Last Week: NIU Wins MAC Championship, Sat. Afternoon Band, Stucky's, Karaoke, Bears Lose...Again, Another Legion

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 4

Watched NIU defeat Kent State for the MAC Championship game, one of the rare times Northern actually dominated an opponent.  (And earlier this season Kent State had just barely beaten us.)  Sadly, I couldn't get it on the radio as I enjoy listening to Bill Baker call the Huskies as he's been doing it since the 1980s.  He IS the "Voice" of the Huskies.

Went to the Fox Lake American Legion for their monthly first Saturday afternoon band and saw an excellent two-piece group but can't remember their name.

Then to Stucky's in Johnsburg for dinner, $1 draft pints and karaoke.  A whole bunch of Sunnysiders came in.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 5

Watched and listened to the Bears lose another game at home (now 4-8).  I always enjoy listening to the Bear announcers on the radio as they are real fans.

Then to the McHenry American Legion for the $2.50 Adequate Bloody Marys and $1 off Happy Hour prices.

--RoadDog

Around Here: Fish Fry, Two Legions, Afternoon Music Drink Specials and Bloody Marys

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 5

We went to Cuda's and met Glen, Barb, Kevin and Kelly and had that great fish fry.  Afterwards we adjourned for cocktails and 50-50 at the Fox Lake American Legion.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 6

Started taking down Halloween decorations.  Liz and I met Glen and Barb at the Fox Lake American Legion that afternoon to enjoy the sounds of John Polito playing in the bar area.  Sure enjoy having music during a Saturday afternoon in November.

Afterwards, we met Kevin and Kelly at Stucky's in Johnsburg for the salisbury steak special and all those wonderful $1 draft pints.  We, however, left before karaoke as we had had enough to drink by then.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 7

I was finally able to get to my huge burn pile and burn it.

We went to the McHenry American Legion for those great "Adequate" $2.50 Bloody Marys and watched the Packers lose, but were impressed with their backup quarterback, who hopefully will be taking over next year.

Having Fun Around Here.  --RoadDog

Good Times Around Here, August 1-- Part 3: Summer of 1971, PLAV's Street Party, Brats, Burgers, Beer and a Band

SUNDAY, AUGUST 1

The usual Sunday morning stuff.  Bob Stroud played part 3 of his annual Rock and Roll Roots to the Summer of 1971, fifty years ago.  Of course, I had to record it.  You can see what he played in the last several posts.  He'll have a part 4 on Sunday, September 5 from 9 am to noon CDST on WDRV. This was a fun college year for me, spent between NIU and UGA.

Watered and watered and watered.  We could sure use some rain.

I had planned to go to the McHenry VFW to watch their afternoon band and then go to the McHenry American Legion.  But Liz said she thought she had seen something from the PLAV (Polish Legion of American Veterans) in McHenry about their annual summer street party.

There was no question where I wanted to go when  I got that bit of information.  Get me to the PLAV ASAP.

She was right.  Of course, we didn't have it last year because of you-know-what, so I was really looking forward to it and would not have been very happy to miss it.  I'm so glad Liz told me about it.

For $15, I got auce and aycd brats, burgers, side salads, corn on the cob and draft beer.  Now, that is what I call a deal.  Plus, we had a great country band playing and karaoke in between.  And the weather was hot, but breezy and felt fine under the tent.

Afterwards, to the McHenry Legion for an adequate $2.50 Bloody Mary.

A Real Good Time.  Thanks PLAV.  --RoadDog

LAWS OF THE UNIVERSE, WARM WATER THEOREM:  When the body is fully immersed in water, the telephone rings.  And, I have an ADDENDUM:  Just as soon as you fall asleep for your nap, the phone doth ring.

About This Last Weekend-- Part 3: Too Many Sliders, Bars, $1 Beers, Bands and Adequate Bloody Marys

SATURDAY, JULY 24

We went to Stucky's in Johnsburg, but didn't have anything to eat because of too many White Castle Sliders earlier in the day, but did enjoy their $1 draft pints.

