Something you should know about me, if you don't already: I LOVE "While You Were Sleeping". (I watch it almost every single day in December and have for years!)
So when we hit Chicago.....
Me: The El!!
Mark: Maybe we can find the location where it was filmed.
Me: And we can throw you down on the tracks, and I'll rescue you??
Mark: No. I really don't want to be mugged and thrown down. I was thinking we could just check it out.
Me: oh.
We didn't take the time to find it, but we did find something else:
I know things change. I even know that oftentimes change is good. But there is something to be said for the iconic old ballparks. They just feel different. The ambiance is different. New ballparks are, at times, necessary, but you can just FEEL the history of the game when you step into the ancient ballparks from back in the day.
I'd eaten half the bag of peanuts before I noticed the name.
This was a 2 game day for us: onto Milwaukee!
Me: Milwaukee! Isn't that Laverne and Shirley?
Mark: Yes.
Me: Which one do you want to be?
Mark (giving me an extremely weird look): um, neither.
When I was young watching Laverne mix Pepsi with milk, I thought it was the most disgusting thing. Ew. Yuck. Gross. As an adult though, one day I decided to (sort of) try it. I mixed diet coke with chocolate milk. I was pleasantly surprised. Tasted a lot like the part of a coke float after all the ice cream has melted. Trust me. Try it. Do it for Laverne.
Brewers playing Cincinnati, so we get to see The Reds twice on this trip.
I had someone mention how empty the stands look. (Mom!) She asked if the games were really that empty? Where are the people?
Stadiums open 1 1/2 to 2 hours before the game. We try to get there, God willing, as soon as the gates open. We walk around the entire outside of each stadium taking it all in. Once inside, Mark takes a moment to remember his dad. I stay back giving Mark his time and space for his memorial. After he is done, we scope out the inside of the stadium.
My pictures do not reflect much of the actual game or even our seats. By game time, the phone is put away, and we are watching the game.
Notice the young girl in the photo below. We are watching batting practice when a ball soars straight for my head. So I do what I always do when a baseball heads for me: I scream like a girl, close my eyes and duck, let the ball hit near me, scoop it up and give it to a nearby kid. She was happy she got a ball. I was happy I didn't get bonked in the face.
After the game we went to the cutest bar for brats. I loved this little bar. If I lived closer, this would definitely be on my list of "go to" places. Just a fun, little sports bar. Too bad we didn't know of it sooner, because they have a free shuttle to all games which leaves two hours before game time.
My brat had bacon, cheese and jalapeño; Mark's had onions and sauerkraut. We both had the cheese curds. And y'all beware. Once you start drinking water, your body WANTS water. We got to this adorable sports bar, and the only thing I ordered to drink was, get this, water. Ugh. What is wrong with me??
A couple of things:
We decided on the truck for the trip. The gas mileage is not even half as good as the car, but it has been so nice having the fuel box gas tank, and these roads would have torn up those puny tires on our car, but.... it has NOT been fun always finding a parking spot for a Ford F250 near some of these ballparks. Especially Wrigley. Fun times! I meant to take a picture of that one, but completely forgot. I had to get out of the truck before he parked it; if that tells y'all anything.
Speaking of which, I am a bit tired of all these stadiums being in such large cities. The people. The traffic. Oh. My. Gosh. I live in a town of 2200 for a reason, people!!!!
Also, after my apprehension of going into "mask" country, the ONLY place we have worn our mask is when we were inside the gift shop/museum at Big Bone Lick State Park, and that was because it is state owned. Even in Chicago, no mask.
At least so far.
Ok.... back to Chicago; they have two teams, doncha know, but before we get there, we have one more stop.......
The cubs stadium was our favorite ball park for the very reasons you have stated. In those days there were vendors set up outside the park.
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