Beautiful spring day in the college town of champaign where emma and rocket were our enthusiastic guides. We met downtown…….
Thumbs up for roger ebert’s home town (champaign)
Blind pig brewery
At the aroma cafe, not to be confused with aroma curry house, in a strip mall outside campus. Where we had excellent South Indian food. Good lunch specials. $7.99 for
Emma at allerton
a huge selection of food served not buffet style but instead in individual round trays, each with about eight little round bowls filled with goodies. We also liked the deep frid red spicy cauliflower and onion dosa.
allerton is a huge estate about 25 miles outside champaign near rural Monticello. Built by a civil war profiteer, it’s now owned by u of Illinois. There’s a mansion, other brick buildings here and there, sunken gardens, statues, hiking paths through the woods. We are looking forward to a family wedding there in November.
Back in champaign, we enjoyed the blind pig brewery which has a spacious beer garden and warm and woody pub interior.. For dinner we had classic Chinese at the bustling Golden Harbour, where many Chinese nationals attending u of Illinois seemed to hang out. Huge menu, fresh ingredients, big round tables with giant lazy Susans, perfect for sharing lots of dishes. The green beans, tofu and Black mushrooms were a highlight.
