Sunday August 22, 2010 - Today was the big day, the whole reason we went to Chicago. I wanted to make sure I got a chance to go to a Cubs game to experience "The Friendly Confines" of Wrigley Field. We made sure to wake up around 9:00am on Sunday. I arose with butterflies in my stomach because i was so excited. I was dressed in about ten minutes (after tending to my feet....again) and impatiently waited for the girls to follow suit. We wanted to make sure that we were on the subway bright and early so that we weren't late for the game. We didn't want to have a repeat of New York, where the train broke down and made everyone get off and back onto another train which caused us to be late for the game. So with the girls finally primped and prettied up, we set out for breakfast.
Right on the corner by the hotel was a Corner Bakery Cafe. We had eaten in one in Philadelphia and Miranda had French toast that was out of this world. We were all eager to eat there again and had decided on Friday that we would do so on Sunday. So here we were two days later all primed up and ready to go. Fortunately it wasn't terribly busy for a Sunday morning, but it was definitely full. All three of us ordered the same entrée: the French Toast. The only variation in our orders was beverage. Disappointingly, the Chicago Corner Bakery Cafe's French Toast was not nearly as good as Philly's. In Philadelphia they used cinnamon raisin toast and it was almost like a little loaf of bread. Not so in Chi-town. Not only that, but it was barely warm. Don't get me wrong, it was good but it wasn't what we all remembered from Philadelphia.
So with our bellies now full and me with a cup of coffee, we set out for the red line subway. Wrigley Field is a short nine stops away from where we were staying downtown and fortunately we got on our way early enough that there wasn't a crush of Cubs fans trying to get on the train. It certainly got more crowded the closer we got, but it wasn't terrible.
We got off of the train at the Addison stop and could see Wrigley Field as soon as we stepped onto the platform. I was giddy as a school girl. We made our way onto the street and snapped a few photos across the street so we had the obligatory Wrigley Field sign in the background. We crossed the street and walked into the stadium and there was quite the buzz about the place. You could just feel that it was a different place to watch a game than all of the newer stadiums. It was very similar to how it felt walking to Fenway Park. I was expecting the fans to be a little more rabid than they were, but it was also nice not having non-baseball-know-it-all-guy sitting right behind me telling the person he's with everything about baseball (but being wrong about things more than half of the time).
Our seats were in the fourth row of section 226 so we had a fantastic view. It was also nice that the seats were in the shade. It was the most comfortable ball game I'd been to all year. I was actually wishing I had a sweatshirt and was a little envious of the one Miranda had on. Unbeknown to us prior to arriving at the stadium, we were about to witness history. It was Sweet Lou Pinella's last game before retiring and the last time that Bobby Cox would visit Wrigley Field as the manager of the Atlanta Braves (due to his impending retirement at the end of the season). As a Cubs fan for the day, the game was laughable. The final score was 16-5 and I swear, if that was the best effort that Cubs 3rd baseman Aramis Ramierez is capable of, he is a complete piece of crap. I've seen rec league girls softball players put in more effort to field a ball than he did. It was absolutely disgraceful. Wrigley Field is an absolutely gorgeous ballpark and I'm ecstatic that I had an opportunity to see a game there. At least my streak continues. If I come to your ballpark and I'm rooting for your team, you are going to lose and lose bad. The only exception to this rule that I've during the 2010 baseball season is the New York Yankees. They are the only team that I've rooted for that won. I don't think that really counts though because although I was rooting for them on the outside, in my heart of hearts I wanted them to lose.
When the game was over, we boarded the red line and left Wrigleyville. We got back to the hotel and as usual, it was time for me to take a little nap before we went out and did anything else. When napping time was over, Laela had decided that we should eat dinner at the Weber Grill Restaurant. It was Sunday evening and it was absolutely packed. It was a 45 minute wait to get a table, but it was well worth it in the end. All three of us had the same three things on the menu that we couldn't decide on so each of us ordered one of them and we all shared. We ordered the following: the hickory smoked prime rib, the filet mignon, and the skirt steak. The skirt steak is marinaded in a ginger-soy sauce and then topped with smokey grilled onions and peppers. All three steaks were delicious and they were all served with garlic roasted mashed potatoes. I asked to have my mashed potatoes substituted by a baked one. It was quite honestly the largest potato I have ever seen in my life. It was the size of a pee-wee league football and could have been two meals all by itself.
Having sufficiently stuffed our gullets again, we had one more adventure to embark upon for the evening. We wanted to use our City Passes to visit the Skydeck in the Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower). We arrived at about 9:20 and the observation deck closed at 10:00 so we had made it just in time. Coincidentally, this was the same time and day that we visited the observation deck of the Empire State Building so we were expecting long lines. Much to our surprise there were not that many people there. The lobby was under renovation, so it was kind of beat but after a quick elevator ride up to the 103rd floor, the view was incredible. I love getting to go to the tops of tall buildings at night and getting to see the cityscapes all lit up. The Skydeck also has a unique feature for visitors. It is "The Ledge" which is a glass cube which extends off of the side of the building. You can step out onto it and see right through the glass floor to the street 103 floors below. It is quite the experience. Miranda was really nervous about going into it. We walked in together and her knees were completely wobbly and it took her a minute to adjust to it but she finally gained some confidence that she wouldn't be plummeting to her untimely death, relaxed and enjoyed it. It was a really weird feeling being out there. Don't get me wrong, I had to back into it while looking at the exit sign and then turn around and look down or else I might not have done it either. 10:00 rolled around a little quicker than I would have liked and thus concluded our last full day in Chicago. We went back to the Palmer House, set our alarm for 7:55am Monday morning and went to sleep.
