Upon completion of aforementioned blog conference (note celebratory pic of me and KK Delight at the Giant Shiny Bean thing that reflects everything):
I took advantage of the fact that I’m in Chicago to knock a few more baseball stadiums off my list in my quest to attend every MLB park.
Sunday brought Comiskey not US Celluar Field, just like Candlestick is not Monster Park or whatever else they may think to call it. That field is fabulous. We had awesome seats on the first base side of the dish and we were in the shade which I have learned is a plus out here in the Midwest.
Here is the view from my seat:
And of course, cruising around the outside of the yard:
This is the original homeplate used in Old Comiskey ballpark and I totally stood in the old batter’s box and pretended to hit. I have no shame
New Comiskey has quite the selection of food and Jersey J enjoyed a helmet sundae while I had a Tollhouse cookie icecream sandwhich. This followed the hotdogs and sodas or pop, as I have learned it is called here. There is just something about the green of the outfield grass against the brown dirt of the infield that I just adore. Another highlight of the game was the 11 year old who sat two rows in front of us and who also happened to be the one who sang the National Anthem and God Bless America in the 7th inning. This kid was absolutely phenomenal. He is 11 and gave me goosebumps. Despite the fact that the White Sox lost 4-1 to Toronto, I still loved it.
Which brings me to tonight’s adventure which is Wrigley Field. It.is.awesome. Point in case:
Wrigley is totally old school. You can’t really compare it to any other ballpark for that reason. We arrived for a 6:05 game (hooray ESPN Monday Night Baseball) at 4:30 and hit up a few of the local watering holes. One place had hotdogs for $2.00 which had to be the best deal in town. I had a hotdog there because, really, where else would I find such a steal of a deal for food? Then we hit up another place for an “iced tea” as the UCSD baseball coach calls them–I learned many things from him, this was merely one and then proceeded to take a ton of photos outside Wrigley. Wrigleyville is like no other. We approached the yard from what would have been right field and proceeded around the outfield wall. As we were walking, fans lined the streets outside of left field and attempted somewhat successfully to catch homerun balls from batting practice, which I thought was fantastic. Can’t do that in San Francisco…
Following batting practice, we headed into Wrigley and took a few shots from behind homeplate before it got too crowded to do it. Our seats happened to be in the second to last section of right field before you really aren’t in the park anymore. Did I mention that they were upper deck? Or that those were the best available tickets about a month ago? And that the Cubs were playing the Phillies which I wouldn’t have thought would be something special, but apparently it was a popular game.
So Jersey J and I head to our seats while Ansel Adams continued his quest to get the perfect lighting for his shots. It was then that we realize just where our seats are. Yet, we don’t mind because we are inside Wrigley Field. But then we get hungry again. So down we go on a mission to get another hoitdog I’m bulking up for football season and realize that the only place to get food is behind the dish on the lower level. It was a good thing that I had brought my hiking boots. So we finally get our food then head back to our seats and take in the game. Which rocks. Even if the Cubs did lose 4-1.
Following the game, I proceeded to what I can only imagine would be the equivalent to the Dugout Store and buy hats for everyone in my family, including yours truly because with this rockin new hair, I can totally wear hats and not look ridonkulous.
So now I’m safely back in my hotel in Skokie, of all places which is NOT 8.7 miles from Wrigley as the website claimed and I have a whole day to myself tomorrow except when I go back to Wrigley for tomorrow night’s Cubs game. Tomorrow day will inevitably be spent at the pool. And possibly at the Sixteen Candles house because I just found out that the house used in my favorite John Hughes film is only 1.6 miles away from my hotel. Special thanks to Amanda Jean for doing my Skokie research and finding out that it was filmed here.
Since I do have such a strenuous day tomorrow, I must save my energy as it will be needed to lay by the pool tomorrow.
