Looking For Mardi Gras Here In Northern Illinois

We spent the afternoon searching for something even remotely like Mardi Gras here along the Illinois/Wisconsin border and didn't find a whole lot. We did see one other guy with beads, but that was it. Some people didn't even know it was Mardi Gras.

First stop was at the Snuggery on the Fox River in McHenry which was advertising a Mardi Gras party with beads (none that we could see), but they did have some mighty fine Hurricanes for $3 apiece so had a couple. Also had a Chain Crawl coupon we needed to use before it expires on March 31st. Spend $10 and get a free order of what we regard as the best beer nuggets anywhere, (complete with marinara and garlic butter dipping sauce).

Then, it was into McHenry where we stopped at Cork Screw Pointe for a fantastic muffeletto sandwich, one of the best we've ever had. But, no Mardi Gras, despite having one of Louisiana's finest offerings in the sandwich.

Next stop was the new Buffalo Wild Wings in McHenry (or BW3 as we old-timers call it). The bartenders were impressed with our beads and Mardi Gras shirts, but other than that, no celebration. We did play NTN on the new pad boards. That will take some getting used to.

Then, across Il-31 to Twisted Moose. No Mardi Gras there, but they were getting ready for the BlackHawk game (a big deal complete with red flashing lights, air horns and "Chelsea Dagger").

Last stop at O'Leary's in Ringwood. Several years back, they had king cake, but, sadly, not tonight.

We Did Get What We Could Out of It. --RoadDog