A Day Out in Logan Square

September 3, 2023

Today, Liz and I had a plan to just go out and about. To get out of the house some, and to just make a day of being “out” – something we don’t really do much of.

We decided to trek out to Logan Square, and start the day with a breakfast at Lula Cafe. We broke Keto (just a little bit) with our meal, but I’m happy to report that outside of a small blueberry cinnamon roll… I was good for the rest of the day.

After breakfast, we walked over to the Logan Square Farmers Market.

We’ve been here recently (this year), but today was the first time we saw that they blocked the entire Boulevard off.

Even though it’s been years since we’ve lived here, I still abhor this intersection. Puzzler that it is.

Lots of folks out and about. Tried to get a photo of a guy who had a small dog in his backpack, but lost him in the crowd.

A lot more vendors than I remember.

Tons of produce, fresh veggies.

Though we brought a cooler, we didn’t end up getting too much – a few small veggies that would keep in the car. Today was a hot day, and we expected to be out for a few hours.

I saw a lot of sweets and pastries, and was able to keep myself in check. Happy I’m being a lot more intentional about when I want to splurge, and to break from Keto.

Out along the Boulevard. I think the last time I walked down the actual boulevard itself was more than a decade ago, during the blizzard of 2011.

Walking back to the car, I spotted this phenomenal sign outside Logan Vegan.

Believe it or not, Liz looked up a few cheese shops, as she’s been literally obsessed with the Lemon Zest Stilton we tasted, last month. She was, as the say goes, on the hunt. First stop: Beautiful Rind.

An incredibly lovely interior, and tons of seating (which was surprising to me). Given the heat, I could have been tempted to sit here and have a nice, chilled glass of white wine.

Alas, no dessert cheeses here. Swing and a miss.

We stopped in to Soutache, a place Liz has been going to for years (following them, from a prior location). The woman who was working remembers Liz to this day, and I met her for the first time today. Apparently, Liz and the woman (the owner) have known one another before our wedding.

Next door, at Knit 1.

There’s one chair by the front door. A spot clearly marked out for me, as I was waiting.

Liz found a yarn that seems pretty suited to me.

We ended our day out with a visit to Koval Distillery.

A very nice looking interior, with tons of space to sit with friends.

The last time we were here was many years ago, and we just saw the distillery side of the building. Which brings up an interesting topic – Liz was convinced that we were here previously, and I was convinced that Koval had moved. We both have different memories of the space, and weren’t sure if this section was new, renovated/expanded, or just something we never saw the last time we were here.

I know the strollers are just for convenience, but seeing them at a distillery did make me chuckle. My thought was “Wow, the marketing department is super aggressive here.”

A few drams, at the end of a day out and about.

Epilog: I asked the server about the distillery location. And told him I remember a different building, but my wife remembered the street. And he told me: “You’re both right.”

Turns out, Koval was located on the same street, but a block or two south of the current location. So they did move, but just slightly. It was pretty funny to find out that Liz and I, with our different assessments of the building, were ultimately both correct.