Howdy readers! Here's another installment of my awesome weekend in Chicago. The last touristy place I went to before I left was
Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs baseball team. Let me first admit that I know very little about baseball as a sport so I took this tour strictly because of the history this place holds and frankly, I've never been inside a baseball stadium before, so why not? (In a cultural and historical context I know a bit more about baseball, but stats and team rankings and all that? Naw, not me!)
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| Wrigley Field Sign |
I took a tour on a Sunday afternoon, and they are offered on a fairly regular basis. The tour guides were freakishly friendly and informative (I mean seriously, Chicago was absolutely awesome on the customer service front) and they all seemed interested in baseball as a whole. When they found out I lived in Pittsburgh they began telling me Pirates statistics and factoids about PNC Park (where the Pirates now play).
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| Super nice tour guides. My guide was Molly Phillips, on the far right |
It was a bit chilly (and windy) when I took my 90+ minute tour, but I learned quite a bit. Wrigley is the second oldest baseball park in America (Fenway in Boston is the oldest- I guess I have a date with that place this July!) and is home to the first ever concession stand in a sports venue. Molly (my tour guide for those who didn't read the captions) gave lots of interesting facts about the Field. I kept getting distracted by the luscious looking grass- I mean seriously it looked fake it was so perfect looking- but I picked up quite a few tidbits. For example, there is an "elephant gate" that used to connect right to the street before a new outer wall was built in recent years, and it got its name because when circuses used to be held at the field, that was the entrance that they let the elephants in through. I learned a ton of sports legends- everyone from Babe Ruth to Michael Jordan- have come through Wrigley. I learned about why there are roof-top seats in adjacent buildings (and a little about the financial and contractual pros and cons of having them). I learned what a "bleacher bum" was, learned that the famed ivy that usually covers the wall can be an arm's length thick (the ivy wasn't there because it was still too early for it to sprout), and learned about the W and L flags that signal to everyone if the Cubs were victorious or not.
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| By the Elephant Gate |
The tour was quite extensive, we went everywhere from the field, through the stands and bleachers in several different spots, both the visiting team and home locker rooms, the dug out, and the press box- everywhere pretty much! I thought it was a pretty decent tour, and loved all the history the place has. I know it isn't as flashy or impressive as a newer place like PNC Park, but to me I think that's what gives it it's charm. (Apparently I'm in the minority on this though. Here's a
recent article featuring comments from people shamefully calling the place a dump!) I think that's a horrible way to view a place as beautiful as this and folks should feel ashamed for treating it that way. I hope Wrigley Field lasts another century (it will be 100 years old very soon!) and that they continue to give tours and educate the baseball-illiterate public (such as myself!)
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| View from the Press Box |
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| Framed W sign in the home locker room that celebrated the Cub's 10,000th victory |
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| Me in the dugout |
I still have a little bit more to discuss about my trip to Chicago (The Sears Tower and the Frank Lloyd Wright row houses!) but those will come another day. Until then, please feel free to check out my (still uncaptioned)
Facebook photos and follow me on
Twitter and
Pinterest. Very excited about the rest of my upcoming trips, but until then thank you for reading my blog, and I'll see you on my next adventure!
