A commoner dines at Windy City Hot Dogs, Chicago

A commoner’s quest to find the best Chicago-style hot dog in and around Chicagoland takes a turn east of Midway Airport, more specifically onto West 63^rd Street between Cicero Avenue and Pulaski Road. 

Just look for the red metal sign in front of the small shack on the south side of the road, and you’ll be at Windy City Hot Dogs. 

The name says it all at Best Shawerma, Burbank, Ill.

If there’s one perk I love most about traveling for my job, it’s being able to experience cuisines that are simply hard to find in and around my home base in Central Illinois.  So, when my work took me near a fast food style restaurant reportedly serving some of the best authentic Middle Eastern cuisine on Chicago's south side, it didn’t take me long to try it.  After all, with a name like “Best Shawerma,” how could I go wrong?

An exercise in authentic German fare at Kegel’s Inn, West Allis, Wis.

Every year when summer turns to fall and Oktoberfest celebrations abound, it seems like everyone is eager to satisfy their cravings for authentic German beer and food.  I’m the type of person, however, who has a fondness for both year-round.  Fortunately, my travels have helped me discover quite a few excellent German restaurants (and let’s be honest, if you can’t find good beer and sausage in Wisconsin, you’re probably not really trying), and for my tastes, one of the best can be found just 10 minutes from downtown Milwaukee in the suburb of West Allis …

… let me introduce you to Kegel’s Inn.      

Scenes from the Grant Hills Motel, Galena, Ill.

Galena, Ill., has long been one of my favorite nearby destinations for a weekend getaway.  It’s tucked into the northwesternmost point of Illinois, just four hours from my hometown of Springfield.  And it seemingly has something for everybody:  history, small town charm, shopping, good food and drink (the nearby wineries in particular are very popular), and spectacular scenery more reminiscent of Vermont than Illinois. 

Where you choose to stay in Galena is a matter of taste.  Nearby accommodations vary from cabin retreats to high-end resorts and ski lodges to an abundance of Victorian-era bed and breakfasts.  The B&B rooms are always in high demand for those romantics who want a stronger sense of the town’s historic charm from its 19^th Century heyday.  But if you don’t mind your road trip to Galena sending you back to the 1970s rather than the 1890s, may I humbly suggest more suitable – and a lot more affordable – accommodations on the outskirts of town – the Grant Hills Motel.