Chocolate Babies?

Back to Stevey vacation time. So Friday and Saturday of Stephen's vacation took us all over for quite a few different adventures. It was a rather nice and warm 50 degree on both days, so we went out for a bike ride. We ended up at the Evanston Art Museum which is housed in this awesome old mansion/house next to the lighthouse.

Later we made a Brother's Burger King run. Caitlin, who is wise beyond her years, new that there was a good chance we would be there...so she stopped by just to see with her girls Lindy and Heather (and babies/Max's chicks Jane and Ella). They did not stay long, because they know the sacredness of BBK...it is not to be disturbed. Later that day we went to Alice in Wonderland (boooo) and then to Flat Top for dinner. Feef liked Flat Top - like, a lot.

On Saturday morning, we went down to eat at XOCO (I believe this ended up being Stephen's favorite meal of his trip). After that we walked around enjoying the sites and sounds of downtown.

The Cobbs...how could I not take a picture?

Caitlin dropped us off in Lakeview about an hour before the main event of the day...so Stephen slowly started walking toward the park on Lake Michigan. If there is one thing I know about Stephen, it is that he loves to take naps in parks in the sun. Insane amounts. We have napped in New York, Spain, Argentina, Mexico, etc. The kid likes naps in the sun. He found this trailer in the park and we laid down and slept for 45 minutes.

Despite the warm sun, there was still lots of ice in the lake.

I told Stephen to go ice skating, but he did not trust that ice. Wise boy.

Then it was time for our Chicago Chocolate Tour of Lakeview! Our guide began to instruct us about the history of chocolate and what we would be seeing/tasting that day.

We each got our own cocoa bean...which was extremely bitter, but cool nonetheless.

Our first stop was at Parasuco for chocolate gelatto. We were able to sample as much of anything we wanted to. My favorite was the above - Chocolate Mediterranean Sea Salt Caramel.

The place is cute and Caitlin will definitely like it once the sun comes out for good.

I also liked the chocolate black cherry.

Then we stopped at the House of Fine Chocolates. We each got several samples of rum balls and other deliciousnesses.

If you know me, you know I like peanut butter and chocolate. This place had many choices in that category.

The owner came out to instruct us of his chocolate house. He is a second generation owner.

I ended up buying a homemade peanut butter cup, which was the best chocolate item I have ever tasted in my life.

Next stop? Bobtail for ice cream. This tour was a little heavy on the ice cream end considering it was a chocolate tour...but I can't complain.

Our guide gets jazzy about how delicious our samples are going to be.

Hot chocolate and three different flavors of chocolate ice cream. I can't remember what made this hot chocolate special, but it was awesome.

Next stop - Chicago Popcorn Works. This was my least favorite stop on the tour. I think chocolate covered popcorn is kind of a stretch for a chocolate tour. Also, it wasn't as good as Garrett's - which is the Chicago popcorn staple. I don't know...it just didn't work for me.

But that didn't stop me from having samples!!!

Our final and most interesting stop - Baladoche. This place is super hard core about chocolate.

For example, they have Belgian chocolate locked in cases that only the owner has a key to. He flies to Belgium every couple of months and buys tons of this chocolate because it wins the top chocolate awards internationally every year and is fully endorsed by the royal crown of Belgium. Each bar is like $12. That tube of truffles is like $50. They have one chocolate item that is so pure they make you sign a waver if you don't eat it in 2 days or you can't take it out of the store. Intense.

The owner let us sample small, small bits of it - and it certainly was delicious...but I don't think my pallet is sophisticated enough to appreciate the extreme difference. I did notice that the dark chocolate didn't have the bitter taste that is often associated with dark chocolate because they grind the beans down super thin which apparently gets rid of that chalky taste. Amazing.

And that was Feef's trip. Awesome.