Several years ago, my daughter went on vacation to Chicago with some friends. She met a young man who is now her husband, so now my wife and I take at least one trip a year to the Windy City area.
My son-in-law is a Cubs fan so we followed the Cubs along with the Giants. Even though the Cubs weren’t in town the week of our little girl’s wedding, we went on the Wrigley Field Tour. This was the beginning of our Wrigley experience.
I was intrigued by the history of the ball park. What a tribute to America’s pastime. Our docent was a young man who came from his own Cubby story line. He explained that his grandfather sold the property across the street from the main entrance of Wrigley Field to Ray Croc for a McDonalds. The father of this young man sneaked into the stadium as a child with his friends to play ball until the security guard kicked them out.
Last summer (July 2010) we went to a ball game. We arrived at the Wrigley Field area between nine and ten in the morning. We bought sportswear at several of the stores that surround the park. As we drove through the parking lot where the ballplayers parked, we saw Rolls-Royces, Porches, Corvettes, Hummers, and Land Cruisers. Across the street was a neighborhood fire department with firefighters observing the festivities?
We had a few drinks at one of Wrigley’s bars and then continued our exploration of Wrigliville. At 11:30 am we had lunch at Harry Carey’s Tavern across from the ballpark. The Cubs played the St. Louis Cardinals on that beautiful July afternoon and won the ball game 5-0. We finished the day with dinner at Smokey’s, an area BBQ restaurant made famous for its great food and the popular Food Network show “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives” with Guy Fieri.
On Wednesday, April 29, 2011, my daughter, her husband, and her friend and husband just had another Wrigley Experience. I wasn’t there, but my wife and I followed the game on ESPN on our phones and continually texted the kids at the game.
Matt Garza started the Cubs’ game against the San Diego Padres; Matt pitched six innings, striking out nine batters and scoring one run. The game lasted eleven innings and the Cubs won the game in the bottom of the eleventh inning on a home run by Reed Johnson. Matt played in our hometown Easter baseball tournament when he was in high school.
After the game to complete the experience, the kids went to dinner at Smokey’s for a great barbecue.
If you’ve never been to Wrigley Field and have had the “Wrigley Experience,” put this on your list and experience a wonderful part of Americana.
