May 7, 2022
As a life-long Dodgers fan, and a fan of baseball in general, it’s been a long-time bucket list item for me to visit Wrigley Field to watch the Dodgers take on the Cubs.
I finally got that chance.
One of the first things I was determined to do when I started this blog was to pull the trigger and make it out to Illinois to cross this item off my To-Do list. My friends David and Veronica live in Illinois and were willing to put me up for my time there so all I’d really need to do was get there. In early 2020, I started making plans.
Then COVID happened.
Shortly after meeting Brandy, and MLB decided to nix fans coming to the stadiums for a shortened 60-game season, we decided to make plans to head out to the Midwest to visit anyway, and maybe even swing by the Friendly Confines, even if there was no game being played.
While the trip was fine and we did indeed swing by Clark and Addison to view the stadium from the outside, that burning desire to see a game there never left.
Due to the brief separation Brandy and I went through, a visit in 2021 wasn’t in the cards, but after a successful reuniting, and a move to within 3.5 hours of the stadium, 2022 became the year I was finally able to do this.
Planning and Prep
Once we got settled in to our place in Iowa, I checked the schedule to see when the Dodgers would be in town. The only visit they’re making in 2022 was a weekend series at the beginning of May. Brandy’s friend Hilary wanted to go so three tickets were purchased for the 1:20 game on Saturday, May 7, and a hotel room was booked. The plan was to drive out Saturday morning, park at the hotel, Lyft to the game, Lyft back to the hotel, stay the night and then drive back Sunday morning.
The excitement grew.
I mentally ticked the days off in my head until Friday, May 6, when news broke.
Our game was moved up to noon from 1:20. This meant we’d have to leave an hour earlier.
Then, Brandy and I had a quick conversation: why don’t we just drive back after the game and save a couple hundred dollars on lodging?
Alright, sounds good to me.
I logged on to hotels.com, cancelled our reservation and started looking for parking near the stadium. I found myself on a website spothero.com and looked for spots near Wrigley Field. I was seeing prices in excess of $180 for a day’s worth of parking.
Ouch.
I kept scrolling until I stumbled upon a golden opportunity. I found a valet spot just a couple of blocks away from the field, in a church parking lot, for $35.
*Snagged*
Tickets were purchased, parking was secured, all we had to do now was wait.
Game Day
Early Saturday morning, Hilary and Sue showed up from Ottumwa. Sue was going to watch Ash while we were gone and she did a little gardening for us while she was here.
We quickly said our good-byes to Ash and Sue and were on the road at 7:00.
The drive to the stadium is about 3 1/2 hours. Add a stop for gas and a bio break, call it 3 hours, 45 minutes. We found ourselves at the church where our parking spot was at about 10:45, pulled in and were greeted by a parking attendant who took our keys as we set off.
We briefly walked through a neighborhood of brownstone buildings and quickly found ourselves on Clark St. We headed north for a few blocks, through construction areas and under el tracks until we turned a tight corner and were face to face with the red marquee.
There was a huge crowd assembled right outside the gates. They were open but no one seemed to be going inside. We wriggled our way through the throng and found ourselves at the gates with no one ahead of us.
I pulled up our tickets on the MLB Ballpark app, got them scanned and we headed in.
Wrigley Field
As we entered, we were each handed a David Ross bobblehead (sweet, bobblehead day!) then we found ourselves immediately on the concourse of the stadium. There were the requisite hot dog stands and souvenir shops but we bypassed all that to, first, take another bio break, then to find our seats.
We climbed a short set of stairs up to the main aisle at our section, 223, then climbed up another few stairs to row 11. We seated ourselves in seats 1, 2 and 3 when I realized…
*Cue Sad Trombone*
Not realizing this was not Dodgers stadium, I parked us right behind a support column. The column obstructed my view down the baseline between first and second, so I couldn’t see either base, or left field.
Ah well, maybe I could find a seat on the front side of the column later in the game. (Spoiler alert: I did not.)
We quickly realized that the 54 degrees we were expecting did not take into account the brisk onshore breeze from nearby Lake Michigan. Combined with the fact that we were under the mezzanine (that was being held up by the column blocking my view), our hoodies were not quite enough to keep us warm and we wound up freezing our behinds off the entire game.
Shortly after finding our seats, Hilary and I headed down to the concourse for some ballpark fare. We went to the closest stand and I got a couple hot dogs (they were pretty small), a beer, and a soft pretzel with cheese and water for Brandy. It was completely self serve and when we got up to the register, it was a pad where you set everything you’re purchasing and cameras scan the items and give your total. You run your card through the completely cashless system and off you go, with minimal interaction with any people. Hilary went to a couple of different spots looking for other food options so I went back to our seats without her.
