Gourmet Spices and Books
I never did a formal trip recap (oops) but I’m still thinking about the day we spent walking around Evanston (just north of Chicago, where the Northwestern campus is located). In addition to a coffeeshop where I got one of my delicious Earl Grey teas, we went to a gourmet spice shop called Penzeys. This was SO FUN- they had sample jars of spices that you could smell, and it was like walking around Bath and Body Works smelling all the candles, but better. In November Penzeys spoke out against the Republican party- “Going forward we would still be glad to have you as customers, but we’re done pretending the Republican Party’s embrace of cruelty, racism, Covid lies, climate change denial, and threats to democracy are anything other than the risks they legitimately are.” Trump countered by calling their spices a “terrible, overpriced product.” For a while they proudly put that quote (and the source) in their front window. Hee hee! I was disappointed that it’s no longer there, but the whole store has a very progressive vibe. They had five or six different kinds of cinnamon, and we had fun smelling them all and picking our favorite. We bought cinnamon, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. We could have bought so many other spices, but I had to reign it in- we bought the things we use the most. But I’ll be back! After that, we found a bookstore! We browsed here for a long time. I didn’t get any books, but my son got a couple things and I got a card. We left the bookstore, walked about half a block, and discovered a USED bookstore!!! Now- if I had been alone I would have spent another hour in there. But certain members of our party (of the gender that have a limited shopping tolerance) were pushing to go eat dinner. But I’ll be back there, as well. Just when will I be back, you ask? Well. Originally I thought my son was going back at the beginning of September (Northwestern starts late because they’re on the quarter system). But his lease starts August 15th, and he would like to go back then so he has a month to get settled before school starts. I had been assuming I would go with him, but he told me, in the most gentle way possible, that he doesn’t actually need me to go. What? I… oh. Yes, he doesn’t need me to fly on the plane with him, or drive the hour from my sister’s place to his house. He also doesn’t need me to help unload a carful of stuff, and if there’s anything he doesn’t have, he can drive himself to the store to get it. It took me a while to adjust to this realization, but honestly, mid-August is not a great time for me to go anyway. Between having pinkeye (Covid?), taking a vacation and THEN having jury duty, I would rather not take more time off work so soon. I HAVE A BETTER IDEA! Now I’m planning a trip up in October. Dates are TBD- maybe it could coincide with an NU concert. I’ll (maybe? hopefully?) get some nice fall weather (ooooh!) I can see my son, AND return to the spice shop and bookstores. It will be a short trip- probably just a weekend, but I’m already excited about it. What would you buy at a gourmet spice shop? Top photo by Akhil Chandran on Unsplash