Dave's Place The internet home of David Hinkle, a guy who plays way too many video games

My Trip to Chicago

A little over a week ago, I went to Chicago to visit my sister and see the city. She lives in one of the close outlying burbs, so it was easy to get into the city and sample its unique flavors of fun. I ate tasty food, saw some cool sights and enjoyed many of the town's watering holes. Suffice to say, I had a blast. Here's a rundown of the fun (and a gallery of images at the bottom of the post).

The Eats

Hot Doug's

Holy crap, nobody could properly prepare me for the awesomeness of this place. The line is kinda long, but with items like Elk, boar and rabbit sausage, it's well worth the wait. Even the plain chili dogs are amazing -- not to mention the duck fat fries, which have a consistency of boardwalk fries but aren't dirty tasting. Duck fat gives them a clean taste and a wonderful texture.

Don Chema's Carne Asada tacos

One night, we stopped at this small Mexican place in the city called Don Chema. The steak tacos were out of this world (the lime really set the flavor off) and, combined with peach margaritas, made for quite the tasty dinner. Local food, local joint -- it was the best.

Gordon Biersch

I guess this is like a chain or something, but it hardly felt like that when I arrived. Biersch offers this beer sampler, touring the brewery's many delicious beers. Pilsners, ales and stouts make for one happy Dave.

Giordano's pizza

Another type of chain, but for somebody who doesn't visit Chicago, uh, ever, it was still a treat. The best bet is to order your pie ahead of time -- it takes around 30 minutes to construct one of these beasts. It's quite possibly the heaviest pizza I've ever encountered.

The Sights

Wrigley Field

Nothing prepares you for Wrigley, because one second you're walking down the street and then the next, bam, you got a baseball stadium in your face. It's huge, of course, but smack-dab in the heart of downtown. I'm sure it's crazy when an actual game is going on.

Soldier Field

It's just odd looking -- period.

Mickey at Schuba's

My sister's fiance, Troy, is in a band called Mickey. They play a kind of hard rock and I managed to see them play for the first time at a bar called Schuba's. They were great and the singer loves getting into the crowd and mixing it up with the audience, but it's not my particular brand of music. Maybe when I was in high school, but not any more.

New Wave at the Late Bar

One of the many watering holes in the Chicago area, this one had a New Wave night going on when we stopped in after Mickey's show. It was full of people decked out in crazy '80s wear and it was awesome. I had some beverages and danced to Culture Club. Good times.

Chester and Annabelle

My sister's dogs and they are the cutest!

For Next Time (Or Why Didn't I Take a Full Week Off?)

• Kayak Chicago
• Hancock building
• Aquarium/zoo
• Art Institute
• U.S. Cellular Field

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