Several years ago, my daughter went on vacation with some friends to Chicago. She met a young man who is now her husband, so now my wife and I make at least one trip a year to the windy area of the city.
My son-in-law is a Cubs fan, so we follow the Cubs along with the Giants. Although the Cubs weren’t in town for the week of our little girl’s wedding, we went on the Wrigley Field Tour. This was the beginning of our Wrigley experience.
He was intrigued by the history of the ball park. What a tribute to the pastime of the Americas. Our teacher was a young man drawn 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 in the Wrigley Field area between nine and ten in the morning. We buy sportswear at several of the stores that surround the park. As we drove through the parking lot where the players were parked, we saw Rolls-Royces, Porches, Corvettes, Hummers, and Land Cruisers. Across the street, was there a neighborhood fire department with firefighters observing the festivities?
We had a few drinks in one of the Wrigley 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 that beautiful July afternoon winning the ball game 5-0. We ended the day with dinner at Smokey, a local BBQ restaurant that became famous for its excellent 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 follow the game through ESPN on our phones and continually text the kids at the game.
Matt Garza started the game for the Cubs against the San Diego Padres; Matt pitched six innings, struck out nine batters and scored a run himself. The game lasted eleven innings and the Cubs won the game in the bottom of the eleventh inning with 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 children went to Smokey for dinner to enjoy an excellent barbecue.
If you’ve never been to Wrigley Field and had the “Wrigley Experience,” put this on your list and enjoy a wonderful part of American culture.