We had a really fun time in Chicago. It's Dean's favorite town, having grown up visiting it frequently and I've thoroughly enjoyed it both times I've gone. The first time we went was six and a half years ago, we had been together a little over a year and it was our first trip together. I remember it being a magical time for us. This time, things were a little different since we didn't go alone. But it was still a blast.
Dean's best friend, "Skinny" and his wife went along with her two brothers. Skinny's brothers-in-law know Dean well. They all hung out some in college and since Dean was the best man at Skinny's wedding, there was much male-type bonding during the bachelor party which consisted of a weekend long trip to Kansas City.
Looking back it seems obvious that when you travel with your spouse AND other people, it can get strange. I'm used to traveling with my labmates and I'm used to traveling with Dean. Of course Dean and I have a certain way of doing things but traveling with others requires you to be flexible or be miserable. I think there were definitely some things Dean and I would have done differently but the trade off for not doing those things was basically being at a four day long party. Dean and I are all about eating when we travel. As my mother-in-law aptly pointed out, we like to take in the local cuisine, try the nice restaurants, and discover the hidden hole-in-the-wall joints. Unfortunately our traveling companions had more of a utilitarian style of eating, so were confined to whatever was close, cheap and convenient. Of course saving money on food meant more cash for beer. There was certainly plenty of that.
One place we did end up eating was the original Billy Goat Tavern. You may guess by the name that it was somehow involved in the curse of the billy goat. It was the owner of the Billy Goat Tavern that cursed the Cubs after his goat was turned away for game four of the 1945 World Series. The Cubs lost the series (despite their 2-1 series lead over the Tigers) and haven't been back to the World Series since. Interestingly, the restaurant has another place in history: it was the basis of the Saturday Night Live "Cheeseburger! Cheeseburger! No Pepsi, Coke!" skits. Yes, they really do talk that way even though I'm sure it was a put on. It was a convincing one though. It was very entertaining, the burgers were amazing (the double really is the best!) and still very inexpensive. I would recommend even non-sports fans visiting if you get the chance for both the food and the atmosphere.
We also had cocktails at the top of the John Hancock building, 96 floors up. The view of the city was stunning. From where we sat we could see Navy Pier and Soldier Field lit up. It was late when we pulled ourselves away from the view and wandered over to Pizzeria Due (sister to Pizzeria Uno, the original "Uno Chicago Grill").
Wrigley Field left me in awe. I have always felt like kind of an unworthy baseball fan since I prefer watching Twins games on TV rather than at the Metrodome. Now I know that it's just because the Metrodome is a steaming pile of shit, and baseball games should be watched in places like Wrigley field. Places like that are where tradition and pride is born. The Cubs haven't won a championship in 99 years, but the place is always packed because it is truly a great place to go and watch a game. Dean had been to Wrigley several times, but this was the first time I ever went. For my first Wrigley experience, we were in the bleachers- which turns out to be nearly equal in roughness to the south side of Chicago. There were fights, profanity, beer all over everything, not to mention constant harassment of the visiting team, and even harassment of Carlos Zambrano who looked less than stellar Tuesday night. Both nights, we stood in line to get seats in left field. During batting practice, Dean and both discovered that we are much too cowardly to actually try to catch the ball and much prefer scavenging, though even that tactic didn't get us anywhere. At Monday night's game we drank an obscene amount of beer. I tried a Chicago-style hot dog which nearly burned a hole through my intestines. We also discovered that in complete contrast to our original impressions, Alfonso Soriano is an awesome guy. He was always interacting with the fans, getting us riled up, throwing balls in the stands to whoever screamed loudest (or had the cutest kid which is understandable). Monday night was awesome because the Cubs had a dramatic bottom of the ninth win. The crowd was out of control, screaming, singing, chanting out onto the streets. We hit the bars around the stadium (notably the famous Cubby Bear, and Sluggers which combined a bar and batting cages- a brilliant money-making venture). The was even more drinking, and celebrating into the wee hours of the morning.
Needless to say, Tuesday we were moving a little slow. We got up and out late and spent the afternoon wandering around Boystown. We were curious to see Chicago's gay area mostly because Tampa doesn't have one and we didn't actually know what might be in a gay neighborhood. We window shopped a little (the bars weren't open), admired the rainbow flags hanging from every street light and even saw a Green Machine, which means that Dean will probably never drive ours again lest his sexuality be brought into question.
The game Tuesday wasn't quite as good even though the side show entertainment was still impressive. Most notably being reprimanded by the Chicago PD for public drinking while waiting in line to get in (oops) and the shirtless, chest painted C-U-B-S guys who violently threw back onto the field even the batting practice home runs they caught from the Reds. They even had the Reds outfielders laughing at their colorful insults making me feel relieved that no one brought their kids into the bleacher seats. The Cubbies lost though and the mood wasn't quite as electric as the night before. And to address lefty's comments, we did see some hating on the Cardinals (mostly her beloved "El Hombre"), but not nearly as much as on the White Sox. I really don't understand that rivalry though. The Cubs and Cardinals have routinely played each other since the early days of the National League, whereas until interleague play, the Cubs and White Sox hadn't played an official game since the 1906 World Series. Maybe a Chicagoan can explain it to me.
