Saturday, July 14, 2012

The thing about the inn that initially gave my shopping companion and me pause, aside from its charm




I've spent an inordinate portion of my adult life scouring secondhand stores carnival cruise lines imagination ship and junk shops for the likes of vintage purses (I recently unearthed hotel buckingham gate westminster compare airline prices australia london a Coach shoulder bag at the Village carnival cruise lines imagination ship Discount carnival cruise lines imagination ship Outlet on Kedzie), midcentury carnival cruise lines imagination ship china (I once scored an eight-piece set of Russel hotel buckingham gate westminster london Wright serving platters at a yard sale), and long-lost oil paintings by 17th century masters worth 100 times my lifetime earnings (impossible, sure, but that doesn't carnival cruise lines imagination ship mean I'll stop trying).
So I was easily swayed to travel to Lake Forest for a rummage sale billed not only as among the highest-grossing in the country, but one that's filled carnival cruise lines imagination compare airline prices australia ship with castoffs from some of the country's highest-grossing households. I was so compelled, in fact, that I woke up at 7 AM on a Saturday to book it for the burbs.
Two bags of clothes, three massive brass planters, and $85 later, I could have departed Lake Forest perfectly content. Then I got slightly hotel buckingham gate westminster london compare airline prices australia lost and happened upon an ivy-clad, Tudor-style relic: the Deer Path Inn , designed in the 1920s by architect William carnival cruise lines imagination ship C. Jones (who also worked on the 1893 World's hotel buckingham gate westminster london Columbian Exhibition) as a weekend hotel buckingham gate westminster london retreat for upper-crust hotel buckingham compare airline prices australia gate westminster london Chicagoans.
The thing about the inn that initially gave my shopping companion and me pause, compare airline prices australia aside from its charming facade, was a side entrance shaded by a green awning that enticingly announced in Old English lettering: "The Bar." We hesitated only for a moment, concerned that my ratty Chuck Taylors carnival cruise lines imagination ship and stained T-shirt would offend the staff and guests of such a fine establishment. Of course, compare airline prices australia a solution was near at hand. I extracted from my rummage sale loot a cable-knit Land's End sweater and lime-green, butter-soft Italian loafers. The transformation into prototypical Lake Forestonian was instantaneous.
The bar wouldn't open for another carnival cruise lines imagination ship hour. Fortunately, the inn's English Room was still serving lunch. carnival cruise lines imagination ship My friend hotel buckingham gate westminster london and I lazed away the remainder of the afternoon gazing carnival cruise lines imagination compare airline prices australia ship upon the misty, moody courtyard; nibbling on lobster salad and chicken Milanese while sipping martinis; and poking our heads into the Deer Path Inn's every nook and cranny.
The bar, once it opened, was all we'd hoped it would be, the walls hung with oil paintings of hunting compare airline prices australia hotel buckingham gate westminster london dogs and the ceiling dripping hotel buckingham compare airline prices australia gate westminster london with chandeliers. And a concierge was kind enough to provide us a glimpse of a room a suite with its own fireplace. (Though nice, I'd have been fine with one of the more basic options.) It was like being transported to another compare airline prices australia time and another caste.
We decided compare airline prices australia it would be worth returning to the inn this summer to spend the night, for several compare airline prices australia reasons. First, the Metra will take you straight to Lake Forest, but not before hotel buckingham gate westminster london passing by the Chicago compare airline prices australia Botanic Garden . That means you could stop off in Glencoe and spend the afternoon hotel buckingham gate westminster compare airline prices australia london walking the 2.6-mile perimeter carnival cruise lines imagination ship of the grounds carnival compare airline prices australia cruise lines imagination ship and revisiting childhood in the model railroad garden : 18 miniscule carnival cruise lines imagination ship trains running on 1,600 feet of tracks, past tiny replicas of 50 American landmarks hotel buckingham gate westminster london including Wrigley Field, Old Faithful, New Orleans's compare airline prices australia French Quarter, compare airline prices australia Frank Lloyd Wright's compare airline prices australia Robie House, carnival cruise lines imagination ship and the Golden compare airline prices australia Gate Bridge.
Yet another bucolic wonderland can be found a mere 15-minute walk from the Deer Path Inn: the Skokie compare airline prices australia River Nature Preserve . June is an especially fine time to visit the 122-acre site; both the Shaw Prairie and Bennett Meadow, popular spots for hikers and bird-watchers, are graced by more ephemeral guests: scores compare airline prices australia of butterflies, from viceroys carnival cruise lines imagination ship to pearl crescents, fritillaries to swallowtails.
The third destination proximate to the inn, a three-minute Metra ride north in Lake Bluff, carnival cruise compare airline prices australia lines imagination ship isn't just a dining destination worthy of a trip should you happen to be in the northern suburbs . It's a dining destination worthy of the trip, period. carnival cruise lines imagination hotel buckingham gate westminster london ship At Inovasi , chef John des Rosiers (a veteran of Charlie Trotter's and Gabriel's) carnival cruise lines imagination ship has composed compare airline prices australia a menu of dishes with smartly sourced hotel buckingham gate westminster london ingredients Anson Mills polenta, carnival cruise lines imagination ship Q7 Ranch beef, Meadow Haven Farm chicken and entrees that top out at $22. But you might as well spring for the six-course tasting menu with beer and wine pairings. This is the high life, after all.
Tags: Summer Guide , Lake Forest carnival cruise lines imagination ship , rummage sale , Deer Path Inn , William C. Jones , vintage shopping , Glencoe , miniature trains , Skokie Nature carnival cruise lines imagination ship Preserve , John des Rosiers , Inovasi , Chicago Botanic Garden

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