I went to Chicago last weekend. It was the most amazing trip I’ve ever taken. I’ve been trying to write about it, and I get two sentences and that’s all I can do… I think I’m still in awe!
I’m a huge Mets fan, and we got tickets to two games against the Cubs at Wrigley Field! Fifty thousand people converged in one place to cheer on one of two teams…just an amazing good time!
The first day, we sat field level, eight rows back from the net behind home plate (you can see from the pictures Ed took that we are pretty close). Ed’s brother’s girlfriend is the cousin of Marlon Anderson’s wife, so we were able to get those tickets fairly easily. Billy Wagner’s boys were sitting two rows in front of us and his wife was directly in front of us… it was hard not to say “f-in’ wagner” when he gave up a hit…but we were very good. And it was great watching the game from that distance with the families of the ballplayers. Wagner’s kids were easy to spot – they look like him more than their mom. It was awesome seeing them watching the bullpen watching for their dad to start warming up and then being all eyes on him. We started “bil-ly wag-ner” chants for them, and they really got into that. They tried to start some clapping chants in the 7th and no one really took to them, by the eighth we recognized what they were doing, so we joined it. It was good fun!
The second day, we sat three seats away from the foul pole in left field. The only thing I know about that game was Maine melted down in the third inning and Alou hit two home runs. The bleacher creatures were HILARIOUS! Most fans get rowdy and obnoxious when their team is losing…Cubs fans get insane when their team is winning…They throw home run ball back on the field! Even when a met fan caught Alou’s first one, the bleachers started chanting “throw it back, throw it back” – so he did! I was like…wait, what?!
I had two different experiences in two days at the same ballpark with the same teams. It was outstanding!
Oh yeah, I got my first mets hat! (and its real… it was bought at a MLB game… hehehe) My New Mets Hat!
And let me tell you about the food we had, never in my life has my palate been so overwhelmed!
Yoshi’s CafeI had the most amazing chicken and grilled veggies with a balsamic reduction – and the dessert was to die for!
Campagnola has the classic Italian menu, with the perfect blend of herbs and spices. I had the carppaccio and a great Chicken Marsala on a creamy polenta with roasted assorted veggies. I can’t remember the name of the deserts I had, but I can still taste the delectable chocolate used over the top of it!
The area we stayed in was Evanston. the houses are more amazing than I’ve ever seen in my life! Our hosts live a block from the lake, and a few blocks from Northwestern University. These houses look like they are right out of the civil war movies with the brick mansions, etc… and some of them are actually from that time period. One of our hosts grew up here, and he has been the most perfect architectural and historical tour guide one could ever imagine – not surprising since he taught history at some point in his life.
I would highly recommend some site-seeing if you visit the Chicago area and have time. Get in the car, drive to evanston and drive around the neighborhoods – I saw a house that had a patio and backyard that could have been Gatsby’s, on a corner, looking at the lake – if you used your imagination just a fraction of the amount that I did, you could see the parties that Gatsby could have hosted there!
