Stadium Adventures - Chicago!

I don't think I've had a chance to mention yet in this blog how it's my dream to see a game in every Major League Baseball stadium in the US. Since I was a kid Wrigley and Fenway have been the top 2 on my list. I was fortunate enough to finally see the Giants play the Cubs back in 2012 at Wrigley and it was amazing.

Let's back up a little bit, back in 2011 I got sent out to Chicago for a work trip. I had a meeting on a Tuesday and my boss suggested that I fly out the Friday before since I'd never been there. My flight was paid for and I just had to pay for my extra hotel nights. So I talked Sean and my cousin Katie into going with me. We had an absolute blast and I fell in love with Chicago. It was in November so we took the tour of Wrigley Field and it was so cool getting to learn all about it's history and the unfortunate luck the Cubs have had. 

Here is a picture of Sean, Katie and me from our first trip!

     

Then we found out that the Cubs and Giants were playing at Wrigley on Labor Day Weekend of 2012. That was also conveniently a little over 2 weeks after the Giants were giving out their 2 for 1 Virgin America flight vouchers so it was a no brainer that we were going. We saw all 3 games in the series and sat in 3 different sections so we were able to get a good feel for the experience seeing games there. 

Here's the lowdown for seeing games at Wrigley!

Transportation

The public transportation in Chicago is AMAZING. You can pretty much get anywhere in the city via the subway/train and a 3 day pass will run you about $20. It puts the MUNI to shame in my opinion. Don't bother renting a car there, it will most likely just cause you grief trying to drive anywhere and deal with parking. The Blue Line train takes you from the airport to the middle of downtown and you can transfer to the Red Line that runs North and South parallel to Lake Michigan so you can get anywhere in the downtown vicinity on the Red Line pretty much, including Wrigley and US Cellular Field. Addison is the stop you need for Wrigleyville.

Wrigleyville

There are over 60 bars and restaurants in Wrigleyville, the Cubby Bear is one that gets talked about a lot. It's a huge place with lots of good food and beer. They aren't typically open or busy when there's not a game going on. My personal favorite is Murphy's Bleachers, almost directly behind the scoreboard in center field. It has a great old school Chicago feel to it with lots of memorabilia and the food is delicious. Our tour guide lives in Wrigleyville and he said that was his favorite place too. I'd trust the locals on that one! They are pretty much always open too. Definitely go check it out!

Where To Sit

Sean and I have become seat snobs and we like sitting as close as possible when the price is right. I personally would rather have to eat rice and beans for a week than sit in crappy seats but hey, that's just me! The 3 sections we sat in were Section 223, Section 35 and the bleachers. 

Section 223 is right behind home plate in the second section of seats. These are in the shade which can be awesome on those hot and humid summer days. 

         

 Here's the view from 223!

                                  

                                                     

Section 35 was right by the Giants bullpen, I believe we were only 3 rows off the field. These were amazing seats and I think we got a pretty good deal on them! 

             

    

These were my favorite seats!

                                                                                          

The bleachers are unique because they are all general admission tickets so it's first come, first serve and you can sit whereever you want in the bleachers. If you upgrade for the VIP bleacher seats you get in about 30 minutes before the rest of the crowd so you can ensure your favorite seats. Just bring a towel to save your seat, it's kind of an unwritten rule that people won't try and take your seats if you've put something down to stake your claim. We sat in right field a couple rows up and it was pretty fun. The Cubs fans out there are rowdy and hilarious. It's a fun experience sitting out there for sure.

Ballpark Food

Tons of good food but nothing stands out in my mind as a must have. Obviously I'd recommend a Chicago Style dog or pizza. 

I just wrapped up my 3rd trip to Chicago and it's definitey a place I will continue to visit regardless of if there's baseball to be seen there or not. Funny enough, the Cubs are playing 3 games at AT&T Park and I wasn't able to see a game at Wrigley on this trip. I did do another stadium tour though and we learned a lot of new things that we didn't hear on the first tour. Happy 100 years Wrigley!

                              

To the South Side! We did get to go see a White Sox game on Memorial Day while we were in town. They weren't playing the Giants but we wanted to cross another stadium off the list while we were in town. Unfortunately, there's not as much to say about US Cellular Field. The stadium is the polar opposite of Wrigley, all that's out by the stadium is a sports shop that you can enter the stadium through and a sports bar. Also, gates only open 90 minutes before first pitch, not the standard 2 hours. 

They did have a pretty good craft beer selection though and there was a Leinenkugal beer vendor selling Summer Shandy in the stands named Mark who sang a different song with Summer Shandy in the lyrics everytime you bought a beer. We loved him! They also have a Leinenkugal's stand that mixes Summer Shandy with Berry Weiss, Honey Weiss, and makes some fun different combinations of their beers that were delicious. 

We got super cheap tickets in section 116 row 2 (actually row 3 since the first row is AA) for $45. Our seats were awesome but there were a lot of empty seats at the game so we probably could have moved anywhere we wanted closer without a problem. The usher did come down and check tickets at the beginning of the game but that was it. They also had a bald eagle fly out from center field to the mound and it was one of the coolest things I've seen. Below are some pictures of the stadium, the last one has the eagle in it but you have to look close to see it.

      

                                     

                                 

                                      

                                      

I always love being at a ballgame so it's hard to totally disappoint me. Definitely go to a game there if you can, just know there are probably many better stadiums out there!

Well we are almost to St. Louis after an almost 6 hour train ride! We are going to 3 games of the 4 games in the Giants Cards series. We might try and score some cheap tickets for tonight's game too since it's Jeter's last time in St. Louis. Stay tuned for my review of Busch Stadium and LET'S GO GIANTS!!