SUNDAY, JULY 25

I ended up recording much of Bob Stroud's Rock and Roll Roots on a 90-minute cassette (that's right, CASSETTES) because he was Root Saluting Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Cosmo's Factory" album, which was released 51 years ago this week in 1970.  And, of course, CCR is my favorite band, the only one I would buy their new albums the day they came out.  Thanks, for making my day, Bob.

Then, Liz and I went to Stucky's where they were having a solo performer playing outside on their deck.  He was good, though took way too long of a break.  But, when he played "The Rodeo Song" and "The I-95 Song" the place went crazy.

Then, we went to the McHenry American Legion for those great "Adequate" $2.50 Bloody Marys and they had a duo playing.

Like I Said, Good Times.  --RoadDog

LAWS OF THE UNIVERSE:  LAW OF RANDOM NUMBERS:  If you dial a wrong number, you never get a busy signal and someone ALWAYs answers.  (And, I'd like to add this:  If you redial that number to make sure you didn't misdial it, you will get the same number and a somewhat madder person on the other end.)

Last Weekend Not As Planned-- Part 2: No 'Drunk in the Park' or 'Christmas in July', But the Legion and Stucky's. No Parade, But Legion and Sunnyside

Last Saturday offered an array of options.  Number one was a trip to "Drunk in the Park" in the afternoon at the McHenry Fiesta Days where they block off River Side Street and have bands and the bars offer beer which you can drink on the street.  Always a real fun time.  Then, we were going to go to Sunnyside in Johnsburg for their Christmas in July Golf Cart Parade, party and band outside.

Sunday was to be  the huge McHenry Fiesta Days parade at one, a band at the VFW at 3 and a stop at the McHenry American Legion afterwards for their "Adequate" $2.50 Bloody Marys.  Either this or the Antioch Taste of Summer festival and a band outside in the afternoon.

But, things sure didn't work out as planned.

STAURDAY, JULY 17

There was no "Drunk in the Park" in McHenry.  And, we weren't the only disappointed people there.  We ended up in the American Legion where we drowned our sorrows.  

We went over to Sunnyside Tavern, but there were no parking places to be had, so went to nearby Stucky's to wait and see if there were any openings at Sunnyside, but enjoyed the $1 pints and then went home.

SUNDAY, JULY 18

Sunday, the plan was to see the McHenry Fiesta Days parade, but we were too late to get to it.  Ended up back at the Legion, enjoyed the Bloody Marys and Happy Hour prices.  They had a karaoke guy there and had fun with that.

Stopped at Sunnyside on the way back home.

--RoadFun

Fish Fry, '85 Firebird, Out on the Chain, Stucky's & the Legion

This past weekend was another one of those great times out here in northeast Illinois in the famed Chain of Lakes.

FRIDAY, June 18

We finally had some much-needed rain all morning.  We met a group of friends at Stucky's in Johnsburg for their great Fish Fry.  I just love a good Friday night fish fry.

SATURDAY, June 19

The big news is that Vince came over and installed a new starter in my '85 Firebird and it now runs!!!  He had it all winter and it is fixed up as good as new, so there will be some good times in it this summer.  We've had it since it was new.

During the afternoon, we went over to Rosie's Italian Eatery on Grasslake, one of the Chain of Lakes, to see a band that was playing on their deck.  Unfortunately, the place was packed so we didn't even go in.  Since we were already over in that area, we decided to check out the Sunset Grille where we found a duo playing outside and a place to sit so ended up there.

Nothing like ice cold beer, the sun, a band and sitting outside here in the Chain of Lakes, especially with everything opening up again after you-know-what.

Afterwards, a group of us went back to Stucky's to get a bite to eat and enjoy their $1 draft beers.

