Arrived in Chicago early afternoon prior to our room being ready so we decided to head straight to Navy Pier.  Took a stroll around the Pier and dined at Harry Caray’s Tavern for lunch, we ordered the famous Chicago Footlong Chili Cheese dog which we both enjoyed(forgot a picture).  Being Sunday on a holiday weekend it was very crowded, but a beautiful day.  We didn’t realize when we arrived in town that the International Mr. Leather Convention and The Sueno’s Music Festival(which was right across the street from our hotel) drew large crowds.  The Cubs and White Sox also had home stands over the weekend needless to say the town was extremely crowded and jumping!   Since we didn’t have much on the schedule this day we ended up having dinner at Lou Malnati’s, one of Chicago’s iconic deep dish favorites.  It is very different than what we are used to, needless to say neither of us really enjoyed it but we can now say we tried it in Chicago! 

Our first full day we walked from our hotel to the Field Museum, Aquarium and Soldier Field prior to the evenings jaunt to Southside for the White Sox game.  Unfortunately, Soldier Field did not offer tours due to setting up for the following weekend Taylor Swift three-night concert stand.  The parks in the city are so beautiful and very well maintained.

After the majority of the morning and early afternoon taking in the scenes, we took the L line to Guaranteed Rate Stadium.  We were not impressed at all with the area of the stadium, only one bar/restaurant and no outside street activities.  The stadium was our least favorite to date.  Considering how long the team has been around there is very little history/attractions other than home plate of the old ballpark “Comiskey Park” across the street.

The upside of the game was the Angels were in town and got to see Ohtani, Trout and Thaiss play!  Mike Trout and Matt Thaiss are home grown NJ boys and both played in the Tri State Arsenal travel program which both Michael & Tyler played, as well as myself being an administrator for the program for many years.  We were able to catch up with Matt prior to the game and chat for a few minutes, Mike of course was not out on the field prior to the game so we never got a chance to see him. 

Our second full day in Chicago we took another morning walk around town this time to Grant Park, Maggie Daley Park and Millennium Park.  Again, these parks were very well maintained and all different.  Grant Park had a large fountain in the middle “Buckingham Fountain” with a view of Lake Michigan and a walk way “North Rose Garden” towards Maggie Daily Park.  Maggie Daily Park had a children’s playground, mini-golf and a cancer survivor garden.  Between Maggie Daily Park and Millennium Park was a very large retro pedestrian bridge over the highway.  Millennium Park has the iconic bean sculpture “Cloud Gate” and a nice amphitheater pavilion.

Later that evening we headed uptown on the L train to Wrigley Field to attend the Cubs game.  The last time we were in town for a game at Wrigley was 25 years ago when the boys were young and Sosa & McGwire were in the home run chase.  The stadium hasn’t really changed much, but there were upgrades to the restrooms and a few other concessions in the upper concourse added.  The field is surrounded by bars, restaurants, stores and a small area for kids to play which is a much better atmosphere for fans to enjoy a game.  They have also added a lot more rooftop seating outside the stadium on buildings with a view of the field.

Up Next Minneapolis, MN!!