Western ‘burbs adventure

With nothing pressing to do Sunday, Andy and I took a drive out west. We were still in the suburbs but you know you're pretty far from the city when there's a horse crossing sign ... and corn and soybean fields.

It started raining and looked like it was going to storm (it did) so we stopped at this brewery, Tangled Roots. We were in South Barrington. Nice restaurant but a bit odd that it was part of an outdoor shopping mall.

Cheese curds for lunch.

The rain cleared up on our drive home and what a cool cloud. If you look closely you can see the flat bottom on it.

Old Irving Brewery

After church Sunday Andy and I continued our local brewery tour. This time we went into the city and stopped at Old Irving Brewing Co.

It was lunchtime so we split some cheese curds. Service was great and the bar was cool.

I thought this was interesting - a quote about beer from Washington Irving, the man that the elementary school our kids went to is named after. "They who drink beer will think beer." They even had the quote printed on their growlers.

They even changed the TV station so Andy could watch the PGA golf tournament. If we were in the neighborhood again, I think we'd stop in.

Blume & Ferris

Andy and I were out and about yesterday and popped into Blume & Ferris, a recently opened Irish pub-style brewery in Downers Grove. From the outside, it absolutely looked closed but there were lots if cars in the parking lot so I said we should at least try to see if the door were open. They were.

It was really cute inside. The bartender said they'd been open just eight weeks.

The bar was quite busy but bartender said it was the fewest people they've had on a Sunday.

This was the seating area as you walking in, looking from the bar. Not sure what they can change but it definitely needs a "we're open" look from the outside.

Spring is near

Andy worked from home yesterday so he finished a bit early and we headed to One Lake Brewing for its happy hour (and light dinner). They had the upstairs deck open (yay!), testing to make sure everything was in working order before spring technically arrives so that was a nice surprise. It was rainy most of the day but cleared up in the late afternoon. Temps almost reached 70.

Then we drive west to the grocery store for the weeky shopping. The sunset was spectacular ...

and it got better the farther west we drove. Notice the el train in the right of this picture. Perfect timing.

Hop Butcher Brewery

Andy and I dropped off some food for B on Saturday and Andy wasn't feeling well so B declined lunch with us. We did make a quick stop at a Ravenswood brewery, Hop Butcher for the World, a play on Chicago's Hog Butcher for the World nickname, on our way home.

They had a menu full of IPAs, which we both like, so that was good. Andy likes them hazy. Me, not so much.

Interesting that one of the beers was called Blizzard of '67. Andy was born during the blizzard but that wasn't enough to make him try it. He opted for a Super Beer Shuffle instead.

Cute bar, but chilly. Temps were just over 40 and while that's warm for Fabruary in Chicago, it doesn't mean you need to open the garage doors.

Good Times Brewery

Our plan was to go back to the 'burbs after lunch with B on Saturday and go grocery shopping but traffic was so light - and parking was so plentiful (because it was so cold)- we decided to stop in at Good Times Brewery, our first brewery stop of 2026.

Their beers were all Chicago-themed. Andy asked the bartender about the Alex Foley connection, but, aha, that's a guest draft so no connection.

I had the Walking Man IPA and Andy had the Weeghman Field (previous name of Wrigley Field) British Amber.

It's a big restaurant and the pizza looked really good.

We hadn't seen this before - a phone charger built right into the bar. Andy just set his phone on it and it was being charged. That's handy.

I've never seen the flag on the left before. Lots of rainbows near Boystown.

Laid-back Halloween

I was still at work when kids started trick-or-treating at 4 p.m. but I could see them on my Ring app. This costume deserved some candy though.

We didn't buy any candy this year so we went out to Casa Humilde for a happy hour beer and chicken nachos before grocery shopping. Exciting, I know, but we needed to drown our sorrows about postponing our Jamaica trip. We were supposed to fly out Wednesday, Nov. 5, but a bad hurricane hit and the resort isn't accepting guests until the 15h. We're hope to reschedule for early next year.