SUNDAY, June 20

Bob Stroud hosted his annual Rock and Roll Roots Salute to Summer, so that was a good way to welcome the season.

In the afternoon, we went over to the McHenry American Legion and enjoyed their "adequate" $2.50 Bloody Marys and an assortment of beer.

Like I Said, Good Times in the Area.  It's Good to be Back!!  --RoadFun

Back to the Good Ol' Days Last Weekend

This past weekend was more like any summer weekend prior to 2020 around here.  

FRIDAY, JUNE 4

Met friends at Cuda's on Grasslake Road and had their wonderful fish fry.  Love those Midwest fish fries.  All-you-can-eat for $9.99.

Then we decided to check out a bar we hadn't been to in a long time, Lake View on the west shore of Grasslake.  It was Jackson Bay for a long time (I even deejayed there quite often).  It was still open and great timing as they had $1 draft pints.  I don't believe there is a better place to view the Chain of Lakes than from their deck.

SATURDAY, JUNE 5

Dennis and Vince came over to get my '85 Firebird running.  What was to be a simple choke replacement proved to be more than that.  This past winter, I had them redo the interior and exterior of it.  It looks great right now, just doesn't run.

We went to Stucky's in Johnsburg to play live trivia, but they didn't have it, but, just the same, we enjoyed the $1 draft beers.

SUNDAY, JUNE 6 

Of course, in the morning, I recorded Bob Stroud's Salute to the Summer of 1971 where he played the songs on the radio and in our record collections on June 6, 1971.  This is an annual summer event for me.  Then we went to the McHenry American Legion for Bloody Marys and then to the Polish Legion (PLAV) for their street party honoring a past commander who died over this past winter.

For $10 we got all we could eat and drink along with a band and karaoke.

As I used to say, Good Times in the Area.

Like the Old Days Again.  --RoadDog

Still Got Our CB&C for St. Patrick's-- Part 3: St. Patrick's Then the News

Corned Beef & Cabbage

SUNDAY, MARCH 15

First, we went to the McHenry American Legion where Mark made up one of his famous Bloody Marys, and they are only $2.75 on Sundays.  He does a great job and, of course, at that price I'm a fan.

The Legion had Shepherd's Pie for free so we had some of that.  I liked it and Liz surprisingly liked it.  So, we had seconds.

There was a good crowd coming in.  We heard that downtown McHenry had a whole lot of people ambling up and down the streets to all the bars yesterday. Cancel our parade, well, we'll go ahead and have a good time.  It might not be long before we're essentially quarantined at home.  The Virus seems not to have really hit Illinois yet.

While there, we heard that all bars and restaurants in Illinois were to be shut down at the end of business tomorrow and for at least two weeks, maybe more.  Sure was a lot of grumbling and Gov. Toilets would sure not have liked to hear the names applied to him since he was the one who ordered it.

I am figuring Illinois will be hit hard in the next week, so this is a good idea.  One that we will have to accept for public safety.  Believe me, had we had hundreds of cases and a bunch of deaths already in Illinois, we wouldn't have been out the last several days.

Last stop was at Sunnyside Tavern in Johnsburg where the shutdown was also the main topic of conversation.  We now understand that restaurants can still do delivery or pickup outside, but no customers are allowed inside.

The sad thing is that a lot of restaurant people and bartenders will be laid off and many are living paycheck to paycheck.  As people were leaving, everyone was saying goodbye as if it might be a while before we're together again.

This is going to be a rough going.

--RoadAlarmed

TOP TEN COUNTRY SONGS:  "You  Done Tore Out My heart and Stomped That Sucker Flat"

I'd Celebrate That!! Jan. 1 to Jan. 6: Buffet Day Today

JANUARY 1--  Make Those Resolutions If You Haven't Already.   Bloody Mary Day**  A Little Hair of the Dog.   National Hangover Day**

JANUARY 2--  Buffet Day**  I Love buffets!!!

