What do you do when you see a $19 each way flight

to Chicago the weekend of your anniversary?

~

You check to find a decent hotel and you book it!

Okay, so the $19 flights were only for Saturday nights and Tuesdays; so we were okay with bumping the price up a bit to fly out on Friday night and return on Monday. But it was still quite the deal. I have so many new places to share with you that it would it take weeks if I put them all in separate posts, so some of them may be mish-mashed together, depending how I’m feeling when I’m writing… m’kay?

Of course, we didn’t miss one of our faves, Pops for Champagne, which we discovered on an overnight trip on our way to Ireland a couple of years back

While scouting out places to try on this trip, we discovered online that Pops has a little beer and cocktail haven in their basement called Watershed!

{For the record, that didn’t stop us from stopping upstairs at Pops on one occasion, though, too.}

Since our flight arrived late Friday night and we didn’t check in to our hotel until after 10pm, we popped to this late-night dining spot upon arrival. I had already eaten at my favorite Surdyk’s stop at MSP airport on our way out. Rob ordered a burger here at Watershed {not pictured}. It was fine, but nothing to write home a blog post about. Rob didn’t think it was seasoned.

What’s unique about Watershed is that nearly everything on the drink menu is local to the Great Lakes Region! There is a huge map of the Great Lakes on the wall. Check out this wine list:

Wines from Michigan, New York, Illinois… the bottled beer list is similar. We saw beers from Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana… There are only two beers on tap at a time.

Rob was lucky to try the Lagunitas High West-ified Imperial Coffee Stout. What’s that you say? Lagunitas is from California? Well, right you are! But did you know Lagunitas’ founder Tony Magee hails from Chicago? In fact, he started brewing some of his beer in Chicago last year. It doesn’t state so, but this particular beer is barrel-aged and very scarce. He enjoyed every sip of it!

Likewise, the liquor used in all of their craft cocktails also hail from the distilleries located in the Great Lakes Region. While you can’t tell on this menu, there is another page listing all the spirits they carry and what state they are from.

They sure now how to make a cocktails here!

Fave fave was the Take 5. Although, the barstaff made us some off-menu cocktails that they were currently working on, too. I love being the guinea pig! You can get your classics here, too.

I love the ambiance at Watershed. It’s more of a lounge and great for groups. My only gripe about this place {besides the oak wall against the bar – ugly!} was that there were low seats at the bar, which was higher up, making it awkward communicating with the bartender. They were always looking down us.

But I will tell you that they take care of you here! We loved learning from Adrian so much that we came back on our last night – the night of our anniversary – for a nightcap and some fries. They are the same ones they make upstairs at Pops for Champage And they hit the spot.

watershed  – an area or ridge of land that separates waters flowing to different rivers, basins, or seas.

I think the name fits.

What is your favorite restaurant or bar that supports your local area?

Cheers~
Carrie