Lucky for us, it does not take five hours to get from our hotel in Germantown to Wrigley Field. We actually got to sleep a bit, eat breakfast, and comfortably pack our bags before heading out. On our trip, we have three students from the Chicagoland area and they knew the route to Wrigley well.
Arriving a little after 10:30 AM, we had the biggest task of finding parking near Wrigley. After a few failed attempts (and Chicagoans politely telling us we couldn't park there), we found a street with parking regulations we could obey. And it was free! Since Wrigley didn't open until 11 AM or so, we ended up grabbing lunch in a McDonalds across the street from the stadium. The McDonalds was hopping, with Cub and Brewer fans. It was fun to watch everyone interact; each fan was more than willing to pronounce their love for their team (and for Cubs fans, they were more than willing to proudly say, "Next year is our year!").
I also might add that it was overcast, rainy, and only about 40 degrees outside. Our group was pretty well bundled up, and I know for me, the hope of warm sunny California weather in the coming week kept me internally warm (it will ALL be worth it, I kept saying to myself).
Our seats at Wrigley were in the bleachers in the outfield. The group decided that center field was our best bet. Since we were there early, we got good seats and had fun dancing to the pre-game music and watching the groundskeepers prep the field. Since Wrigley is celebrating 100 years this year, we also got Babe Ruth bobbleheads (another reason we made sure to come early).
As the 50-50 raffle man told us, "This isn't rain, it's a pre-game blessing." While the rain did stop before the first pitch, it wasn't quite enough of a blessing for the Cubs to win. The Brewers took the game 4-3, but the Cubs did put up a fight.
What was even more interesting was to listen to the fans around us. I knew Wrigley could get pretty rowdy and I know for a fact I did not see the rowdiest Wrigley. They loved to heckle the center fielder (especially Logan Schafer playing for the Brewers). Logan took the heckling all in good stride, ignoring the fans most of the time and when he thought about throwing us his warm-up ball, the largest grin spread across his face as he faked throwing it to us and then threw it back to the right field side. It was priceless.
Once the game ended, it was back to the van and then back to Cedar Rapids. Dinner was at Portillo's, a Chicago favorite. I had never been and I will say that the expectations set for this restaurant were exceeded. Good food and good atmosphere. On top of that, I even got to see an old friend. The Portillo's we stopped at was only a few blocks from my friend Krista's house. Krista and I were fast friends freshman year at Coe and I hadn't seen her since freshman year. I don't think words can express how wonderful it was to see her and attempt to catch up in a short period of time. We made plans for adventures in the near future and with one final hug, it was back to the van.
The group got back late Friday night and it was glorious to go back to my apartment and fall asleep. We have the weekend off. Lots of laundry, reading, blogging, and writing to do! We hit the road 9 AM on Monday, headed for Kansas City.
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