JANUARY 3--  National Write to Congress Day**  Women Rock Day**

JANUARY 4--  Spaghetti Day**   National Trivia Day**  Did somebody say trivia?   Pop Music Chart Day**

JANUARY 5--  Chocolate Covered Cherry Day**  National Bird Day**  We love watching our Lil birdies at the feeders.  Whipped Cream Day**

JANUARY 6--  Bean Day**   Fruitcake Toss Day   Toss 'em this way.  I love fruitcakes.

It Is Time To Stop Making Fun of Fruitcakes!!  --RoadDog

FOOD COMMENTS:  "Health food makes me sick."  Calvin Trillin

Getting Into October-- Part 3: A Perfect Bloody Mary

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 7

Both Bob Stroud on his Rick and Roll Roots (WDRV, 97.1) and Terri Hemmert on her Breakfast With the Beatles (93,1 WXRT) featured John Lennon since his 78th birthday was coming up Tuesday, Oct. 9.

The Bears had a bye today, so drove to Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, to watch the Packer-Lion game.  Always more fun to watch the Pack in Wisconsin.  We found Donovan's Reef to be too crowded, so went to Main Street Tap, also in Twin Lakes.

We have not been there in several years and I was in serious need of a Bloody Mary.  They were the first place I know of in the area to  have premium Bloody Marys and now we have a lot of places featuring mega-Bloody Marys.  They are now $5.50, but come with a shrimp and a giant spear of items.


And, A Chaser.  --RoadDog

4th'en It (4th of July Weekend)-- Part 3: A Parade, a Party, a Band and Another Bar

SATURDAY JULY 1

We drove to twin lakes for their 4th of July parade and watched it from Main Street Tavern.  It was a long one and afterwards had their special $4.50 Bloody Mary in a pint glass, with shrimp and that great spear of all things good.  Like a meal in itself.

Came home and in the afternoon went to John and Sherry's place in Johnsburg, Illinois, for a cookout and party.

After that to the Fox Lake Legion to watch one of our favorite groups, the 3 Aces, playing all that great country and pop music from the 50s and 60s.

We stopped at Sunnyside Tap in Johnsburg on the way home and had another 4th of July party with the regulars.

--RoadDog

Good Times Around Here Last Weekend

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19TH: NTN Farewell Party at Donovan's Reef in Twin Lakes, Wisconsin.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20TH: Saw Richmond-Burton High School defeat Marengo 48-23. It got mighty cold.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21ST: Bought that first HDTV, a 29-inch Vizio. Now to "figger" out how to install it. Hopefully not too hard. Pirates invade Captain's Quarters for Pirate Day on the Chain of Lakes. About 100 dressed and ready to pillage pirates in attendance. Saw the band Hooked on Sonics playing 60s to today's music.

**NIU Huskies win a very close game over Eastern Illinois. (Heard it on the radio.)

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22ND: Bloody Mary at Main Street Tap in Twin Lakes. Last day of NTN at Donovan's. Packers lose, but Bears win!!!!

Good Times Around Here. No boating over the weekend because it was fairly cool. I did do some yardwork, however. --RoadDog

Good Eatin' and Times Around Here: The Mega Mary (As in Bloody)

FRIDAY:  $2 bottles at Dirty Rooster overlooking Grasslake.  $1 drfats at the Legion.


SATURDAY:  Great breakfast skillet at Steak 'N Shake, presentation on Railroads in McHenry County, Vinyl Frontier Record Store in McHenry (bought two CDs) and the new Brad Paisley CD at Best Buy.  You know, the one with "Accidental Racist" that has so many blacks up in arms.  Great books and sports gnomes at Five Below.

Unbelievably good steak dinner at Route 12 Bar and Grill.  For $10 we got an 8-ounce NY Strip, salad and home made mashed red potatoes.

