A recap of nightcaps in Chicago

Last night, my husband and I decided to head down to the bar in our hotel for a few cocktails. We are staying at the Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza, just one mile southwest of the Magnificent Mile. We had a gorgeous view from the 15th floor above the Chicago Sun Times building. It was raining outside, and the skyline was being lit by lightning. I wanted to be a little adventurous and ordered a drink of their cocktail menu. The first one I had sounded great on paper. It was a concoction of whiskey, maraschino cherry, orange juice and sugar. Yeah.......not so much. (I apologize for the quality of these photographs. They were taken from a cell phone camera.)

Initially, the thought that came into my mind was I was drinking cherry-flavored rubbing alcohol. I told my husband I was going to 'suck it up' and drink the rest, since it was a nine-dollar cocktail. So, with the next sip, I decided to hold my breath while taking it down. Much better. Now, it simply just tasted like rubber bands (I've never chewed on rubber bands. Just smelled them. So, this is how I imagined rubber bands would taste like if they were to become a drink). It tasted like rubber bands with an after-taste of cherry cough syrup. I finally finished off the final 6 oz. My husband was telling me that I shouldn't make myself drink it all, but I hate to waste food......even bad cocktail drinks. OK....here's the next drink I tried. It's called an Apple Melon Fusion (I think). It's a martini. I'm not much of a martini fan, but after the first drink I had, I thought I'd give this one a shot.

Oh, it was DELICIOUS! Oh, my, my. It's a mixture of Seagram's Apple vodka, a melon liquer, Sprite and lime juice. It was just HEAVENLY! The bartender sorta shared the recipe with me, so I'll have to try making this when I get home. Aren't martini's usually made with gin and vermouth? I think that's why I always disliked martinis. I think the vodka substituted in place of the gin and vermouth made a difference in how I liked/disliked the drink, because I am not a big fan of Vermouth. So, if you're ever in Chicago, and you find yourself at the Cityscape Lounge in the Holiday Inn Mart Plaza hotel, you'll have to try their Apple Martini.