Hey, Chicago, what do you say

This year for Labor Day we visited Alison’s brother Bret in Chicago. We tried to visit twice in 2020, but both times the trip cancelled because of Covid. We are really happy that this time we were able to make it work. 

Alison worked on Friday (I didn’t because Ancestry opted to have a special company holiday to give everyone an extra long weekend) so we took the late flight out Friday night. We arrived at an airport hotel in Chicago ~2am. We immediately called it a night and slept late on Saturday morning. After we woke up we relocated hotels. We are staying at the Hilton Chicago. It is a swanky hotel and it has  great location. It is right on Michigan Avenue across from Grant Park. From our room we could see Navy Pier, the Shedd Aquarium and the Field House. I learned a few fun facts about this hotel. It opened nearly a century ago as the largest hotel in the US (at the time). It is also the location of the pivotal scene in the movie “The Fugitive”. Despite it being a century old the rooms felt brand new and modern. It was a fantastic place to stay. 

After we got settled into our hotel we headed to Wrigley. As baseball fans, this ballpark has been on our list on our list for a while. It opened in 1914 making it one of the oldest ballparks in MLB. It is a must visit for any baseball fan. 

We loved this dog with its Cubs jersey

It was a great baseball game. The Cubs were playing the Pirates. The game was fairly quiet through the 4th inning. The Pirates hit a home run early, but other than that there wasn’t too much action. That changed int he bottom of the 4th. The Cubs loaded the bases and the scored a few runs. The Pirates answered back in the top of the fifth. They also loaded the bases and scored 5 additional runs. That score held with the Pirates up until late in the game. 

Kristin, Dan, Holly, Skylee and Bret joined us midway through the game. They went to the Willis Tower before the game. Holly loves baseball. She was so excited to be at a game. I think she must love the energy. She was cute and spent half the time in her own seat. When she would move into the seat in the row in front of us I would move down and sit next to her. She is a cute little kid. Probably her and Skylee’s favorite part of the game was the 7th inning stretch where we were led in a rousing chorus of take me out the ball game by the Legend himself, Ernie Banks. 

Dreaming of baseball

We enjoyed Wrigley field. We sat in the upper decks so we had a nice view of the game and the field. We could even see Lake Michigan from our seats. The Cubs really embrace their tradition and stories history. Their video screen graphics make the screen appear like an old school scoreboard. They also have an excellent organist. He did a lot of funny and clever things, like when he played the Hallelujah Chorus when  the Pirates narrowly missed a grand slam. Sitting in Wrigley field it is hard not to be awed the the history of this place. 

I thought the Cubs were going to lose. Which would have been okay because they are known as the lovable losers. They were down by a couple of runs in the ninth. They got a runner on and he promptly stole second, but they also had two quick outs. Then there was a long at bat that resulted in a walk. That brought the tying run to the plate. This is the national league so the pitcher was due up. The Cubs pinch hit a guy named Rivas and he promptly hit a long single that scored one. It was now a one run ball game. This brought up the center fielder (with a respectable batting average). He also singled to tie the game. Up came the first baseman Frank Schwindel. He ended up hitting a ball to the shortstop. It was deep and Schwindel booked it down the line. He slid into first and the umpire called him safe. The crowd went wild. What a two out rally! From our vantage point it looked like he was out. After a long replay review the call on the field was upheld (replay showed it was hard to tell if the first baseman applied the tag). The crowd went wild again. We all sang a rousing rendition of “Go Cubs Go” and they raised the W flag. It was exhilarating. Easily one of the most fun endings of a baseball game we have attended. Hey, Chicago, what do you say; The Cubs are gonna win today!

After the game we walked to Bret’s apartment. He lives in Wrigleyville, right by the stadium. We spent the remainder of the evening at Bret’s apartment. We talked, played Halo, ate delicious queso and BBQ chicken, completed  a puzzle, listened to music, and had an all round grand time. 

It was a fantastic first day in Chicago. We got to spend the day doing something we love and we got to be with some of our favorite people.