Toodeloo to the Taste

Well, we decided yesterday not to continue our yearly tradition (no, not that one - get your mind out of the gutter...) - we're going to skip the Taste of Chicago.  I am surprised, frankly, that we have gone as long as we have.  Actually, we have mostly only gone when there was a band we liked - Midnight Oil, They Might Be Giants (sometimes, you gotta take one for the team).  I don't remember much about the concerts, though, except baking in the sun and being a couple of miles away from the stage.


I suppose it's like going to Wrigley Field for a game - it's wicked expensive, you have to constantly maneuver through huge crowds of drunk people, and you know how it's inevitably going to end - either with a Cubs' loss or stumbling around feeling sick after one piece of Chocolate Chip Cheesecake too many.


And despite the wide variety of exciting food from around world, we end up getting the same, rather mundane, things every year.  No oxtail or grilled Anjou pear salad for me - it's always Lou Malnati's, Robinson's Ribs, and Eli's Cheesecake for me.  (Although, I understand they have funnel cakes and churros this year.  I'm a huge fan of fried dough in any form...)


By comparison, we went and bought a whole Lou Malnati's pizza and baked it at our (air-conditioned) home - it only cost $10.50, which is less than just the round-trip Metra fare for the two of us.  


There are actually a few 'must-do' things to do in Chicago that probably sound better than they really are.
We used to go to the L.A.T.E. Ride (the all-night bike ride along the Lakefront), but having my wife almost get wrecked onto Lake Shore Drive, and going to sleep now when the sun sets - this is an event best left for the kids and those people with rear-view mirrors on their bike helmets.
Never been to Lollapalooza - there are a number of neat indie bands, but if I can't stand being in the heat for a few hours at the Taste, after being outside for three days straight, I would melt like the Wicked Witch of the West.


Maybe I'm just becoming a fuddy-duddy..."it's too expensive and inconvenient to go downtown", "we get back much later than my bedtime", "nothing good ever happens after 9 PM"...


Ah, well - just give me my Netflix and a couple of pints of Ben and Jerry's and I'm good for the rest of the weekend.