Sunday, September 14, 2008

Schaumburg IL Septemberfest, Aug. 30, 31 and Sept 1st, 2008



We didn't have much to do to get ready for the Septemberfest. All the soap was wrapped, it was just a matter of packing the van. Travis had come to my parent's house for the day, so he helped out a bunch on that end of things. It is so nice to have a big, strong kid helping out. :)

We headed out to meet up with Jodie after she left work and proceeded to head east to Chicago. Jodie warned me about going over the speed limit in the work area on I90 near Rockford. The minimum ticket was over $300, so I took the warning seriously and put the cruise control on. We hit traffic once we passed Elgin, but, things were moving ok, so it didn't take too long to get to the Schaumburg exit.

We found the hotel, got the room and unpacked. We were lucky. Two queen beds and a queen pullout so we all had beds. Trav got the pullout and I am not sure he was convinced that it was bedworthy, but, he made do alright. We left after a bit to find dinner, ending up going by the show so Jodie would know where she was going in the morning.

The show was terrific. It was awesome to have my new best saleman in the big chair. Travis loved it...or seemed to...and all the older women and young gals seemed to like it too! I will miss him next year...he gets his license at the end of May and I am betting we won't get to see as much of him as we have the last few summers. He is a great kid.

We had the same spot as the year before but with a new neighbor--a Norwegian guy and his wife who were so friendly and did really neat wood carvings on wood. The show is in a wonderful public space on the village common. We have a nice view of a fountain and during our walk to and from the vendor parking we encounter some cool sculptural art...



Let's talk food. We had three awesome meals while we were there. First was pizza and salad at Lou Malnati's--superb salad with lots of black olives and I think this one will become a tradition! Next was another Italian place--Maggiano's and it was wonderful. It was a bit fancier then I normally like to do after a hot day working outside, but, we ate out on the patio. We all had different pastas and the servings were huge--definitely a place I would split next time. And finally Bonefish Grill--Jodie was not as big a fan as Trav and I--she is not a seafood person--but I LOVE this place. I could eat there every meal, it's that good.

The other memorable thing about Schaumburg was finding official Major League Baseball sanctioned CUBS peanuts. LOL We ate two bags at the show and I took home a couple souvenier bags!

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