SUNDAY--  Tommy's for the Hawks win.  Route 12 for their $12 Mega Bloody Mary.  I don't usually spend that much for a drink, but made an exception.  It comes in a 28-ounce glass with three shots of vodka.  Then, it is loaded.  You drink it through a hollow Slim Jim.  Then there is a shrimp, two loaded spears of stuff, all sorts of other things and a burger slider and a brat slider.  Lends a new meaning to drinking your lunch.  Watched Cubs blow another one.

Big crowd as they also had a Chain Crawl sign up.


MONDAY--  $6 burrito meal at Antonio's.

TUESDAY--  NTN and $4.50 Maxwell Street Polish meal at Donovan's Reef.

Why Go Anywhere Else?  --RoadDog

Just Some Stuff-- JSS

JSS--  Just Some Stuff

1. Still waiting for some above-freezing days to get the snow/ice off the driveway and sidewalk. We've only had one day above freezing since Dec. 1st. Yesterday, I went out and chopped holes in the ice as well as the 9 inches of snow/ice pack at the foot of the driveway. I'm hoping that will help do some melting as it is supposed to get over freezing the next four or five days.

2. Sunday, Liz and I went to Twin Lakes to have some of those great $3 Bloody Mary meals at Main Street, and play NTN at Donovan's. We had four top tens in the course of the afternoon. Alfons, Tomas, and George played with us. Watched the Packers defeat the St. Louis Rams (still should be Los Angeles Rams to me) in a close game until the second half. Brett Favre keeps rolling on and set the NFL career mark with most yards passing. Too bad DaBears don't have him. Green Bay, my second favorite NFL team, is now 12-2 (with one of those losses coming from my favorite NFL team, DaBears!!!).

3. Speaking of the DaBears, this has been quite a come-down this year after going to the Super Bowl last season. Watched them play Monday Night Football last night at Margaritaville, our basement bar here at Key North. They played well in the first half, but definitely have to find a qb for next season. The three we have now are not the answer.

The Bears loss drops the record to 5-9. Believe it or not, they were still mathematically in the running for the playoffs until last night. There is no way this team deserved to go.

4. Going over to see Frances at Alden Terrace Nursing Home in McHenry. Later today, I'll stop by Round Lake Middle School to congratulate Hollis on 30 years of coaching 8th grade girls basketball. This is his last home game.

Then I will stop by the White Castle in Ivanhoe and have some sliders before deejaying at Santa Maria School in Mundelein. I have been deejaying there since about 1984, now, that's a long time to be doing something.

5. While getting the stream for 94.9 FM the Surf out of Myrtle Beach, SC, earlier this morning, I saw that the temperature was 27 degrees, the same as here in Spring Grove, Illinois. After all of Billy Smith's bragging about the 80s they had last week, I had to e-mail him and let him know. He announced it on-air and called me a loyal listener as I have been e-mailing several times a week the past several weeks. He is one of my favorite deejays.

Keeping On Keeping On Down Da Road. --Cooter

Labor Day Weekend: Bands, Bars, Festivals, No Boating

Boating wasn't an option, even without the flooding. We generally stay off the Chain of Lakes on the weekends and especially holidays. We let the "weekend warriors" have their sway. Thank you very much, we'll go out on the weekdays.

SATURDAY I worked in the yard and fought mosquitoes. I planted eight tall phlox out by the deck flowerbed.

Then, we drove US-12 down to Wauconda where they were having a Main Street Festival. Old Rand Road, the original US-12 before the bypass, was blocked off and a great blues/rock band, Kevin Purcell and the Nightburners, was playing on a temporary stage.

We had some cotton candy for the first time in a long time. We had forgotten how little there is of it. The Rotary Club was selling it and the poor guy at the machine had cotton candy up to his elbows.

Lots of restaurants were offering food. I had an excellent burrito from a Mexican place for $4. Sat at a table and talked with another couple. They had been married for two years, BUT, had been married before and then divorced. They had met again at their daughter's wedding and the flame rekindled. That was a neat story. We found out they were also into the two lane roads so talked about some of our experiences.

