Hanging with Professor J.Ru: A week in South Bend

I know I have mentioned this before, but here I go again: I have surrounded myself with academics. I don't exactly know how this happened, I have a fair amount of people in my life who are not within the academic elite. However, those closest to me seem to have higher degrees. Enter, Professor J.Ru.

(This is me and J with our friend Nichole: also an academic: from the MN state fair 2 years ago)

J and I went to undergrad together, and we have been friends ever since. We have both lived in various cities, countries, been through relationships and jobs and ups and downs. Through it all, we are still dear friends. He is a professor (just got tenure! go J!) at a large university in South Bend, Indiana, so when I found I was to be in Chicago for a long stretch I decided to spend the work week with my dear J. 

I started my journey at Vegan Vortex in Chicago: a seasonal vegan marketplace run by my ladyfriends Natalie and Ana. They put on a fantastic event with vegan vendors of food, bakery, clothes, houseweres, and much more! If you are in Chicago while one of the Vegan Vortex markets are going, definitely check it out. I got amazing pies from Pie, Pie My Darling and fantastic candles from Last Craft Designs. I bought 4 mini pies so J and I could sample. (side note: THESE PIES WERE FANTASTIC. Our faves were the lemon creme and the pb&j)

I made to to South Bend about 3pm, and J greeted me at the door with "GET ME OUT OF THE HOUSE." Welp, okay! Let's go! He had an excellent plan for a wee trip to Three Oaks, MI. About 40 minutes out of South Bend and an hour and a half out of Chicago, J tells me it's like the Hamptons for Chicago. It is a small, quaint town that is full of really amazing curiated antique shops and art galleries. And even better? A whisky distillery. 

J truly does know the way to my heart. Good food and killer cocktails are just what this girl needed. We had a plan of watching all of House of Cards season 3 in the 4 days we were to be together, however first we get fancy (before the caftans and curlers come out). 

Journeyman Distillery is a newer distillery, opened in 2011. They do small batch whiskey and other spirits and certified organic. Journeyman does distillery tours, sell their product on site and also have a tasting room with food. We got ourselves a table and checked out what they had to offer.

We decided to start with a sidecar (me) and a lavender gimlet (J). We both are really in to gin lately, especially in the summer. Both cocktails were perfectly balanced, boozy but smooth. For food we ordered up the soft pretzels with pub cheese. Why did we not order like 4 orders of this? I am always on the hunt for the perfect pretzel with cheese: and this was it. I am thinking about it months later.

In summation: Journeyman is fantastic. There are so many beer taprooms all over, it was great to go to a place where I can find drinks I like and food that is tasty. I also bought some of their whisky and gin for later drinking. 

So the rest of my time in South Bend was basically watching House of Cards in a housecoat, making food at home and drinking gin (yes we are all class).  So I am going to have to go back to South Bend to get some deets on restaurants there. More to come!