We were able to find a pair of tickets in the upper deck for a price I could handle, and the decision was made. We packed up and left Blacksburg a little before 9:00pm. The game was at 12:05 and we wanted to be in Chicago by 10:00am on Saturday.
Kirsten was excited, so she insisted on taking the first leg of the journey. I tried unsuccessfully to fall asleep so I could take over later all through West Virginia. I was too keyed up though and probably only slept for 10 minutes at the most. I took over a little ways into Kentucky and Kirsten snuggled into the back seat to get some sleep. As I entered Indiana from Louisville, there was a lightening storm up ahead and I was mesmerized, watching the sky lighting up. It was a pretty cool sight. I'd never realized just how hilly Virginia is until I was driving through Indiana and just how far I could see in any direction.
A little ways into Indiana I stopped and grabbed an energy drink to help keep me awake. I elected to try one of the 5 hour energy type drinks and a water. Turned out this was a bad idea. I was wide awake and good to go for a while, but then I started getting extremely nauseous. It was all I could do to keep from puking, and eventually, had to stop. I pulled over at a gas station and tried getting it out, but I'd done too good a job of keeping it down before for it to come out now.
Kirsten had woken up from her nap and elected to take over so I could try to relax. As long as I kept my heart rate low I was fine, but if I got the least bit excited or startled I was immediately fighting for control of my stomach again.
Eventually, around 5:30 am, we stopped at a rest stop and elected to both sleep for an hour or two there before heading out. The rest stop was packed with other cars, all with the same idea. I managed to get a little over an hour's worth of sleep before I woke up, feeling sick again. After about 20 minutes in the bathroom, I gave up on completely ridding myself of the caffeine hell and decided to get going. As soon as I pulled back onto the highway, Kirsten woke up, a little annoyed that I had left the rest stop before she could change and brush her teeth. So we had to make due with a McDonald's bathroom, where a woman, upon seeing Kirsten brushing her teeth, asked her if she was homeless.
As we neared Chicago and got on the Chicago Loop portion of highway, I was increasingly astounded by the people driving around me. The speed limit had dropped to 55, I was doing 65-70, and people were blasting past me. Once I actually got into the city, traffic was much lighter, but at that point I was on my own as far as going anywhere went. We decided to drive around for a while, since it was only 9:00am local time. After touring the city a bit, and driving underneath the tracks for an 'L' train, we parked at a garage on Washington St. in the heart of downtown and hoofed it from there.
We hopped on the red line train, following the crowds, and made our way to Wrigley. It was an awesome sight for anyone who is a Baseball fan, not to mention a Blues Brothers fan. Courtesy of that movie, I know the address for Wrigley Field. (note, the picture was actually taken after the game.
When we got to Wrigley, first thing we did was find a vendor and get Kirsten a hat, because the Cubs hat she had intended on wearing was too small. She got a nice dark blue hat that she actually felt comfortable wearing and that wouldn't give her a headache.
After that, we debated wandering around, but decided to just head right in to the park. As we walked in, we were handed free Cubs hats! I call that a lucky day. Pretty much as soon as we walked in, we were greeted by the smell of really good ballpark food, so we made a beeline for that. Dylan had suggested we get Italian beef sandwiches while we were in Chicago, and seeing them on the menu, decided to get them with hot peppers and cheese.
These sandwiches were awesome. I'm sure they're some of the worst you can find in the city, considering they're ballpark food, but they were pretty fantastic nonetheless. Sandwiches and drinks in hand, we made our way up to the upper deck and to our seats. Kirsten was just about in tears at the sight of the place. It was all I could do to stop staring and actually eat my sandwich.
The game was fantastic. Kirsten was a little torn, having rooted for the Indians since she was little and visiting her family in Ohio, but also wanting to root for the home team Cubbies. As it was, we were both able to sit back and enjoy the game being played without really choosing sides. The game couldn't have been scripted better. The Indians jumped out to an early lead which they held for a while. Then the lead went back and forth for a while, and was tied through nine. The extra innings started to be grueling just because we were tired and were both having trouble sitting in the heat.
Then the thirteenth inning was absolutely insane. An Indians player hit a two-out solo homer to take the lead. Then in the bottom of the inning, Fukodome singled, then stole second. The throw to second went wide and Fukodome was then able to take third. He was then singled in to tie the game. Blanco, the man on first, then made it to third when the next batter singled on a hit-and-run. Then the pitcher threw a wild pitch and Blanco came in to score and end the game. And it was all thanks to my rally cap that I put on at the beginning of the bottom of the thirteenth.
After the game, we wandered around in search of a pizza place on of the ushers had recommended to us that was just a couple blocks away from the stadium. We struggled to find it for a while, walking the wrong way for a bit, but made it eventually. It was definitely worth the walk and effort of finding it. We got an italian beef pizza, deep dish of course, and this thing was a monster. The menu said a medium fed 2-3. Clearly they meant 2-3 O-linemen. I was hungry when I came in and I thought I was going to explode trying to force down a second slice. But it was so delicious. Though, honestly, I think I can make something similar. I'd just be spending about $25 on mozzarella cheese alone. Each slice probably weighed about a pound.
We only ate half the pizza and had to just leave the rest since we had no real way of bringing it home. We were both sad about that, just because it would be such a waste to through out that much delicious pizza.
We made our way back downtown and proceeded to get lost for a while. When we did regain our bearings, we made our way toward Lake Michigan, since that was one thing we both really wanted to see. We wandered through the parks that border the Lake downtown, and eventually made our way back to the car.
I would spend the next hour or so trying to drive out of the city. My GPS was frustrating at times, but in the end was quite possibly the only way we made it out at all. There were basically no signs directing you to the highway. The one time we did see some, following them led us to a closed street.
I made my way out of the city and back into Indiana before finding a rest stop to stop at. We were both exhausted and promptly fell asleep. I didn't think we would stay there long, but next thing I knew it was light out. We spent almost all of Sunday in the car, making our way home. It was pretty cool to see a lot of the things we drove by in the night. I was very tempted to stop off in Louisville and go to the Louisville Slugger museum and factory, but decided it would have to wait for another trip.
In the end, I had an absolute blast, but I don't expect to be repeating such a feat too soon. We agreed that next time we want a third person to drive with to make the division of driving a bit easier. If you want to see some more pictures, check out facebook. We both posted our fair share.
All the best to you and yours,
-TES
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