Free Wine and Albino Howler Monkeys…

Around Bucktown:

If you’re looking for some local theater flavor, consider checking out Collaboraction; a Chicago-based arts organization currently running the Sketchbook festival – housed at the Flat Iron Arts Building, 1579 N. Milwaukee, just steps from the Damen Blue Line station.

 Red and White, a neighborhood wine shop, has free weekly wine tastings, so if you’re on the way to the train and need an air conditioning break, consider stopping in!  Saturdays from 2-5pm (anyone who reads Food & Wine Magazine may recognize them from this article)

Check out local bar The Mutiny for local music in a local dive bar here in the neighborhood…who knows, you may run into one of our guests watching their son perform!  What it lacks in charm it makes up for in cheap beer and live music most nights.


Around Chicago: 
    West Fest takes place this weekend, put on by the West Town chamber of commerce, and main stage music organized by renowned local music venue the Empty Bottle.  No cover bands at this festival!  It’s all about the upcoming and original talent.  Headliners include the Black Lips and Mates of State.  West Fest also has a rare all-DJ stage.  For a full lineup of vendor and performers head on over to the official website.

For more festivals taking place this weekend, head over the the Chicagoist for a more complete list.

Around Ray’s B&B:

It’s HOT here in Chicago.  We tried frying an egg on the street outside, it was unsuccessful, making us think that the whole concept might be a ruse – if you can’t fry an egg outside today it simply just cannot be done…
ever.  We have decided this picture must be fake.  However, Bill Nye the science guy, (personal hero to millions, and at least one Ray’s employee), claims that it can be done, though it takes about 20 minutes.  Unfortunately our experiment was run over by a car approximately 12 minutes to soon to tell.

If you’re considering staying with us in the hot summer months we DO have A/C throughout the house, but if you’re extra sensitive to heat, try out one of our garden level rooms, the East or West room; they stay extra cool in the summer and extra cozy warm in the winter!

Rocky’s Ringside Ramble (the good cat): It’s hot. I’m really wishing I had a Polar Bear’s coloring, instead of an ink blot’s.
Maggie’s Rant (the psycho cat):  As usual, everyone bugs me, so just leave me the hell alone.

(The World Revolves…) Around Ray:

Safely returned from Costa Rica, Ray has come back tanned and accomplished, as one of the few lucky ducks to capture this rare albino howler monkey in the wild. He claims he’s never seen a birding guide so excited.

We celebrated his return / a Ray’s employee birthday with a night out at Coast, our favorite sushi bar, only about 2 blocks from the B&B, so you can easily roll home after stuffing yourself to the max….which we most certainly did.  It’s BYOB so it keeps the cost down, and the sushi is excellent! You could say that we are in a Coast rut, we should probably branch out for company outings but it’s hard to tear ourselves away from such a solid choice.

We’re thinking outside the box for the next birthday. Maybe Whirlyball? Who can say no to a cross between lacrosse, hockey, and basketball, on bumper cars?