The only condiments offered were ketchup and mustard, no onions, relish, jalapenos, nothing else. I unwrapped my minimally dressed dogs and was thoroughly disappointed. They tasted like they had been sitting for a while (which they likely were with the setup they had). Brandy had similar complaints about her pretzel. I guess you could say the most enjoyable part of the food was the beer.
We settled in as the game began and, at the risk of incurring the wrath of MLB, I will not go into details of the game itself:
Any rebroadcast, retransmission, or account of this game, without the express written consent of Major League Baseball, is prohibited
MLB Broadcast Disclaimer
As I do not have the express written consent of Major League Baseball, I am prohibited from providing any account of the game. If you’d like to read a detailed description of the game, you can do so on MLB’s website, though I think I’d be safe in saying that the Dodgers did win 7-0.
During the 6th inning, the cold was too much to bear so I went to one of the souvenir shops and got a Cubs blanket. While I was out, I picked up some peanuts and another beer to enjoy the rest of the game.
As the game entered the 9th inning, we decided to head on out. The Cubs were unlikely to make up a 7 run deficit in one inning so we called it a win and headed out.
We exited the stadium the same was we entered and as we exited, a man just outside the gate asked if the bobbleheads we were carrying were a giveaway from the day’s game. It looked like he had missed out and didn’t get one so I offered mine up as we certainly don’t need two in our household.
We walked back down Clark St. toward the car and were shocked at how much warmer it was in the sun. It was still a bit chilly but I certainly could have gotten by if I took my hoodie off.
As we headed down the street, I noticed a cannabis store flying an Iowa Hawkeyes flag.
It was interesting to see a Hawkeyes flag so far from home.
We soon made it back to the parking lot where the car was and began our journey home. The route given by the GPS took us to Lake Shore Drive and down through some incredible tunnels that I wish I had an opportunity to get some imagery of. All of the tunnels I’ve ever been through have been dug out of mountains, but this was much more urban and concrete. It was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before.
We continued on our way until we hit the 290 and started on the trip home.
Dinner Stop
We drove for a bit hopping onto the 88, then when we got into Naperville, just outside of Chicago, we decided to hop off for a bite to eat. This not being a planned stop and not being familiar with Naperville, we drove around for a bit trying to find a place where we could sit down and eat. We eventually gave up and looked it up and found ourselves at Uncle Julio’s, a Mexican restaurant.
We walked in and were greeted by the hostess who grabbed a handful of menus and walked us back to our table. As we walked away, I heard another on the phone saying, “We’re completely booked until 9:30.”
We sat and ordered, Brandy ordering steak fajitas, Hilary ordering shrimp fajitas and I ordered carnitas tacos.
We were given some chips and salsa and Brandy ordered queso and guacamole which we munched on until our food arrived.
I gotta say, that was some damned fine Mexican food. The carnitas was nice and crispy, the corn tortillas were delicious and the beans and rice were on point. We were all a little let down by the salsa but the queso and guacamole were good.
When Brandy and Hilary were finished eating, they had some flour tortillas left over. I tried one and I must say, that’s a close competition between them and the tortillas from Golden Pride in Albuquerque.
We paid our bill and headed out to make the last leg of the trip.
Home and Conclusion
We got home at around 6:00 pm. We took a look at the amazing gardening Sue had done for us, cleaning up the flower bed and planting a new hosta for us. We were pretty tuckered out so we sat and chatted for a bit before calling it a night.
So, to recap, we had a last-minute change in game time that prompted the cancellation of our hotel room to make it a turn-around trip, it was freezing cold, I had an obstructed view and the food was terrible.
It was absolutely perfect.
I am so happy to have had the chance to see the Dodgers at Wrigley Field, to see Clayton Kershaw pitch possibly for the last time before he hangs ’em up, and to spend the day with my adoring wife (she put up with a LOT on this trip!)
Course, next time, I hope the Dodgers are in town a little later in the season, and I will be sure to find seats ahead of the support columns.
I also hope to spend more time in the city and see more of what there is to see. But we will see. See? I said ‘see’ a lot right there, didn’t I?
What’s Next
We will be spending the next couple of weekends getting ready for a garage sale on May 28 so long trips will not be possible until June, but believe you me, I do have a handful of things I want to explore once that time frees up. In the meantime, I do have a couple of local things I’m getting ready to check out.
Until then, check out the pics from this trip on my Photo Diary and stay tuned for an update from the trails coming soon!
As always, thanks for stopping by. I appreciate you.
-Phil