May 22nd, Wednesday was our last full day in Illinois.
"Hey," said Tif. "We didn't do our traditional Endless Soup, Salad and Breadsticks luncheon!"
I'd forgotten about that. In the past, Art would go and meet with his EPA buddies and Tif and I would go to the Olive Garden and have their Endless Soup, Salad and Breadsticks meal.
Sadly Art's friends have passed away, so we decided to go and enjoy our last lunch together. And it was great. The fun thing about this day was that everywhere we went servers and workers would spend time chatting happily with us. This happens a lot in Hawaii, but not as much in Chicago.
Here at Olive Garden, the hostess spent a lot of time talking with us when she noticed that Tif was left handed and therefore had to sit on my left side. She has a teenage son who is also left handed. And she was all smiles and waving at us when we left.
When we stopped at a supermarket after that, the attendant at the self checkout noticed we were buying a tin of anchovies and regaled us with what she likes to do with them.
The next stop was at a candy shop where we were purchasing something to thank our friend, Dave for driving us to and from the airport. The attendant there was also very friendly, telling us about the chocolate fountain that is used to pour chocolate syrup over their gelato.
It made our last day in Illinois a happy one.
On the way home we saw that people had wrapped their young trees with netting to prevent cicadas from making slits in the branches to lay their eggs.
The eggs hatch in 6 to 7 weeks and the nymphs fall to the ground and into the soil. They then spend their long cycle feeding off sap from the tree roots and emerging when the time is right to spend about a month above ground to mate and start the cycle all over again.
And yes... more rabbits.
.jpg)
I told KC it would be a fun thing if she brought my week-and-a-half rose in to dip in the liquid nitrogen.
"But if you do," I said. "Would you take a photo of it for my blog?"
KC smiled.
I assume you left the rose behind as you headed back to Hawaii. I hope to posting whenever I can on our trip to Switzerland that starts very soon.
ReplyDeleteYOU HAD A GOOD LAST DAY, AND THE ROSE PHOTO IS ALSO GOOD. (capslock, sorry)
ReplyDeleteLovely photo of the rose
ReplyDeleteI haven't been to Olive Garden in a very long time.
ReplyDeleteIt has been so fun to follow you on the trip.
ReplyDeleteI used to love those OG breadsticks! I could live off those. :) It's great when people are friendly. Washingtonians don't have that reputation but some of us are, especially outside of Seattle.
ReplyDeleteFun times in Chicago. I notice that the weather reports you give are the same ones I get from Chicago.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this delightful day with us. Kay! Aloha from townside
ReplyDeleteOlive Garden's endless soup and salad lunch is one of my favorites. You're right though, one doesn't usually expect to find such friendliness from strangers in Chicago. Being a native, I know.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it wonderful when you have nice and friendly people wherever you go? I am watching the Trial of the Chicago 7 and thoroughly enjoying it. I think of you and family. How was it for you during that time? "The world is watching..."
ReplyDeleteI was actually a freshman at UH at that time so it actually didn't impact me a whole lot. I'll want to watch the show now that you've mentioned it. I believe it was Mayor Daly at the time. He kind of ruled with an iron fist is what I remember.
DeleteWill there be another rose pic?
ReplyDeleteI find that a lot of servers and clerks are friendly when you are. Part of it might be the turnover now due to COVID. Many are new to the job and not as formal.
OOh! I hope that she will!
ReplyDeleteAll the Olive Gardens near me closed abruptly. Well, the rose is well. Looking forward to KC's picture.
ReplyDeleteI am glad we don't need to deal with cicadas. That rose is still beautiful, Kay. It looks like magic.
ReplyDeleteQuite a successful day!
ReplyDeleteIt has been at least 2 years since I went to Olive Garden. I was very disappointed as I was with Red Lobster recently.
ReplyDeleteWhen we had our last bumper brood here 10 years ago, our fruit trees were newly planted and the cicadas didn't cause them any damage. Mainly the cicadas were on the 100+ year old oak tree out front because their larvae were underneath it's canopy. The fruit trees weren't around here 17 years prior so there is no brood under their small canopy.
ReplyDelete"It made our last day in Illinois a happy one."
ReplyDeleteThat is SO good :)
All the best Jan
Oh ma gosh. Those cicadas!
ReplyDelete