Overindulged

I think that one word pretty much sums up my Labor Day weekend. I'm back home to rain, thunder and lightning, but I couldn't scare less. After our 4 day jaunt in Chicago, all I feel like doing is laying around and reading, and gray days are perfect for that. What I really need to be doing is a two hour workout followed by an acai berry detox, but I doubt that's going to happen.

Our Tour de Fatty Foodies began on Friday night, with 22 oz. Fat Tires and BBQ at Heaven on Seven. Saturday was to be a long day, and we would need our fuel. We gorged ourselves on brisket, pulled pork and sweet potato polenta, sampling every hot sauce we could get our hands on. We spent the remainder of the evening watching the Red Sox game on TV, too full to move beyond our hotel suite. We figured that was ok, since we had a long weekend ahead of us.

Saturday began with brunch at Frontera Grill, which besides the incredibly long wait for our food's arrival, was well worth the hype. Get in line early for the first seating and you won't need to wait longer than 25 minutes for a table! I had the Huevos Motuleos (two fried eggs on a crispy tostada with roasted tomatoes, country ham, peas, sweet fried plantains, queso fresco and black beans) and a tall Michelada. Heaven. Sadly, E was jealous of my food, having ordered something sort of boring, but he was happy after tasting the Habanero Salsa. It was insanely hot, forcing tears and sweat, which is why they offer it as an "all you can eat" condiment. I doubt anyone gets past the first bowl!

We followed brunch with a much needed stroll over to Millennium Park to check out all of the new sculpture and architecture exhibitions. All of the new installations are so futuristic, it looks like alien pods have landed, sustainable, eco friendly alien pods that is. We didn't get a chance to go back at night, but apparently the space is illuminated after dark, so it would be worth checking out! We wandered through the Jazz Festival, too, but didn't stay long, since jazz really isn't what we are into. I find it a little boring to be honest, sue me.

After exhausting our feet, we jumped into the car to drive up to Hot Doug's, where the line already stretched around the building. E spent our almost two hours in line surfing the web. Thank God for that Blackberry, or else I know he would have killed me. "You really want to wait in this line for a hot dog?" Yes. Yes, I did. When the hot dog is a Smoked Crayfish and Pork Sausage with Cajun Remoulade and Smokey Blue Cheese and the french fries are cooked in duck fat, yes. We also ordered the Foie Gras and Sauternes Duck Sausage with Truffle Aioli, Foie Gras Mousse and Sel Gris, cut both in half and traded. Once he took a bite, E stopped complaining. Hands down these were the best dogs we have ever eaten. Heaven on a bun, people.
On our way home we stopped at the Bleeding Heart Bakery since it is just down the road. I know, you are wondering how anyone could eat a cupcake at this point. I ordered a Half Acre and a Holy Mole in honor of brunch, but couldn't even think about eating them. They went into the hotel fridge and were nibbled over the course of the weekend. We then had to rush back to get ready for dinner at Shaw's with business people. I could barely make it through a martini, let alone more food, but had to order something to be polite. We definitely need to go back one night when we are hungry and sit in the little wet bar. It looks like a fish shop back home, and has an awesome menu. We spent the rest of the evening having beers at Fado with our friends the Robinson's, before passing out in the hotel.

This is where my story gets put on hold. It's not much of a cliff hanger, but I don't want this post to get any longer than it already is. I'll come back later to tell you about the rest of what I ate all weekend long and why I didn't sleep all night last night :)