Chicago: Day 5

The usual quick park trip in the morning:



Then off to the Museum of Science and Industry.


Dr. Seuss Exhibit.




Green House Exhibit.
It's a showhome to illustrate how "green" a house can be. To a Vancouverite, I wanted to see how comparable it is to a 'typical' home. Besides the silly electronics, it's actually very comparable. The construction and the materials it uses are very common stuff at home. From the radiant heating under the floors, to expanding insulating foam in the walls, to recycled materials in countertops, to motorized blinds, to solar panels in the roof, to the bamboo flooring... it's actually very common. Fancier stuff is centralized computerized "brain" that can control every electronic device in the home. From lighting to electric stovetops. There's also the single-home big wind turbine outside that can generate enough juice to power the showhome. Not exactly sure how efficient it can really get though. I'm not convinced that the cost to make one of those would be less than the power it can generate. The blades being so small.. and so close to ground level. The best and consistent winds are WAY up higher.



A cool Rube Goldberg machine:

Chicago: Day 4

We've decided to take a slow day today. So, we hit Gurnee Mills Mall next to Six Flags Great America. It's an outlet mall, and it's HUGE.

First, a stroll along the park.



A pre-lunch warmup with Lou Malnati's deep dish pizza! YUM!!

Dim Sum with grandpa and grandma

Then the mall:







The finish a great day with dinner with grandpa and grandma at Lone Star: Steakhouse and Saloon



Peppercorn Ribeye

Johnny Walker Salmon

Chicago: Shedd Aquarium

Triple D in Chicago: White Palace

Round 3 of our food network run. Actually it's Round 3, 4, and 5... because our first 2 attempts at DDD failed.

First one we hit was HonkeyTonk BBQ in the depths of a Mexican neighborhood. (Go figure that one yourself). The menu seemed good, too bad they were closed for unknown reasons. From the outside, it was a hole in the wall.



Second one was Nala Organic. This one was in Bridgeport.. an Italian district. Upon arrival, a small crowd was waiting outside. Good sign of good eats. But. the 45 minute wait was a turnoff as we had plans. Too bad.. things look pretty good in there. (We might try this one again at another date)



Third attempt of the day is White Palace. The place was crowded again! But. the wait was tolerable. The decor was definitely "diner"





Side of soup and salad. Salad was as plain as you can get. Meh.

Chicken Fingers: Very tender. With a good BBQ sauce.

Greek Chicken. Cooked tenderly. Good rice.

Kris' Denver Omlette. "It's good"


Overall.. White Palace is a good place to eat. Not sure if I would recommend this place on any other day other than Saturday. Where the signature dishes that Guy had tasted on the show was featured are available. Short Ribs and another Chicken dish.

There's that 'Guy' again...