The Day the Angels Sang



The day had finally come to execute the main objective of the whole trip. It was the day of the great Taste of Chicago. Now I’m not a religious person by any means, but I do believe I had some sort of religious experience. When I walked upon that entrance, it was if everything else went dark and a light shined upon the Taste of Chicago sign as the angels began to sing.



Now any average person would have greatly overwhelmed by the vast amount of food but not me! I marched right up to the ticket counter and threw down my cash for my food/drink tickets (for the sanity of my parents I will not disclose the amount, but I will say I may put it as a business expense on my next taxes.)
My approach was simple, up one row and down the other. My main targets were the taste options. These were smaller samples of their main items at a lower required ticket amount. This proved to be a valuable strategy as it allowed me to taste more items.

After I felt that my mission was accomplished, basically when I ran out of tickets, I headed back to the hotel for a quick shower and a cool down. Then it was off to Navy Pier. Navy Pier is quite the incredible attraction. It features a giant Ferris wheel, breathtaking views of the skyline and Lake Michigan, and both boat and bus tours. The pier also housed a theater for Broadway productions like Beauty and the Beast as well as an IMAX theater. Pretty cool place to walk around. Once I completed my Navy Pier experience, which did include a boat tour and Ferris wheel ride, it was back to the hotel room for another show (it was quite hot and I’m a bit of a bigger guy now a days haha). I then began to ponder a dinner that would end the weekend on a high note. Low and behold, The Purple Pig!
The Purple Pig was something I stumbled upon when searching Yelp on my phone. The reviews looked pretty good, and they featured cured meats which made my tummy gurgle in excitement. If that wasn’t going to be enough, I got the best seat in the house! I love being able to watch the dishes being made and all the action in the kitchen.
Looking over then menu I wasn’t quite sure what to get, but then the word “platter” caught my eye. I manned up an order the pig platter. This consisted of numerous amounts of meat…..for 2 people! Boy was I in heaven. The waitresses kind of laughed as my eyes were huge, and I grinned from ear to ear. Each cut of meat was so succulent. My favorite was the bottom row of prosciutto. In the upper right hand corner was a sort of tuna tartar. That was pretty good but I had the ugly vision of dog food stuck in my head for that one, which kind of ruined it. Once that whole smorgasbord of awesomeness (which I got a high five from the waitress for finishing) was done, it was on to dessert!

This dessert was insane! What we have pictured over to the right is a fried bread, but not just any fried bread mind you. The magic is on the inside. On the inside we have a chocolate and marshmallow filling. That’s right folks, it’s a S’more on steroids. It was simply amazing. Every bite was better than the last. So rich, so smooth, so delicious! The Purple Pig just proves anything with pig in the name is bound to be good.

With that I got back to the hotel around 2am. Probably would have been sooner but I’m cursed with my mother’s sense of direction that even phone navigation featuring Google Maps can’t help.
My trip to Chicago left me wanting more. It was definitely one of those trips where you wish you had time to do and experience more. I hope to have many more of these adventures in my future. I did enjoy the Amtrak method of travel. It may take longer, but it was quite spacious and fun to see the countryside. For now I will be leaving you, but I shall be back in August with a review of the Minnesota Irish Fair located at Harriet Island August 10-12. I hope to see some of you there!