We even got a piece of Halloween candy as we left. I grabbed the Reese's. Andy took a Twix.

Spiteful Brewing and Half Acre

Well, this is a little embarrassing and a first for us. When we got done with the Open House Chicago visits on Saturday we figured we'd find a brewery we've never been to and stop in for one beer, continuing our local brewery tour. Andy found Half Acre and plugged it into his GPS since we had no idea where we were going. The GPS told us we had arrived and we walked east, having just passed a bar. Andy, who was really tired from doing donuts, didn't notice until he was ordering that we weren't at Half Acre. I obviously wasn't paying any attention either. We walked into the wrong bar.

We were at Spiteful Brewing, but it was a good mistake because that Oktoberfest beer was so smooth.

Such a cute patio. We sat inside, but at a bar by an open overhead garage door.

The brewery had lots of plants. Someone there has a green thumb. Since we knew we were close to Half Acre, and that was our intended destination, we put that in Andy's map and soon realized that had we walked west when we got out of the car ...

we would have walked into Half Acre. The bars were literally feet from each other, on the same block.

Inside the bar.

We sat on the patio. It had rained that morning so some seats were still wet. Most people were inside but it was such a nice day and we won't have many more of those this season.

Cheers!

Sturdy Shelter Brewing

It was a hot Saturday and after got home from a very early donut shift, we did some grocery shopping and headed out west, ending up at Sturdy Shelter Brewing in Batavia. It was quite the drive.

Very nice inside. The story of the building is interesting.

We were hoping they would have had an outdoor patio overlooking the Fox River, but this was as close as we got - a second-floor inside space.

This is the second-floor looking away from the windows. They use it as a party space.

Later we moved to this cozy seating area on the main floor.

We drove around a bit in the town's historic area and saw several buildings constructed of limestone, including this Congregational church. Ah, here's why. Thanks, Google.

Ike and Oak Brewery

Our local brewery tour continued on the Fourth of July at Ike and Oak in Woodridge. Andy got excited when the GPS directions told us turn on Mulligan Drive. That was a sign that we'd be near a golf course. And we were - Seven Bridges Goof Course - and, yes, he played it once. It was hard.

We sat on the outdoor patio and they had live music, Christian Alan Hansen. He's been on American Idol and asked Andy about the USA Ryder cap he was wearing. He played a couple of country songs I knew, "Rocky Top" and Randy Travis' "Forever and Ever, Amen."

We split a tasty pizza for lunch.

An inside picture of the bar.

We passed The Morton Arboretum on the way home and saw this big snail sculpture. It's part of the arboretum's Vivid Creatures art exhibit of native Illinois animals. The snail is 16 feet tall!

Off Color Brewing

One of the benefits of taking things to B, other than seeing him of course, is getting to see the city in its different seasons (and discoering a new brewery). On Sunday, when we brought him some eggs and rice from Costco, it was a beautiful summer day. The haziness, which has been lingering for over a week now, was due to Canadian wildfires.

The lakefront was buzzing with boats on the water, and the paths were packed with walkers, joggers, bikers, and people just soaking up the view. The beaches were surprisingly full for a day that still felt a little too chilly for a swim. Still, I saw one brave soul dive in. Weekends bring out the crowds, not just to the lake but all across the city. There's an energy in the air you can’t miss.

Our brewery discovery, Off Color Brewing in Chicago, is tucked into the old Carbit Paint building on Kingsbury. I tried to dig up more about how the place got started, but came up short. Their website lists a bunch of media mentions, but none of the links actually works. Uh oh. Fun fact: they collaborated with the Field Museum on a beer called Tooth and Claw. There's a good chance we’ve had that at one of the exhibit receptions.

Tasty beer. Mine, on the left, is the "Beer for Lounging." Yeah, that's its name.

Inside the bar, called the Mouse Trap.

Lots of merchandise. Their drawings on their labels, etc., are interesting.

They have a nice patio area (dogs welcomed). We sat outside for a while but it was windy and then started to rain.