SUNDAY I listened to Bob Stroud do his final Summer of Love installment. Today, he played the songs we were listening to on our radios back on this date in 1967. That was 40 years ago, and in Chicago, we were listening to WLS and WCFL. I'll print out the playlist later. I'm sure they will bring back some memories.

I then went to Alden Terrace in McHenry to visit with Frances.

Came home and then Liz and I drove to Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, for some of the World's Greatest Bloody Marys at Main Street. The big talk was about Wisconsin's easy victory and Appalachian State's great upset of Michigan. There are not too many Wolverine fans in Wisconsin.

Played NTN at Donovan's then drove back to the Chain of Lakes.

Passing over the Grasslake Bridge, we only saw about ten boats going no wake. Normally, on Sunday, you'd see close to a hundred and even more on a Labor Day weekend. The flooding has really put a damper on the celebration.

We went to Captain's Quarters to see Cirrus Falcon, one of out favorite bands. All those people who weren't out on boats were in here. There were no seats anywhere, so we left.

Drove Grasslake Road down to the Harbour Lounge and went outside to the tiki bar. When it comes to bands, we almost ALWAYS arrive when they're just going on break. However, this band was breaking down their equipment at 4 PM, way to early for an afternoon set. We found out that someone had complained and the police had told the owner that the band had to stop.

The owner had them move inside, but, again, we couldn't find seats so went home.

TODAY I enjoyed the deck, planted some more perennials, and caught some sun.

We went over to Alden Terrace so we could take Frances to the Labor Day celebration there. A guy was playing a piano with backing music and playing the Big Band songs this elderly group would like. He was quite an entertainer and everyone was having a great time.

Pretty Good Labor Day Weekend if You Ask Me. --RoadDog

Saturday and Sunday- Deejaying, World's Best Bloody Mary, Making a Name for Ourselves, Band at Captain's

Saturday, I did some yard work. I managed to cut down the six golden barberry bushes which had become seriously overgrown. I only sustained a few scratches. Remind me never to buy anything again that has thorns. I haven't done so for a long time, but do have one rose bush and about ten other barberry bushes.

I deejayed at the American Legion pavilion overlooking Nippersink Lake in the Chain of Lakes all afternoon. It was for their annual picnic. We had plenty of great food, including ribs, as well as drinks, and lots of raffle prizes.

World's Greatest Bloody Mary

Yesterday, Liz and I went to Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, right over the border, about ten miles away. We first went to Main Street Tap, a real Northwoods type place, even though it is right at the Illinois/Wisconsin border. Lots of fishing stuff all over. Plus, the bartender makes probably the best Bloody Marys I've ever had. They come in a pint glass and are perfect for grazing. I mean, let me loose on a Bloody Mary bar, and I'll have a salad.

You get: a green onion, piece of celery, pickle speer, shrimp, cheese (Well, IT is Wisconsin), summer sausage, cherry tomato, pepper slice, cocktail onion, black olive, and green olive. Then, you get his perfect concoction, perfected after making thousands of them. And a mini-schooner chaser of beer. All this for THREE DOLLARS!!! Now, that's what I call a DEAL!!

NAME and BAND

Next, we stopped by Donovan's Reef, named after the movie of the same name starring John Wayne and Lee Marvin. Played NTN and we had four national rankings, which was seen by about 10,000 people in 400 places across the US and Canada. Unfortunately, watched both the Sox and Cubs lose.

Then, we went to a favorite Sunday afternoon place on Fox Lake, Captain's Quarters, and saw a great band, Twist of Fate, which had six members and played songs from the 60s to 80s. Nothing like sitting outside on a sunny day out on the Chain in the company of boaters, having an ice cold beverage, and partying with a good band.

Came home and enjoyed a so-so sunset from the deck.

Not a Bad Way to Spend a Weekend. --RoadDog