Today was the first really hot day of the summer (and I have the sunburn to prove it). My friend S and I decided on the 4th to ride bikes out to the northwest suburb of Glenview, for my friend/coworker C's Sunday afternoon pool gathering - the first one I've been to this year. She and her husband own a lovely house with a GINORMOUS, perfect back yard and a fabulous pool. The best part is that they open it up for all of their friends to come and hang out alomst every Sunday in the summer. There is music playing, kids splashing, and people stream in from the city to swim, chat, hang out from 12-6pm. It's an amazing treat, especially for all of us who work with C. because we are all poor artsy urbanites.
We had a good, but HOT, ride out there. I met S at the train station (she took the train with her bike partway in both directions, but for me, according to Mapquest, it was about 15 miles each way - not bad!) Half of the trip is along a great paved bike path in a forest preserve called the North Branch Trail - the best place to bike in Chicago, if you ask me.
We saw a baby deer, and I got bitten/stung by an unknown insect, which made things interesting. The main thing about the ride, though, was that S. gets really overheated, and doesn't sweat, so she was a trooper - she still rode her ass off, though, and fast, and she's 10 years older than me, with a much heavier bike, so I was impressed.
Today was BBQ day at the pool, and that means everyone (who normally brings snacky food and cold beverages to eat, drink and share) stepped it up a notch and really brought out the good grub. And, it was Jimmy's 11th birthday, and his grandmother K (who I love) was in town from Wales, plus it's the weekend before our huge annual festival, which C. (the hostess) is in charge of, so it all combined to make today a truly great/positive-vibe day to be at the pool.
Since it was so hot and sunny, though, even our ride back really got to my friend S and as we got back into Chicago, we rode along looking for someplace where we could rest our sore asses, and find a cold drink and some shade. We even contemplated stopping at a Kmart just for the A/C, but then all of a sudden we saw a totally nondescript bar on Elston and I liked the name (the Sunny Day Tap), so I suggested we stop in. We got inside and it was sort of magic - this tiny dark Serbian restaurant/bar where no English was spoken, music was playing and a woman in black was cooking yummy-looking meaty Serbian things. The waitress made us the perfect drinks (pint-sized soda with a splash of cranberry and double lime twists) and there was (we think) creepy non-ironic Slobodan Milosovic paraphernalia all around.
2 comments:
That's so cool about the pool people. It also sounds like a nice bike ride. I'm a big time sweater, so I can deal with the heat really well...Even if I'm kind of gross when it's warm out.
I think we're all gross when it's warm out. I don't sweat a lot, which worries me sometimes (and is probably why I like swimming best), but I'm not as bad as S.
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