Coming to you live on a Sunday afternoon in my car as we wait for Dave to return to us after his flight was cancelled, the blog has a special guest editor and contributer to the “Thirty before 30” experience, Matt from Atlanta!
Picking up where we left off on the last blog post, Big Dave Cohen arrived in Chicago safe and sound Friday evening, and it immediately went back to how it was in the old times – that is bouncing off each other’s weird sense of humor and schooling Muley and her room mate Nicole in the classic drinking game “Baseball” – (I’m not posting the rules again here, because I’ll make it sound like shit, just follow the link).
We both got about 4 hours sleep before it was time to get up and watch the men in gold do their thing. Brian O’Shea (remember our Irish friend) came to scoop us up and advised that no bars were open so we were going to his other Irish mate’s place Rory (shoutout Rory).
Following the Wallabies victory (although it felt like there were no winners with that referee making it all about himself), Dave and I left the Irish lads to go downtown to our hotel, grab a bite to eat, and meet up with our third amigo for the weekend Matt (who will also subsequently joining up again in Dallas next Saturday).
We also did some walking around downtown Chicago, which is a beautiful city that reminded me of a “cleaner” version of New York City with wider streets and Midwest charm.
As we finished eating and got ready for the Cubs game that afternoon, we could feel something special was in the air as the sun began to emerge from behind the clouds and all of the sudden the city was glowing ready for some Cubs baseball at the famous Wrigley Field.
Wrigley Field is located in an area of Chicago (funnily enough) known as “Wrigleyville”. The area contains some beautiful residential tree lined streets and a main area full of awesome bars and also Wrigley Field itself.
We were all super excited, and took a perch at a bar where the bartender (dammit forgot the name again) told us some of the historical facts about the Cubs and Wrigley Field – the guy was legit a baseball encyclopaedia.
As we downed our drinks and headed to the field, the excitement was well and truly in full flight.
Walking in to this historical ballpark for the first time was a memory I’ll truly always treasure. It’s difficult to describe, but the old world charm with not a bad seat in the house, combined with a sell-out crowd all cheering for their beloved Cubs, all comes together to make for what is easily one of the top 5 sporting experiences of my life (and remember – I’m the guy who has been to two Super Bowls, not to brag hehe).
The game itself featured the Cubs hosting division rival Pittsburgh Pirates in a game that was important for both within the standings. The Cubs had stud pitcher Jon Lester on the mound that day, and he did what he typically does only allowing 1 hit the entire game (if we’d seen a no hitter at Wrigley I might have actually lost it). The Cubs would start the game with 2 runs in the bottom of the first inning, and given the aforementioned pitching by Lester, would hold onto that lead ultimately winning 2-0.
This is when the party starts.
Upon winning, the Cubs play their traditional victory song “Go Cubs Go” (again, listen to this in the video aove and try not to get it stuck in your head all day). Then the fans then go ballistic, pouring out of the stadium onto the streets and hit one of the plethora of bars around. You’d honestly think the Cubs had won the World Series again with the way people were losing it, but that’s just how much this city loves Cubs baseball on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.
I won’t go into too much detail about the bars after the game, so I’ll just let you know we were safe, enjoyed the refreshments and had a whole lot of fun.
After a long day, it was time for us to retreat back to the hotel and grab a bite to eat. So what better to satisfy our cravings for food than the traditional Chicago delicacy “Deep Dish Pizza”.
Having wanted to try this unique food staple for some time, the three of us dived right in and smashed two slices each before feeling uncomfortably full and falling into a dreaded “food coma”. The pizza is so heavy and thick it’s more like a pie that resembles a pizza, however the flavors were amazing so I scored it a 6.9/10.
*NO REVIEW VIDEO AS PHONE WAS BROKEN AT THIS POINT*
I’ve really loved the city of Chicago and will be sad leaving on Tuesday morning after the White Sox game Monday night – although I’m pumped to see Dave and Matt again next weekend in Dallas.
It’s now one third of the way through, and I’m still having the greatest time on this crazy road trip. Looking forward further sharing the experience with you and also checking out some touristy things around Chicago today!
Thirty before 30 