Chicago

Day Two

After a fun first day of trip, our second day was the driving force behind our trip... the Cubs game! We bought the tickets for the Cubs game way before we planned the trip :) I got lucky finding our fan-freakin-tastic seats on Cubs website on the first day of single ticket sales.

Of we took the train to the Wrigley, super easy and one train change. We decided to eat breakfast around the field so once we got off of the train, I pulled up Yelp.com and found a place to eat within 5 blocks from the field. There was probably closer places, but I went with a breakfast place versus a fast food place.

We ate at a place called Nookies Tree. They had a lot of options for breakfast and they all looked fantastic. I decided on poached eggs over corned beef hash with hash browns, Jim got a breakfast skillet. Everything from the toast, to the coffee, to the patio, to the main dish was damn good. Sure, I was starving at that point, but I think I still would have loved the food .if I wasn't starving.

We walked back to Wrigleyville through a couple of neighborhoods, enjoying the cool weather and looking at the row houses. We weren't really sure where the field was, but we followed the masses. And then when we weren't expecting it, we were face to face with Wrigley field. I got a little emotional when I saw Wrigley... I have been a Cubs fan for as long as I can remember and have many games on TV showing Wrigley and now it was right in front of me.

The famous ivy, score board, and the bleachers. We got to the field early enough to walk around the stadium . We wanted to see all the possible angles that we could. We couldn't get into the bleachers because they had a separate entrance and you needed tickets to get in there :(

View from the upper deck in the right field

I am pointing to where our seats are...

Since we were so close to the field, I was able to get some great photos of the players!

The Cubs won the game against the Brewers, and it was a slug fest! I believe there were 5 home runs in the game and the Cubs won 12-5. So much fun to watch and then cheer the team on in the stands with all of the fans.

Jim is showing us the "w" for WIN

After the game we walked down to Lake Michigan to see the area. The breeze was delightful and we enjoyed walking around.

We decided that dinner would be deep dish pizza, but we were far enough away from the pizza place that we needed a snack and a beer after walking quite a few blocks (unable to find a cab). I can't remember the name of this place, but it was tiny with lots of open space and Goose Island on tap so we were happy. We also ordered fried mac and cheese,,, which was pretty darn good and VERY bad for us but we were on vacation so we had a pass for fried foods.

We finally found a cab and headed over to get this deep dish pizza. It was oh so cheesy an thick with goodness. We both were only able to finish about a slice and a half (we also ordered a salad to share before the pizza). We took the left overs hoping to give it to a homeless person, but son of a bitch, we didn't see one before the John Hancock building. Seriously... we saw homeless people the entire time during the trip except for the time I had some damn fine pizza to share with them.

We got to the John Hancock building observatory right at sunset, so we were able to experience the end of the sunset and night time.

Another jammed packed day in Chicago!!! We ended up heading home after doing some window shopping along Michigan Avenue.

Austin City Limits Festival

2010

Each year we debate on whether or not we want to go to ACL. The main issue that we have is that you buy your tickets before you know who is going to actually play at the 3 day concert. I'm sure, you know that they are going to get big names to play at the concert, but will it be a band that you like or want to see? In the past we have done 3 day passes and we have purchased day passes, just depending on what we have going on and when it is.

This year I waited to long to buy the tickets so I missed out on getting us 3 day passes, so I bought us Friday tickets. We like Friday because typically it is a slower day (I'm guessing people are working or making their way to Austin for the concert). This year it was busier than normal... perhaps the nice weather brought people out or the Phish fans (that are known for traveling to see them play). Either way, we still had a really good time.

We started out the day with Chris. Lindsay was meeting up with us later that day and we had friends coming throughout the day Jim checking out the schedule. We spent a few nights checking out the line up and listening to bands that we haven't heard of before to try to figure out who would be the show to watch.

Jim and I at the Donavan Frankenheimer show. This band was okay, not our favorite



Glad to see that I'm not the only one who loves to take self portrait shots :)

The crowd really started to pick up around 3pm. Once the crowds got this big, it felt like it was the 2nd day of the festival which is on Saturday

At one of the shows I had the pleasure of sitting behind this guy. I was amazed that he could sit in that chair... it looks like it is going straight up his ass and is totally uncomfortable!! I guess it is light weight to carry, but that is the only reason I can see to carry the chair around.

I'm not positive, but I believe this guy is a Phish fan. That is WAY to much tie dye all in one outfit

Port-a-potty... yeah that's right, I took a picture in one (before I used it)

The guitarist from Chief

For lunch I decided to eat at Aquarelle... this steak sandwich with french fries and some type of sauce was DELICIOUS! A friend of mine, Sarah, said that she got the same sandwich and loved it too! I highly doubt that I could go to Aquarelle to get this sandwich because they are a high end restaurant in Austin. If they ever add it to their menu, I'll be the first person to order one! :)

Lot's o' people

Lindsay and I at Spoon

John, Nick, Chris and Jim.

We ran into Nick, John and Magen once we set up our chairs at the Spoon stage. It was so odd to run into everybody since there were so many damn people at the festival

Jim and I at Spoon

I thought it was pretty cool that people could sit on the stage in the risers. I wasn't a big fan of Spoon... I thought they just sounded okay.

Sunsetting on the festival

Nice face dear

Lindsay, Chris, Nick, John and Jim

This balloon acted as a "night light" over the middle part of the festival. It was surprisingly bright

Close up of the "night light"

At Vampire Weekend... They were awesome!

Lindsay, Chris and Jim

Lindsay, Chris and I

These guys were using glowing hula hoops... very cool

Good Bye ACL! We had a grand time!