I live about 30 minutes SW of Northbrook so limited in help but here’s a few:

Prairie Grass Cafe – American/fine dining. Very, very good food and cocktail/wine menu.

Max and Benny’s – old school Jewish delicatessen. Great corned beef, pastrami, sandwiches and deli style sides.

Francesca’s North – Chicago area Italian restaurant chain with several locations. Haven’t been to this one but have been to several others. All have been good.

I have had most all of the higher end/harder to find bourbons and no doubt, all of the Buffalo Trace bourbons (Weller lineup, Pappy, ER, Stagg, Blanton’s) are all very good, some great. For an everyday sipper, you can’t beat IMO, Heaven Hill, which was mentioned somewhere above. $37 everyday at my local Costco and no more than $49 at most liquor stores/grocers.

Jim Beam Black (used to be called 7 yr old) is also very good for the money, but I prefer that in a cocktail vs. neat or on ice.

One other if you can find it is Elijah Craig Toasted Barrel. Might be harder to come by, but Costco also recently had it in for $45. That’s fantastic. I grabbed several bottles.

Someone also mentioned checking what is on the shelves in bars. Heck, two bars near my cabin in Northern WI I have seen Pappy 15 yr old and Weller Antique on the shelf at random times. I’ve never asked what they charge a pour, but every time I’m in there, the bottle is drained a little more or gone. So somebody’s drinking it.

Good luck! Finding stuff that you really like at a decent price is as fun as finding these secondary market labels at regular retail.

Thanks for that insightful recap Pitter Patter. You’re obviously a Bears fan and know of which you speak.

Caleb definitely is looking like everything as advertised and then some, and we’re just scratching the surface. That’s because, only the Bears would try to take a talent like him and make him their “system” guy, vs. playing to his talents. Almost did that with Shane Waldron til we came to our senses and canned him. I like the new OC, Thomas Brown and how he’s played to Caleb’s strengths and let him play much freer these last two games against the Packers and Vikes. But we need to get rid of Eberflus. Hopefully tomorrow (assuming Lions beat us), and let Brown be the HC for rest of season as a try out. Or hire an offensive minded HC for next season who can work closely with Caleb and bring him along, work through the inevitable rookie/year 2 mistakes and maximize his potential long term.

But…we are the Bears. We’ll f@#$ it up somehow!

I scuffed up a new Mercury cowling a few years back when I forgot to remove the ski pole before trimming the motor up (what an idiot). Took the cowling to a friend’s body shop and he had it wet sanded, buffed up and looking like new in 20 minutes. I’d start there before trying to paint it. Good luck.

Fiber optic cable just came available up at our cabin in the UP. It’s fantastic. Super fast. As good if not better than our Comcast service outside of Chicago.