My friends and I have a ritual of hitting happy hour…happy hour at Sushi Thai that is. Monday-Wednesday they offer half price rolls from 4:30-5:30, and it’s one of our favorite places to get together. With rolls running between $4.50-13.95, it’s an amazing deal at half price.

We love to start out dinner with some appetizers and drinks. We usually get edamame (steamed soy beans), egg rolls or vegetable tempura (vegetables fried in a light flakey batter). Splitting some cold Sake is also one of our favorite ways to kick off the evening.

Sushi Thai offers a vast assortment on their menu. Usually we each order a few rolls and them split them so we can try a little bit of everything. Unfortunately for many people sushi conjures up images of slimy raw fish. This is a big misconception! It is a great place to try Sushi for the first time; everything on the menu is clearly explained, so you won’t end up with something starring back at you that you weren’t expecting. Sushi Thai has many cooked and vegetarian options, in addition to more typical sushi. Sushi Thai is unique because of their creative take on everything they make; even down to the names. Some of our favorite rolls are The Libertyville Roll, The Spicy Tuna Roll, The Deep Fried JB Roll, and my personal favorite The Playboy Roll. The Playboy Roll is what kept me coming back to Sushi Thai in the first place, it is made with BBQ eel, crab meat, shrimp, orange caviar, and cream cheese, all dipped in tempura batter and fried. Then its drizzled with Unagi sauce. You will not regret trying this one!

Aside from the amazing food and great company, there are many reasons we keep going back to Sushi Thai. It seems like a simple building from the outside but it’s really beautiful on the inside. It has lovely exposed brick and lots of natural light. It even has an outdoor patio for nice days. The staff is amazingly attentive. I’ve never had an empty drink at Sushi Thai and the food comes very fast. The atmosphere is pretty low key as well. For example, no one is going to look at you funny if you opt out of chop sticks and go with the fork already provided! We like the location too, because it’s about a block to Independence Grove. Sometimes on nice day’s we like to go relax and hang out there after a great meal.

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Great America has unveiled yet another great family attraction, and I got the pleasure of getting to ride it on Tuesday. Buccaneer Battle was unveiled for the media day and it is a quintessential family ride, everyone in the family can enjoy it even if they don’t ride. I was pleasantly surprised at how creative the design of the ride was…the ambiance is theatrical and fun. It’s a really nice layout being that the entire ride is visible to on-lookers.

My friend Eddie and I were brave and decided to ride. We headed into the station and hopped on our 8 person “battle ship”. Each seat had a water cannon (like a water gun) attached to the boat in front of us. When the boats left the station the mayhem began. The boats weaved back and forth through the pool on underwater tracks. When we passed the other boats we did our best to aim our water cannons to hit the other riders. He did pretty well, but I for the most part gave up and tried to cover my face, while laughing uncontrollably. Additional water cannons are mounted all along the perimeter of the water. The other visitors for the media day got a huge kick out of ganging up on us. However, we could at least shoot back…a little. Different cannons can reach you at any given point in the ride, so it’s an adventure. Plus, watching everyone get drenched is almost as fun as riding.

We definitely got soaked on the ride, but it was a beautiful sunny day so we weren’t too cold. Plus if drip drying isn’t up your alley there is a small drying station with heaters near the exit of the ride. The location is also what’s great about this ride. Its right near the Farmers Market and a brand new Johnny Rockets (shakes and fries). This is a great spot to take a break, grab some food, and laugh hysterically and those crazy enough to ride Buccaneer Battle.

In addition to this fun new ride Great America is making a huge effort to keep the park clean this year. There are new recycling bins and helpful reminders on the garbage cans. I could definitely tell a difference, the park was immaculate. I’m sure you will notice too if you visit.

My friend Eddie and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to ride Buccaneer battle. We both work jobs where we have to pretend to be grown-ups so it was nice to get to be ourselves for a morning! It should be a great season at Great America, and I suggest you go check out Buccaneer battle!

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On one sunny afternoon this week, my wife and I decided to go for a walk along the 5.1 mile loop in the Rollins Savanna Forest Preserve.

We are new to the area and had to look up directions online to the parking lot before heading out. There are 3 different parking areas around the forest preserve, but be careful to verify that the directions you have leave you at a parking lot rather than the end of a dead end road. The lot we found is located at the corner of N. Atkinson & W. Washington in Gurnee (http://www.tinyurl.com/rollins-savanna-parking).

Upon arrival, we learned that the forest preserve is a haven for birds, which creates a very peaceful surrounding. The birds' chirping makes the road noise fade away, and the birds do a good job keeping the insect number down.
Right up front near the parking lot stands a like-new bathroom facility. It is kept in pristine condition with little cracks showing the only signs of age. The building even has a drinking fountain.
After scoping out the facilities, we started our walk along the large, circular, 5.1 mile long, packed dirt path. The path allowed for both a comfortable walking surface and biking path. There are also plenty of benches along the route to take a break and watch the birds.
Since we didn't have enough time, we didn't walk the entire path. Nonetheless, we enjoyed each other's company, watching the birds flitting about, and observing people exercising while others walked their dogs. It felt refreshing to get out into nature. The next time the weather spikes to a hot moment in-between rain, this will be the first place we go.

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This past weekend was the Long Grove Chocolate Festival. I hadn’t been in years; however thought I would run through and see if it looked fun. I ended up calling my husband, he met us and we stayed most of the day and into the evening!

Don’t let the empty field for parking fool you into thinking that no one joined me at the event. It was pleasantly crowded. I say it that way since there were many people there; however still quite a bit of room to move around and enjoy. AND Long Grove did a fantastic job with the shuttle buses so people didn’t have to walk far distances to their cars.

Long Grove is absolutely beautiful this time of year. The tulips were in FULL bloom; simply breathtaking. I saw quite a few photographers (amateur and professional) snapping photos of the colorful blooms.

The streets were lined with cars right up to the main entrance and then, it turned into outdoor tents with yummy treats to sample! There were too many tasty items to document here; however here’s a few to tickle your taste buds…chocolate dipped strawberries, melted chocolate dripped over popcorn (for the salty and sweet lovers), chocolate donuts and dipping sauces. I felt like Augustus Gloop from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory; I wanted to dive into the chocolate wherever I could!


And then, if you thought that chocolate wasn’t enough for you (huh? I don’t get that), there was live entertainment throughout the day in three different locations in the village. The variety of music was incredible! Speaking of variety, there was quite a bit of it in food and beverages too. From Bob Chinn’s garlic shrimp and Mai Tais to Jamba Juice fruit smoothies to carnival style yummy lemonade, corn dogs, cheddars curds and corn on the cob! I found myself grazing the whole day and it was a blast!

Now on to the kid’s activities…there were so many things for the younger set to get excited about; a fantastic balloon artist, face painting, a magician, a snow cone station (wish I had that when I was little), train rides, merry-go-round and even pony rides. I think Maggie was in heaven!




This was an event for all ages. People were out enjoying the weather and enjoying the well-planned event. I decided to mark my calendar with the rest of the festivals coming up: Strawberry Fest June 26-27-28, Greek Days August 1-2, Wine Dine & Art Fest August 15-16, Irish Days September 5-6-7, Apple Fest October 2-3-4 and the holiday festivities between November 15 – January 1, 2010. Worth it…very worth it!

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