Sound Bites & Snap Shots

Friday night we drove up to the suburbs of Chicago with goals in mind for all three boys.  Bill and Walker were going to attend a Merit Badge University hosted by the Blackhawk Area Council and Mason and I were going to explore a video game arcade.  After the MBU was over, we were going to head into Chicago for dinner at Mason’s favorite restaurant.  We stayed in a hotel in Sycamore which was halfway between the MBU and the arcade.

Early Saturday we drove Walker and Bill out to Sauk Valley Community College in Dixon, Illinois where they registered for their classes.  Then Mason and I drove back to the hotel for breakfast and a morning swim.  Our plan was to have an early lunch and then head to the arcade for the afternoon.

We happened upon a super little burger joint which caught our eye.  It was not a chain and looked inviting.

Not only did the place have good curb appeal, I could not have been happier with my chicken salad.  I could go on and on about the chicken; it was seasoned with a Mediterranean flair.  Mason gave the burger a thumb’s up.

The Galloping Ghost Arcade was just down the street.  We paid an entrance fee and were allowed to stay as long as we liked.  The website boasts 530 arcade games and I would believe it! There were rows and rows and rows of arcade games.  The aisles were so narrow that two people playing back to back might actually be touching and squeezing past someone to get to another game was the norm.   They had many classics and new ones too.  No coins were needed so it was fun to try as many games as we wanted and play them repeatedly.

Now, the tricky part was that it started to snow while we were at the arcade.  I actually was not too worried about the road conditions because Chicago is well-equipped to handle inclement weather.  I did, however, want to leave before the roads got too messy.  Meanwhile, Bill and I started touching bases and realized that we were going to have to abort our dinner plan.  The snow started falling heavier and heavier and at one point, the cruise control on my car deactivated because the sensor was buried in ice.

We found a nice alternative for dinner in Dixon, That Place on Palmyra and we promised Mason a rain check for Eleven City Diner.  After our early dinner, we started on the way home.  We hit the snow storm head on but plowed ahead.  The usual drive of five and a half hours stretched out to something more like eight.  We were indeed thankful to get home safely.