To celebrate Father’s Day on Sunday, Sid and I decided to venture into some uncharted territory. Well, uncharted for him anyway. We hoofed it over to the El station, he hopped into his tomato-red travel bag, and we zipped off on the El train down to Lincoln Park.

The sun was bright and the air was warm, so I came prepared with some ice cold water and a small dish so Sid could frequently rehydrate his pug mug throughout our excursion. We exited the train at Diversey and walked East towards the lakefront. By the time we got to the North Pond, Sid and I were both ready for an H2O break and a good ol’ fashioned sit.

We found a nice shady spot where Sid immediately became best friends with his little water dish. We relaxed by the North Pond and watched the birds and other wildlife go about their daily affairs.

After our batteries had recharged we completed the circle around the whole pond, through all the interesting native gardens near the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum. In those wonderful gardens we saw lots of songbirds, butterflies, ducks and ducklings, and even a turtle!

The heat was getting to Sid by that point so we started heading back to the El station. Instead of taking the direct route down Diversey, we leisurely zig-zagged down the shady tree-lined side streets. All of a sudden we came upon this wonderfully ornate mansion on Wrightwood Avenue.

My photo doesn’t really capture it well as I couldn’t get the whole facade in the frame as the home is massive. It is known as the Francis J. Dewes House, was built in 1896 for its namesake, and is a registered Chicago landmark. The house next door, which is also from the 1890’s and is a registered Chicago Landmark, was built by Francis’s brother, August Dewes. It is also very ornate and the mansard roof was spectacular.

About a block away from the El station, we took a little break in a shady patch of grass. Sid gulped down the remaining drops of our cool water supply and then proceeded to flop onto his side for a belly rub! It was really funny. He got plenty of “awwws” from passersby.

We had a great day! Hope to have another adventure like this again soon.

I know Sid just told you about an adventure he recently went on in our neighborhood, but I guess it’s been his lucky week because he got to go on yet another one. The weather was just perfect so we took a little stroll over to Lincoln Square which is about a 10-minute walk from Pug Slope HQ.

Lincoln Square is home to a lot of interesting independent shops including Merz Apothecary which is over 100 years old. Merz has all kinds of fascinating stuff including fancy soaps, perfumes, bath supplies, homeopathic treatments, moisturizers, and even moustache wax (which was a necessity back when I was sporting the handlebar!). Many of the items are imported from Europe or other parts of the world, thus making their selection way more interesting than a CVS or Walgreens.

Aside from the apothecary, Lincoln Square also has a book store, a vintage guitar store, lots of stores geared to kids, a small movie theatre, gift shops, and lots of little places to get a bite to eat or wet your whistle.

We sat down to relax for a bit at Giddings Plaza which is a pleasant outdoor space with benches, shade trees, and a fountain. There’s almost always people hanging out here and often kids will be running around or drawing on the sidewalk with chalk. In the summer they have free live music in the plaza.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah….I’m standing by the fountain. Now gimme my baby carrot.”

Before we left Sid wanted to get a photo by the El tracks. If you’re not familiar with Chicago, the “El” is the local name for the subway system here, although “subway” isn’t the best term because most of the system is elevated (thus the nickname). Sid actually got to ride on the El train last month when he had to go to the vet for his dental.

Siddhartha Lamont: Urban Pug

First of all, Happy New Year, everyone!

Christmas and New Year’s have already passed and I’m sure everyone is eager to get on with 2012 and return to normal life, but we wanted to do a quick recap of our trip with Sid to Chicago for Christmas with my side of the family.

I’m sorry, Sid – but all those presents aren’t just for you!

The three of us stayed with my sister and her husband in their amazing pug-proof house. See, they are also familiar with a food-motivated dog – their Bichon/Poodle mix named Sweetie has an appetite on par with our flat-faced wonder. Sid had met Sweetie before when we passed through Chicago on our cross country drive from California to New York. For the most part they got along well – although Sid was a bit of a jerk and commandeered all of Sweetie’s favorite toys. Luckily, Sweetie lives up to her name and was kind enough to let him chew on her prized possessions.

Sid and Sweetie teamed up anytime someone was in the kitchen. They would turn on the charm, do tricks, create distractions, basically anything they could think of to obtain a morsel of what was on the counter. We were extremely diligent in assuring that nothing fell down to their level, but that didn’t squash their optimism.

My sister’s house is very sunny and Sid quickly discovered many warm, cozy spots to lay down and relax in. In addition to taking over Sweetie’s favorite toys, he also found her favorite spot on the back couch cushion and after a few spins was soon nested in. (Sorry, Sweetie! Sid can be a turd sometimes.)

Sid received many nice toys and treats for Christmas, including a Christmas neckerchief handmade by my sister and a new plush frog toy from my parents. Almost immediately after getting the frog, one of the little legs came off. Sid forgot about the rest of the frog and carried the little lone leg around with him the whole night. He loved that little leg.

Um, Sid – you sure you want to play with just the leg?

He also got a package of his one of his all time favorite toys – plush potatoes. Yes, these seemingly simple toys are one of Sid’s favorites. His favorite game is catch and these potatoes are the perfect size for him to catch. Plus – they have a squeaker inside which he adores (and quickly destroys).

Hope everyone else had a wonderful holiday. We’re hoping to get back to regular commenting and posting now that we are slowly getting back to normal life. We have a few more stories and photos from Sid’s trip, including a special “in-the-fur” meeting with one of Sid’s pug-blog pals, Payton!

P.S. Thank you all for your tips for flying with your pug – I think we used just about every single one. I’m so proud of how good Sid did! He’s a flying ace now.