Sunday was one of those insanely gorgeous days that make you not only believe in global warming but also rejoice in it. So I felt justified in just walking around Lakeview until my legs hurt and then promptly taking a nap that lasted most of the afternoon. Therefore I didn't have time for any new neighborhood exploration.
However luckily on Monday, greenhouse gases were still blissfully trapping unseasonably warm UV rays in Chicago and I was able to stroll through Old Town, a neighborhood with such a cliched history I almost didn't have to check wikipedia.
Old Town is sandwiched inbetween the yuppy grey stones of Lincoln Park and the richy condos of the Near North. (In case it isn't clear, i use yuppy as a semi-positive term and have no problem admitting i would someday like to claim yuppyhood myself.)
Like many other currently gentrified yuppy hoods, Old Town was first filled with European immigrants, then with vagabond artists and finally with the ever coveted yuppy cohort. And it shows. The streets are cleaned, the store fronts unseasonably adorable and there are large iron wrought gates welcoming you to Old Town. It's cute and welcoming and perfect for a faux spring day.
My exploring companions and i were not just causually strolling Old Town. We came with a mission of finding The Fudge Pot and relishing some high caloric chocolate goodness. We found it and all it's chocolate glory. With chocolate of every shade, shape and smell imaginable you can't go wrong at The Fudge Pot. Unfortunetly there was also a very tempting Cold Stone across the street and as the temps had topped 60 that day we decided to indulge in some chain store goodness.
If eating fattening fudge wasn't indulgent enough, eating corporate fudge brownie ice cream in the middle of a beautiful neighborhood was basically like dessert sex, sinful and totally worth it.
Unfortunetly, the weather gods punished us for dessert transgressions with a down pour of cold winter rain as soon as we headed home. Luckily, as big city girls we hailed a wet-dog smelling cab for the mile treck home.
Old Town maybe a bit a gentrified indulgence but it is totally worth it.
Additional post-it 3/07: On Round 2 to Old Town, we did not make the same rookie chain-store indulgence mistake. When we saw a bridal party walking out of the Fudge Pot licking chocolate covered bananas, we knew we needed to check the chocolate shop out ourselves. We indulged in a self created sampling of goodies including a marshmallow puff, a dark chocolate orange peel and some chocolate peanut butter fudge. It was all sinfully perfect and totally worth the XXX calories we consumed. For future reference, in addition to turtle clusters, chocolate covered strawberries and truffles, the Fudge Pot also has “naughty” chocolate molds that are not on display but I have a creative enough mind to know they are chocolate perfection.
No comments:
Post a Comment