I took advantage of my last day with a car and drove north to places that would be difficult to reach without one. First stop was Walker Bros. The Original Pancake House, the most famous link in the 180 store chain.
It’s easy to believe this is the most popular; the sprawling place was packed at 9AM on a Tuesday. The menu is extensive and well designed, and has actually been recognized by James Beard. I had an omelet which, with the right ingredients, could have been like one of Harold’s. The pancakes that came with it were definitely the star of the show. They sell their famous apple pancake (which looks more like an exploded fritter) frozen, to go, so I brought one home for Dani.
After breakfast I drove north past the Skokie Lagoons, a pretty series of linked ponds, to Glencoe, a hilly suburb of estate homes and country clubs. Then back down through Winnetka, another neatly kept township, stopping at Wilmette Village on my way home to take photos of some of the quaint shops. This whole area north of Evanston is more suburban, but also more upscale, interspersed with little shopping districts. All the serious businesses such as supermarkets are on Green Bay Drive, the road that parallels the Metra tracks in a straight line from here to Wisconsin.
Back in town, I returned the rental car and walked home.
In the afternoon, while Dani’s tutor was here, I walked down to Main Street to work off the apple pancake, and had a coffee at The Brothers K, which was unremarkable.