So there you have it. Four days of beer and baseball and good company with old friends. I couldn't have asked for a much better time.
Dean's best friend, "Skinny" and his wife went along with her two brothers. Skinny's brothers-in-law know Dean well. They all hung out some in college and since Dean was the best man at Skinny's wedding, there was much male-type bonding during the bachelor party which consisted of a weekend long trip to Kansas City.
Looking back it seems obvious that when you travel with your spouse AND other people, it can get strange. I'm used to traveling with my labmates and I'm used to traveling with Dean. Of course Dean and I have a certain way of doing things but traveling with others requires you to be flexible or be miserable. I think there were definitely some things Dean and I would have done differently but the trade off for not doing those things was basically being at a four day long party. Dean and I are all about eating when we travel. As my mother-in-law aptly pointed out, we like to take in the local cuisine, try the nice restaurants, and discover the hidden hole-in-the-wall joints. Unfortunately our traveling companions had more of a utilitarian style of eating, so were confined to whatever was close, cheap and convenient. Of course saving money on food meant more cash for beer. There was certainly plenty of that.
One place we did end up eating was the original Billy Goat Tavern. You may guess by the name that it was somehow involved in the curse of the billy goat. It was the owner of the Billy Goat Tavern that cursed the Cubs after his goat was turned away for game four of the 1945 World Series. The Cubs lost the series (despite their 2-1 series lead over the Tigers) and haven't been back to the World Series since. Interestingly, the restaurant has another place in history: it was the basis of the Saturday Night Live "Cheeseburger! Cheeseburger! No Pepsi, Coke!" skits. Yes, they really do talk that way even though I'm sure it was a put on. It was a convincing one though. It was very entertaining, the burgers were amazing (the double really is the best!) and still very inexpensive. I would recommend even non-sports fans visiting if you get the chance for both the food and the atmosphere.
We also had cocktails at the top of the John Hancock building, 96 floors up. The view of the city was stunning. From where we sat we could see Navy Pier and Soldier Field lit up. It was late when we pulled ourselves away from the view and wandered over to Pizzeria Due (sister to Pizzeria Uno, the original "Uno Chicago Grill").
Wrigley Field left me in awe. I have always felt like kind of an unworthy baseball fan since I prefer watching Twins games on TV rather than at the Metrodome. Now I know that it's just because the Metrodome is a steaming pile of shit, and baseball games should be watched in places like Wrigley field. Places like that are where tradition and pride is born. The Cubs haven't won a championship in 99 years, but the place is always packed because it is truly a great place to go and watch a game. Dean had been to Wrigley several times, but this was the first time I ever went. For my first Wrigley experience, we were in the bleachers- which turns out to be nearly equal in roughness to the south side of Chicago. There were fights, profanity, beer all over everything, not to mention constant harassment of the visiting team, and even harassment of Carlos Zambrano who looked less than stellar Tuesday night. Both nights, we stood in line to get seats in left field. During batting practice, Dean and both discovered that we are much too cowardly to actually try to catch the ball and much prefer scavenging, though even that tactic didn't get us anywhere. At Monday night's game we drank an obscene amount of beer. I tried a Chicago-style hot dog which nearly burned a hole through my intestines. We also discovered that in complete contrast to our original impressions, Alfonso Soriano is an awesome guy. He was always interacting with the fans, getting us riled up, throwing balls in the stands to whoever screamed loudest (or had the cutest kid which is understandable). Monday night was awesome because the Cubs had a dramatic bottom of the ninth win. The crowd was out of control, screaming, singing, chanting out onto the streets. We hit the bars around the stadium (notably the famous Cubby Bear, and Sluggers which combined a bar and batting cages- a brilliant money-making venture). The was even more drinking, and celebrating into the wee hours of the morning.
Needless to say, Tuesday we were moving a little slow. We got up and out late and spent the afternoon wandering around Boystown. We were curious to see Chicago's gay area mostly because Tampa doesn't have one and we didn't actually know what might be in a gay neighborhood. We window shopped a little (the bars weren't open), admired the rainbow flags hanging from every street light and even saw a Green Machine, which means that Dean will probably never drive ours again lest his sexuality be brought into question.
The game Tuesday wasn't quite as good even though the side show entertainment was still impressive. Most notably being reprimanded by the Chicago PD for public drinking while waiting in line to get in (oops) and the shirtless, chest painted C-U-B-S guys who violently threw back onto the field even the batting practice home runs they caught from the Reds. They even had the Reds outfielders laughing at their colorful insults making me feel relieved that no one brought their kids into the bleacher seats. The Cubbies lost though and the mood wasn't quite as electric as the night before. And to address lefty's comments, we did see some hating on the Cardinals (mostly her beloved "El Hombre"), but not nearly as much as on the White Sox. I really don't understand that rivalry though. The Cubs and Cardinals have routinely played each other since the early days of the National League, whereas until interleague play, the Cubs and White Sox hadn't played an official game since the 1906 World Series. Maybe a Chicagoan can explain it to me.
So there you have it. Four days of beer and baseball and good company with old friends. I couldn't have asked for a much better time.
