Enjoyed: Thursday, May 13, 2021

Listed on the menu: No. Joseph, the bartender, offered me a choice of whiskey.  I told him to use his personal preference. 

Ingredients: Maker’s Mark bourbon, Angostura bitters, splash of soda water, a cherry, and many small ice cubes.

The occasion: I had a 2 ½ hour layover at O’Hare. Final destination was South Bend, Indiana, from where I would drive to Michigan City, Indiana, to visit my 95 year old mom. I had not seen Mama since several months before the pandemic started, so my visit was long overdue. I was nervous about seeing her, since I knew her health and mental acuity had deteriorated, so I felt I needed the comfort of a drink. Plus, sitting at a bar beats sitting at the gate.

My rating: *** out of 5. The Maker’s Mark made the drink a tad sweet, the soda water made it ever-so-slightly bubbly, and the ice provided the dilution that my empty stomach appreciated.

Final thoughts: 1. I must have looked desperate and/or crazed, because when I walked into the restaurant, the hostess said, “Bar?” Yes, yes, a seat at the bar was fine, even though other solo travelers were sitting at tables. 2. The bartender at the first place I stopped told me that he didn’t have the ingredients to make a fancy drink like an Old Fashioned. What? He did have several bottles of whiskey, so I suppose his customers only ever wanted shots, or beer. 3. All the other patrons at the bar were drinking beer and eating French fries. I guess people get their breakfast carbs any way they can while travelling. 4. OK, so it was 9:45 am in Chicago, and please don’t judge me. I had already been awake for over 6 hours at that point, and it was 5 o’clock somewhere.