Chicago Trip Recap

Laureen and I got back yesterday from our trip to Chicago for a couple Cubs games and meeting up with a bunch of my old high school friends. It was an amazing trip, and Laureen commented on the flight home "I love Chicago and could definitely see living there part-time someday." Wow, loved hearing that. We've often talked about once Lexie goes off to college spending a full baseball season in Wrigleyville. We'll see, that's so many years down the line. For now, I think she's definitely in for at least one annual trip to Chicago.

We flew in on Thursday, got checked into our hotel, and were picked up by my friend Scott who lives in Wrigleyville. He took us down to his condo, which was a very cool Chicago-style 3-level place. The weather was very cool so our plans to barbeque out on their deck got scrapped and we headed to Harry Caray's across from the Wrigley Field bleachers to catch the last two innings of the Cubs defeats of the Padres. It was great fun, although I wouldn't say I loved Harry's. Here's how it looks outside and a couple pics from inside:

Scott's a Sox fan (yes, a Sox fan living in Wrigleyville), so he and Laureen had a good chat and were very understanding of the fact I was hanging on every pitch of the game. After the Cubs won and we had a few drinks, we headed down to pick up Scott's wife downtown and got a nice "tour" from Scott of some Chicago highlights. They took us to a place the name of which escapes me, but it was a sorta very casual Chicago-ish place with incredibly good ribs. Here's a pic of Laureen and I enjoying the food and atmoshere, and me working over my ribs!

We debated heading back to Wrigleyville, but made a very smart decision considering the two days of games and partying to come and headed back to the hotel to crash out for the night.

Friday morning we headed down to Wrigleyville pretty early as I still had to pick up a couple tickets on the streets, and I wanted time to take Laureen to my favorite bar on earth, Murphy's Bleachers directly across from the entrance to the bleachers at Wrigley. It's amazing how the atmosphere at Wrigley is always already there 2-3 hours before game time. We headed over to Murphy's and I got my polish sausage and Laureen had an excellent cheeseburger, and of course I got myself a bloody mary and then some of the very good Murphy's house pale ale.

We walked a lap around Wrigley looking for tickets and there didn't see to be much around, but I think I was trying a bit early. The weather was near perfect and I was definitely regretting my decision to wear jeans. Anyway, we found tickets for $60/each. The weather definitely jacked up ticket prices so I didn't haggle much and just took the deal. Here's some pictures from our "lap" around Wrigley:

After heading back into Murphy's for another beer and for Laureen to have her first drink, we headed into the bleachers about 1.5 hours before game time in order to make sure we got a seat in prime bleacher territory (for those who don't know, the Wrigley bleachers are general admission). The game was outstanding, a Cub victory 7-4. Soriano hit two home runs, and Kerry Wood came in to save the game. Kerry is one of my favorite all-time Cubs, so I'm glad I got to see him pitch, and pitch well. The weather was so warm, Laureen had to scrap her long sleeve shirt and purchased a Cubs tanktop, which made me a very happy husband. Game pictures:

Post-game we headed over to Cubbie Bear to celebrate. I'm not a big fan of the loud, partying atmosphere in the main part of that bar, but the back area bar is actually pretty cool and relatively mellow. Scott showed up to meet up with us again, and we enjoyed some food and drinks and then headed over to Sluggers to finish up the night, where we met up with "Ronnie Woo-woo," who seems to be everywhere in Wrigleyville. Here's a picture with Ronnie:

We caught a cab back to the hotel and crashed out for the night, having a hard time believing we were going to do it all over again the next day, and add in the "meetup" with a bunch of high school friends after the game. We headed down against Saturday morning. This time we had tickets, so things were a little easier, and we took it a little slower due to the impending post-game festivities. Anyway, some Saturday game pictures, which was a great game but ended with a disappointing one-run loss, with Derek Lee hitting a ball to the warning track right in front of us that would have won the game if it made it out:

So we headed over to Mullen's, a bar that I like quite a bit. I don't understand why all these bars feel the need to pump music so loud after the game that it makes it difficult to have a conversation. It seems logical to play it loud enough to be heard and enjoyed, but not so loud that your patrons have to shout at each other. A friend pointed out that it's because there are studies that people drink more when the music is louder. LOL? Anyway, Mullens is actually relatively reasonable and it has a Chicago-vibe to me, and that's where we spent the rest of the night with my friends from high school. Five of my friends showed up, some with their friends, and we had a great time. Laureen in particular really enjoyed herself and had no trouble fitting in with the group. Some pictures: