For the Love of Sports and Food: A Midwestern Adventure

Before crossing over into the Central Standard Time Zone, there was one more place to be explored in South Bend. After having breakfast at this cool place called Le Peep, I headed across the street to the College Football Hall of Fame. A gridiron turf entrance laid the path to its entrance, which was surrounded by the flags from every Division I college football team, even UB!! I was tol at the breakfast place that the Hall of Fame is moving to Atlanta in a couple years, so it was good timing to be going through South Bend. Now, I'm not a huge college football fan, but the experience that awaited me inside this Hall of Fame really changed how I felt about the tradition and history behind it. I can't describe every detail of the place, and it is definitely worth a visit if you are passing through, but inside was a plethora of trophies, artifacts, uniforms, audio/video kiosks, enshrinements, school spirit, and other interactive displays.

If there is anything to know about today, it was that there was no lack of amazing experiences. After a short ride going west of South Bend, my dad and I made it to Chicago! I had only been to O'Hare International Airport, so this was my first real time on the ground. In short, Chicago blew me away. But I'm not going to leave it at that. We decided to take the scenic way in on Lake Shore Drive, and it provided spectacular views of the city and Lake Michigan. We headed up to the north side from there to get Cubs tickets for the game that was going to be played later in the evening. After going through some of the neighborhoods we headed to our hotel in Elmhurst so that we could drop off the car and take the train back downtown to explore.

Now, this is the part for my fellow planners. In terms of the transportation system, the stations were nicely done and the prices were very fair. The only major complaint I had, especially for the city of its size, was that there were very few stations where you could buy your train tickets from a machine... you either had to find an open ticket window or buy the tickets on the train. I feel like it would have been more efficient to have ticket machines rather than having long lines form to talk to buy tickets from the one person at the window. But this was only a minor complaint and ultimately, I had nearly no problems using their metro system. In addition, Chicago felt very similar to New York City, yet there was something different about it that I couldn't quite put my finger on. The parts of Chicago I saw were definitely cleaner and less smelly than NYC, and I never felt swallowed by the all buildings as the spacing was nice and the people generally friendly.

Anyways, the first order of business was to get deep dish pizza. If it's cliche, I don't care. Thanks to Chris Dochney, I decided to try out a place called Pizano's located near Millenium Park. Now, I'm not a big deep dish pizza person (I grew up on NYC thin crust pizza), but I was determined to find a deep dish pizza that I would like (and no... Uno's is disgusting). I just got a basic cheese and pepperoni deep dish, but there was nothing basic about the taste or the texture. It was incredibly delicious and was absolutely worth the half hour wait for them to make the pizza to order.

On a full stomach, I made this quick dash over to Millenium Park. It was simply stunning. Not only was the architecture and art amazing, but it provided magnificent views of the city and Lake Michigan. The ampitheatre was definitely a product of Frank Gehry and the crowd favorite Cloud Gate or "the bean" provided many thrills for everyone there. It was pretty awesome to see how it reflected everything. I could go on and on about the park, but in the interest of time and your attention span, I will let my picture below and google images do the talking.

Last but not least, after taking the Elevated Train up to the north side, we arrived at Wrigley Field to see the Cubs take on the Brewers of Milwaukee. Wrigley is definitely one of those places that all baseball fans should have on their bucket list and is a mecca for baseball in general. The old time feel and intimate surroundings make it a stadium that's hard to find elsewhere. And the whole experience started off great. As I entered the bleachers sections and spotted a good area to sit in the general admission section, I look over to the Brewers practicing in right field when one of the players throws the ball into the stands for someone to grab. Apparently I chose the right place at the perfect to literally just walk to the seat I spotted from 100 feet away and then look at right field and have the ball lobbed right to me. I made the smooth catch over some maligned Cubs fans, smiled to and high fived my dad, and then sat down. It wasn't the way I imagined catching my first baseball, but it was nonetheless awesome. The atmosphere at Wrigley was very enjoyable and most people were very friendly. We even had a treat when Bob Uecker sang "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" at the 7th inning stretch. If you don't know who he is, then this should jog your memory: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPi9r0j2rcc. Anyways, the Cubies pulled one out in extra innings, but Bartman still haunts them. So the Cubs have now won two in a row, but it is only a matter of time until they start to lose a lot, as is tradition. But for today, it was a glorious day for the Chicago Cubs, and therefore the world.

Tomorrow I am off to the great cheese state of Wisconsin. Stay classy, east-coasters.