Day 0: click here.
Day 1: click here.
Day 2: click here.
Day 3: click here.
Wow, is it Sunday so soon?
We jump out of bed couch floor at a bristling 11:00 AM to celebrate. Not only have we notched a weekend high-score of 5.5 hours of sleep, but it’s also time for a time-honored Eleven tradition: hangover fuel and farewell brunch at our Chicago namesake restaurant, the Eleven City Diner. The place is packed, but with a flash of Josh’s Eleven City Diner tee, we’re promptly seated by the window.
This isn’t your grandmother’s Jewish deli (or your Jewish friend’s grandmother’s Jewish deli)—everything is super modern and fresh, and the food is a modern take on classic deli food (well, the Matzah brei remains true to its ancient history).
After three years of ardent patronage, we finally met the shop owner, Brad Rubin, who in turn introduces us to his mother, Roz (see below). We already felt like family, but this is the icing on the (Kosher for Passover, proverbially) cake.
Finally, following a recap of the weekend’s affairs over a hearty meal and Dr. Brown’s cream sodas, we bid farewell to Alyssa and Spencer, two of our hosts for the weekend.
The three of us left standing pack up the Scion and make our way down Highway 55, eager to dig deeper into our supply of two-day-old CDs (thanks again, Polyvinyl and Parasol!). It’s been a long and exciting trip, and the road looks bright ahead as we race back to St. Louis (if only for the fact that there’s been some mention of 65 degree weather waiting for us—a far cry from the negative six trillion degree chill in the Windy City). Thanks Chicago and Champaign—it’s been fun, and we’ll be back soon. But until then, catch us On The Road next month as we venture to (and hopefully manage to make it back from) the manic craziness of SXSW in Austin, Texas.
