Or: My time this past weekend back in the Rockford area of Illinois.
From Thursday morning August the 6th to Sunday morning the 9th, I returned to the northern half of Illinois for the burial of my mom. It felt especially melancholy because the last time I was in the region, it was with my parents as one of my two sisters was visited for the Christmas holiday last December. It was a time right before things went to hell... my mom's health was fine and there was no Black Plague illness all around-yet I tried my best to not be crestfallen the entire time so I was able to do some things as I had access to a vehicle the entire time. Unfortunately I was only able to visit a few pals but due to all the circumstances... many people I know have families anyhow so trying to coordinate even a brief visit would be difficult.
Thursday I flew from the Sanford airport to Rockford; believe it or not, it was my first plane ride since December of 2009. Air travel is about the same as I remembered it, except for the whole mask thing. It was on low-buck Allegiant Airlines and they were so desperate for customers, the price for a round trip ticket was only 65 dollars! No wonder it was about half-full at the crack of dawn. That day was rather quiet; the only thing of note was that dinner was had with the family at a Smokey Bones restaurant, a place I had never been to before. Both the service and the food were fine.
Friday was the service itself; due to the pandemic it was not a big event. Instead, only the immediate family, my mom's best friend and her husband were in attendance. Everyone was glad that she was buried in a nice, peaceful place right by where her dad and grandma were laid to rest. After that was lunch at Port Edward, a fancy restaurant in the city of Algonquin I have known about since I was a kid, yet somehow had never gone there before. Remember when I just said that I was trying to be nice to people that had to work jobs like this during the pandemic? This day and the next would test that theory. It took a long time for the food to come out and it was not that busy; only the outdoor patio seating right on the Fox River was open so it was not like there were dozens of parties present. Thankfully the food itself was rather tasty. On this day I had Doc Soda; it was something I noticed last December but just now was able to try. This subsidiary of Pepsi-only available in the Midwest-makes a decent soda, similar to both Dr. Pepper and Mr. Pibb.
After that things were free for me; in Rockford I visited a few places, including one in a small chain of grocery stores known as Valli Produce. It was actually an international market and the wide variety of obscure products was right in my wheelhouse. My dad drove back home a few days ago so things could be transported... I could have gone hog wild there but he had things to bring back himself so not that much was purchased. What I did buy was some oddities otherwise not easily found in the United States. For example, a Fanta drink from Bosnia (!) known as Shokata; I don't know what the name means as it sounds like a band of samurais from feudal Japan-the flavor was a mix of elderberry and lemon... pretty good. Another drink was known as Fanta Green and was from Thailand; it's a mix of fruit and I'll try it later in the month. Dinner was had at a local fast food chain which has been a favorite since I was a kid: Beef-A-Roo. It's not even their beef sandwiches I have there, but rather their burger and fries... I know, I know. Both taste great and the drink to accompany that was a milkshake.
Saturday I hung out with some people for a short amount of time and I was able to kill time before eating dinner at Japanese restaurant JMK Nippon (think a local version of a Kobe Japanese Steakhouse) by visiting a Meijer. The name I knew but before I entered there was no knowledge by me that it was a version of Walmart, except that they apparently did it first. It was a huge place with a lot to look at; thankfully there was no rush. One of the items I got there was a variety of French Soda; I don't know what that is either but it was pretty good. At Nippon, the waiter me and the family had was a real buffoon; thank heavens the actual chef did his job rather well and the meals were very good.
As this is running long, I will have to return in a few days and finish the story; once I do that I'll mention what little I've done since returning home. While the circumstances were unfortunate and some things would have been different if it was not for the Black Plague, it was nice to see family & friends and drive around that part of Illinois on my own for the first time since August of 2009.
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