Left Milwaukee and Water Street Brewery and headed south to Chicago. We decided to save some cash and stay in the ‘burbs instead of the city, plus we figured it would be safer parking the bikes where we could see them instead of some garage or whatever we would find in the city.
One thing I found that was strange but weird was that Elk Grove, IL actually has a grove with elks in it! Or at least a park. We got off the freeway an exit too early (maybe by design?) and ended up riding down the main “drag” which went right by a big park. I’m looking at the park thinking “that’s a nice park for a suburb” and I notice a bunch of elk chillin’! Always nice to see wildlife unexpectedly like that.
Found the motel, no problems. Standard commuter motel, pretty basic but nice, no issues. Unpacked, and I got on the net and started looking for someplace to eat. Peter and I had already decided not to do pub food again and the Chinese food in Green Bay had us thinking “Thai food!”. I found some stellar reviews for a place called Happy Elephant so we decided to check it out. Turns out the restaurant was just a short walk away from the motel, but we had already jumped on the bikes so we rode over anyway. The food was excellent. Really nice little place, absolutely spotless, well decorated. The chef/proprietor came out to our table not once but twice to talk to us and make sure everything was OK. Very refreshing change from most places. Next time I am in Chicago I am going to make a point of eating there again, even if I have to drive/ride a ways to do it.
After dinner we rode down the street a bit to a park. The weather was great (and no helmet law!!) and I wanted to smoke a cigar. The park was in the path of O’Hare arrivals so as it got dark we could see the planes stacking up in formation. Pretty cool. Peter and I smoked and talked and then rode back to the motel to crash. Total mileage today: 300
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