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Plus, Chicago lit up the sky for the unofficial start to summer fun
Chicago Lets Its Colors Burst
Barb and I are about a month from the 13th anniversary of our move to Chicago. We stumbled on the apartment where we’ve lived since and grabbed it in part because of our amazing panaromic view facing south from the Lakeview neighborhood.
Among the other highlights, we have a straight-on view of Navy Pier. We arrived at our new home on a Wednesday, not knowing that there were fireworks shows at the Pier every Wednesday and Saturday from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend. We were sitting just staring out the big windows at our skyline view when, boom, fireworks!
I turned to Barb, who grew up just south of Chicago, and deadpanned, “Chicago really knows how to welcome you!”
It’s a fond memory, so there was a little nostalgia in watching the first fireworks of the 2024 season on Saturday (May 24). These photos are not bad for being taken four miles away.
Here’s to a summer of color and light.
Alpenhorn of Plenty
Mayfestivary is an annual event staged by two neighboring craft breweries — Begyle Brewing (established 2012) and Dovetail Brewing (2016) — that anchor the south end of the north-central Chicago cluster of adult beverage makers that has become known as Malt Row.
It isn’t surprising that this event has a pronounced German accent. Germans were the first major immigrant group to settle in Chicago, not long after the city was founded in 1837, and they were the first to establish our beer culture. This tradition appeared to be fading away until Dovetail, among others, led the way in reviving (quite excellently) several traditional German styles here.
So there was no coincidence that the lead act on Saturday’s main stage was Alpine Thunder, a local group that for a set turned the plaza between the two breweries into a pop-up biergarten party of middle European folk, dance and drinking songs.
It was also likely was the only place in Chicago on Saturday where one could witness the playing of the giant Alpenhorns in the photo top above. The musicians played a couple of tunes, then coaxed the attendees into joining them in the “Ricola” chant from the Switzerland-based cough drop company’s Alpenhorn-centric TV ads.
My only disappointment with the rollicking Alpine Thunder set is that I didn’t hear a reprise of the group’s performance of John Denver’s “Country Roads” in both German and English, a highlight of last year’s Mayfestiversary. But Tuba Force, the brass-playing combo who performed on a smaller stage, made up for that by playing an eclectic set that started with J. Geils Band’s 1981 hit “My Angel is a Centerfold.”
Even the four-legged creatures in attendance were enjoying the day out.
The event had multiple food trucks and stands with a variety of food options. But getting my lunch from Soul & Smoke, the Evanston-based BBQ restaurants, was a no-brainer. I’ve come to know and admire the married chef-owners D’Andre Carter and Heather Bublick both for their delicious food and their participation in Chicago Chefs Cook philanthropic events.
I paired my saucy brisket sandwich with a Rauch smoked beer that is one of my Dovetail favorites. And I took a break from the sun in the barrel-aging room on Dovetail’s second floor.
I wrote my first story about Begyle back in 2012, when the brewery was still tiny. This is their When Tangerines Fly, and it is one of the tastiest fruited sour beers you’ll find.
To sum it up, Mayfestiversary was Chicago through and through… right down to the elevated train passing intermittently right behind the main stage.
Click below for all details and free registration.
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