Saturday Morning Cartoons #24

Sw(eat) home Chicago

Good morning, fam!

Last weekend in Chicago was a whirlwind of eating, drinking, and laughing with friends. What more could you ask for?

In true 30’s fashioned, ya boi had a bottle of Pepto on hand at all times and I don’t think I’ll travel without one ever again.

While I go stock up on some more, check out this week’s recs.

Crack open those Goosebumps books, toast up some Pizza Rolls, and let’s get into it!

Here’s what I have for you this morning:

1. After months and months of waiting, God of War Ragnarök finally came out on PS5 and it’s even better than the first. Imagine Cormac McCarthy’s The Road…if it was based on Norse mythology and set in ancient Scandinavia…and the father-son duo were actually gods. Yeah, the storytelling in this game is on point.
   
   

2. It’s been a bitter-sweet week considering I watched the Atlanta series finale. It was weird, surreal, and the perfect ending to one of the funniest and most poignant shows out there right now. Props to Donald Glover and the entire cast for making this show what it was.
   
   

3. Speaking of bitter-sweet, we saw Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in theaters and it was a straight up gut punch. I was curious to see how they were going to handle the passing of Chadwick Boseman, but Ryan Coogler did one helluva job. It continued the amazing world building from the first while giving us some awesome Easter eggs from the comics.
   
   

4. For movie night, we couldn’t resist all the hype and controversy around Don’t Worry Darling but after a watching it, I think I’d rather stick with all of the press tour drama recaps. Florence Pugh did the damn thing, but her performance was really the only redeeming quality of the movie.
   
   

5. And now to all of our Chicago shenanigans! On the way there, we stopped by Wally’s for the first time and I was shocked. I mean, how could you not like a gas station with a wall filled with beef jerky?!
   
   

6. Once we got to our hotel, changed, and pre-gamed a little, we made our way to James Acaster show Heckler’s Welcome at the Athenaeum. I don’t remember the last time I laughed so hard while also thinking, “Damn, I couldn’t relate more.” If you’ve never seen any of his stuff, start with this.
   
   

7. The next day, we bundled up and ate our way around Chicago. During our two-hour wait for lunch, we popped into Nando’s for the first time for a little appetizer and split 1/2 a chicken. Damn - I didn’t know what PERi-PERi chicken was before but now, I’ll never forget. It was easily some of the best chicken I’ve had from a fast-casual restaurant.
   
   

8. Once our two-hour wait was over, we finally got to eat at Au Cheval, which Bon Appetit named “best burger in America” back in 2012. Not only was the burger fire - we also tried the roasted marrow bones, crispy fries, and foie gras. Oh, and the bourbon espresso martinis weren’t bad either (Thanks for the sip, Paul!)
   
   

9. After going on the Chicago River Boat Architecture Tour and taking at breather back at the hotel, we got all fancy and hit up The Duck Inn for dinner. I kicked things off with a Zen by the Sword (Shōchū and a few sakes served in a wooden box?!) and then got the Scallops and Pork Belly. We all capped things off with the best Sweet Corn Cake I’ve ever had. Seriously. This dessert was insane.
   
   

10. We ended the night by hopping around to a few cocktail bars and ended up at The Dandy Crown where I sipped on their Crockpot Cocktail (a rye whiskey blend, Metaxa, Falernum, lemon, and bitters). It definitely helped since I may have gotten a teeny bit sick after not bundling up enough during our river boat tour. Whoopsies!
    
    

You made it to the end! As a bonus, I’ll leave you with this.

Cheers,
Billy