We wandered a bit around Lake Katherine, watching the swans preen on their little island, the ducks sunning on a fallen log, and the geese taking turns being first as they maneuvered overhead. It was a crisp, late summer day; more a prelude to fall than a nod to summer. There were several photographers out and about, catching the birds, the slant of the sun on goldenrod, the passage of time with their cameras.
It was a short walk for we had endured a rough week and tired. Walking back, a young couple were seen hanging on to a canoe, each one blaming the other for capsizing. The water is shallow in Lake Katherine, so they were in no danger, except, perhaps on their car ride home as they relived their oaring. We left the blame game to them after offering a hand, he dripping wet, she worried about her lost flip-flop, glad it wasn’t us rising out of the lake.
Dragonflies flitted and bees buzzed around the Autumn Joy Sedum. Can you find the dragonfly? No butterflies, except for the cabbage moths. No butterflies on a late summer day in a park that was about to hold a butterfly festival. I’m hoping it was just this odd summer weather we had. I’m hoping.
A little worse for the wear, we headed for the car, and drove off in search of a plush horse.
We found it!
An ice cream parlor of fame in Palos Park, it was but a few miles from Lake Katherine. For the past several years, Tom has been wanting to find The Plush Horse. Now, we have, and it will take real will power to stay away from this enchanting ice cream parlor.
We each ordered one scoop in a cup, which was good, for a very big scoop it was, and headed outside to a lovely alcove that was perfect for sitting and licking one’s lips over a dish of ice cream. I had one of my summertime favorites, moose tracks, and Tom had black walnut. We ate contentedly while sitting on one of these Adirondack chairs, checking out the bird houses and wind chimes, and enjoying being out in the near perfect day.
We’ll be back. Yep. We’ll be back. Where to you dip your ice cream cone?
Such a lovely walk and ending with the perfect treat. I love old fashioned ice cream parlor. I love the Plush Horse and I am with you on the Moose Tracks choice.
We visited one in Ohio that has “Doggie’s Night Out.” They have a fenced in area with picnic tables so the dogs can visit each other. They serve a small dish of vanilla with a peanut butter flavored biscuit. It was cute and fun. Of course, there was a separate area for non-doggie lovers.
Around home, the best bet is the Depot, of course.
LikeLike
Kindred spirits, even in ice cream. Yea! I really like Moose Tracks, but, limit eating to summer. Oh no. It’s almost fall. Maybe I should go and have another dip.
Doggie’s Night Out sounds like a fun ice cream parlor, Janet, and I’m intrigued by the peanut butter biscuit. It’s nice when places have areas for dogs
Three cheers for the Depot.
Remember the Laesch (sp?) Dairy Barn in Normal?
LikeLike
Great photos!! Thanks for NOT sharing a photo of your ice cream cup. I get very hungry for that, but it doesn’t contribute well to waist management! 🙂
LikeLike
Thanks, Karen. I was too busy eating the ice cream to take a picture. It was gooo-oood. Waist management. Love it. After the ice cream, I’ll need to work on that.
LikeLike
Our family loves the Plush Horse! I went there as a child when high quality ice cream was not as easy to find as it is today, and it was a real treat worth standing in long summertime lines for! I have great memories of that place from running into a cousin there when I was young to bringing each of my children, but my favorite was the time I stopped there with Kate when she was around 3 years old. It was a bitter cold December night and I was driving home to Elmhurst from my mom’s house and surprised Kate by stopping there for hot chocolate! We sat at the little table next to the window by itself near the back door, sipping hot chocolate with whipped cream, surrounded by old time Christmas decorations! Kate still remembers this very cozy experience.
Sorry for using your blog to tell my own story, but your delightful post got me all excited! 🙂
LikeLike
I was hoping you would stop by and have something to say about the Plush Horse, Janet, feeling pretty certain you knew it. It feels good when our children remember these experiences, isn’t it? What nice memories and now we’ll need to remember to go there around Christmas to see the decorations, and maybe some hot chocolate. If you ever want to take a drive for some early afternoon coffee, or around the holidays, let me know. The Plush Horse is now in the GPS, and I’d love to try their sweets and coffee as well.
LikeLike
Sounds like a perfectly peaceful day….
LikeLike
It was, indeed.
LikeLike
I love the picture of you with the big cone, Penny. I’ve never heard of the Plush Horse. Thank you for introducing me. As for ice cream, my favorite way to have it is with Cayleigh at Ye Ole Fashioned Ice Cream Parlor. I always go for chocolate peanut butter in a sugar cone. Her choices have varied as she’s grown, but she usually goes for something blue………
LikeLike
Chocolate peanut butter is probably similar to moose tracks, Andra (little bits of peanut butter cups in it). Yum. Something blue was at The Plush Horse with several young girls, giggling over something, as we walked in. They were having fun, which I’m sure Cayleigh has with you.
LikeLike
What a beautiful sense of lingering pleasures you evoke in this post, Penny.
Quite a contrast to here where spring has been yanked back by the scruff of its neck into wintry storms and I am in bed with a cold. It’s still hot soup here, rather than icecream. But I look forward to warmer weather, when you’ve finished with it, of course.
LikeLike
The weather was perfect, Juliet. Today, however, was hot and humid, then stormy with severe weather warnings and cool. This week, temperatures will vary 30 degrees. Sounds like you have just the opposite. So sorry to hear that you are suffering from a cold. Hot soup always helps. I’ll be sure to send some of the warm weather down. Take care.
LikeLike
I love the plush horse, Penny! What a lovely time you must have had. It all looks like you stepped back into our childhoods! I love that. We have a family-owned ice cream parlor close to home that we enjoy. And my favorite flavor is Rum Raisin. It sounds odd, but it’s just delicious. But we don’t have a porch with Adirondack chairs to sit on while we enjoy! I certainly do hope you’ll be able to return at Christmas! 🙂
LikeLike
It did feel a bit like stepping back in childhood, Debra. Inside was a tin ceiling, wooden floor, the old tables and chairs one might expect in an ice cream parlor. I know we will be back. Rum Raisin. We have it around here as well, though I’ve never tried it. Now, I must. There. A good reason to go back asap.
LikeLike
What a lovely, relaxed day out, Penny, with ice-cream the perfect way to round it off. I had to google Moose Tracks and it sounds wickedly indulgent. 🙂 Ice-cream parlours don’t really exist in the UK outside the big cities, but I love the ones I find on the continent, especially in Italy.
LikeLike
Oh, it is “wickedly indulgent” for sure, Perpetua. I only have it in summer, and then, only once, maybe twice. It is sinful. I do penance each time. ha!
I’ve heard of those ice cream parlors in Italy – in fact, I think it was from you when I wrote about Neapolitan ice cream.
LikeLike
[…] taking a walk at Lake Katherine, then visiting the Plush Horse for big scoops of ice cream. Kezzie shared a small table with another little lass while Ezra dipped […]
LikeLike