousin wanted to take my father out to eat at my dad's favorite Pizzeria. Quonset Pizza, now this is the place where my father would take me on a Sunday afternoon after Church. This was twice a month till I was in my late teens. They know how to make a pie. See to my left. I couldn't even get the camera out fast enough to get the picture of the whole pizza. It's that good. My father ate about 3/4 of this while I had a massive 6 pieces of it. I was like "OMG, I'm sooo gunna feel this tomorrow!" Needless, to say watching my father enjoy this pie with such joy and him smiling. It really didn't matter to me at this point. He was home where he wanted to be.

Day two,

Lake Forest Farmers Market

Our entertainment at the market.
A violinist. 

After eating so badly yesterday, I went into my computer and looked for the farmer's market in our local area. It was Saturday, so I had to find something somewhere. Low and behold, I found one in Lake Forest, IL. Lake Forest is one of the richest cities in America. So I thought to myself. Wow, this will be great. I got up and ready to go and took my dad out to the Farmers Market, It was at the Train Station in Lake Forest which is historical in every way. It's still the original building and I believe it's preserved to make it a Historical building.  What I realized is that veggies and fruits from IL are different. There was a gentleman that was selling "Non-GMO" corn. It's called "Mirai Corn" its grown in Harvard, IL. Click here for the website. I bought 6 corns for $4 and cooked them and let me tell you it was delicious. They are not big like what you see at the conventional stores but they are sweet and everyone that tried it was telling me "This is the best corn I have ever had." :)

I recommend if you live in IL. You need to find a Farmer's market and make you some of this corn. You will not regret it and what I love most is that it's seasonal. So it's grown in it's intended time and it's not being produced year round. AND it's grown and made in the USA!!!

After the farmer's market I went to pick up my cousin and we took my dad to downtown for a BBQ Competition. What I thought was going to be a great experience. WRONG, it was a private event and nobody was able to try the BBQ. :( Soo I went to the next best thing. Hillery's BBQ I went to school with the Hillery boys back in the 80's and one of the brothers were there serving up some tasty BBQ. It is sloppy, messy, but definately DELICIOUS!  I always ate Hillery's as a kid and taking my dad there to pick some up was memories.

So how did my day go. Hmmm. BBQ for lunch, dinner was my dad's birthday party. What did they serve? Stewed Chicken, Fried Plantains, Rice and beans, Sweet Potatoes, and potato salad. AAAARRRGGGHHH!!! I knew it was going to difficult, but GEEZ, help me out! It was 2 days of eating pure comfort food. My belly was enjoying it but my brain was waving. RED FLAG, NEED JUICE, NEED VEGGIES!!! So after 2 days of this. Day 3 had to get better. Let's wait and see how my next few days go. I'll be back to blog more. Thanks for reading. :)

JC