Not Content to Crawl

Late morning Saturday (10/22) we decided to make our annual visit to Sonny Acres, and it was crazy busy. So much so that we ended up parking on the west side of the farm which we’ve never had to do before.

We made our way over to the food area and I was shocked that they had raised the prices of their apple cider donuts once again. Last year they were $2.50 each and now they are $3. Where does it end? They already doubled the price of their haunted hayrides from $10 to $20.

Well, we people watched for awhile and decided to get donuts elsewhere. I called over to a local bakery but they were all out so we decided we’d try Costco. Well, we happened to be right in the vicinity of a Beef Shack, so we stopped there for lunch first. It was a nice day so we ate outside and then grabbed a dozen apple cider donuts from Costco for $8.50.

Later that evening we did the second half of the Gallery of Ghoulish Homes Tour in St. Charles (there were so many houses on the list this year we split the list in two and did the first half on 10/15). It was ok, but there were too many new houses participating with underwhelming decorations. I feel like if you’re not going all out then maybe a decorating contest isn’t for you. I dunno, I feel burnt out on all the previously fun fall activities we’d do. I don’t know if it’s the repetition, or that they seem to get more boring every year or what, but I think we’ll still go see houses but not bother with Scarecrow Fest or Sonny Acres anymore.

I think we finally found our go-to BBQ place! Finally, after 17 years! I mean, Smoque in the city is amazing, but it’s just too far when the craving hits. I recently read about a place called Route 38 BBQ which is less than twenty minutes away, so we decided to give it a try on Saturday (10/08). Not only is it cheaper than Smoque (we got a meal of double meat plus mac & cheese, coleslaw, cornbread, and mashed potatos for $25 whereas a comparable meal at Smoque would run closer to $50), but dare I say their beef brisket tastes better. It’s so good you don’t have to drown it in sauce. Winner, winner, brisket dinner! (No photos were taken because we greedily ate everything up).

Sunday (10/09) we visited St. Charles for their annaul Scarecrow Fest. This may be the last time. Not only were the number of scarecrows shockingly low, but everything was just blah. I have lost my enthusiasm for the craft booths too, and the food vendors are ridiculous. The corn dog booth had a sign that read “Corn Dogs w/ free fries” but when we asked how much they were the girl goes “$5 for the corn dog and $10 for a corn dog with fries”. Ummm… I don’t think they know what free means! Needless to say, after a disappointing half hour of walking around we went to Atlas Chicken Shack in nearby Geneva to grab some rice balls that we took home to eat.