Got Our Irish On Last Weekend-- Part 2: The Mineola, Al Capone and a Green River

SATURDAY, MARCH 17

How about having the actual St. Patrick's Day on a Saturday.  Big grounds for some major partying.

I went to the Fox Lake/Grant Township Historical Society meeting and we had a presentation about Fox Lake's historical Mineola Hotel, built in the 1890s.  As is the case of most pl;aces out in the Chain of Lakes area, there is always the rumor that Al Capone was there, but no proof has been found to substantiate it.

The Mineola was one of many resorts and hotels around the Chain of Lakes back then when it was a major tourist attraction.

McHenry, Illinois, dyed the Fox River green (like Chicago) at 10, but I was at the meeting so didn't see it.  By the time we got to McHenry later in the day, sadly, the dye was gone.

Liz and I drove to McHenry with plans to see the St. Patrick's parade, but we could not find any parking spaces anywhere near it, so went to Binny's and bought some beer and then over to the Corner Tap on Main Street where we had green beer and met up with Kevin and Kelly, two actual Irish folks.

Not Al, So Don't Call me Al.  --RoadCapone