Dining in Elmhurst, Greek Style

There was a moment of indiscretion with an ice cream sandwich yesterday evening, which could account for the mild headache that has been threatening all day. (It looked so innocent -- and yummy!) There's also been the threat of stormy weather all day, so lets blame any headaches on that instead, shall we? 

Wind and other complaints did not keep us at home this Father's Day, though. Since the weather report did suggest that thunderstorms were a possibility, we chose an indoor activity: exploring Elmhurst and its historical museum. Unfortunately, the lunch restaurant of our choice wasn't open. (We had called. We had checked on line. Sources contradicted each other.) As we began to wander Elmurst for an open and interesting restaurant, a small billboard caught my eye. We were blessed to be in Elmurst during the weekend of the St. Demetrious Greek Orthodox Church Taste of Greece Festival. That was worth turning the van around! (Actually, we turned around at least twice, thanks to a GPS unit that may date back to the ancient Greeks, but I digress.) 

Our Greek lunch was not what I would call light eating, but let's not discount the joy of happy eating. Jamieson enjoyed the gyros, which the kids nibbled, too, and pronounced good meat. I tried pastitsio, a Greek lasagna. It was rich and filling and wonderful. More lasagnas should be filled with egg. For dessert, we shared the loukoumades, heavenly honey puffs topped with cinnamon and yet more honey. Can you imagine how many wipes were needed to clean up the crew before we let them back into the van? Not a few, but worth every one. Oh, and those spheres of loukoumades bliss went delightfully well with the Greek coffee Jamieson and I enjoyed at the end of our meal, too. Just beware of the extra, um, intensity at the bottom of the cup. Not unlike Turkish coffee, grounds do make their way into the bottom. 

Well-fed, we made our way to the Elmhurst Historical Museum and then on to Fullersburg Woods Nature Center. Since no rain ever dampened our day, we were able to enjoy a walk along Salt Creek before calling an end to our day's adventure. 

I have to admit either the eating, the walking or the weather did finally provoke a real headache, but so far it's managed to stay controlled with minimal effort. We had a great day of exploring some new tastes and seeing some fun sights. A good way to celebrate Father's Day.