TRAVENTURE 1: Wrigley Field, Chicago
TRAVENTURE = Travel + Adventure
Although I'm from Indiana, I've probably visited Chicago 50 times throughout the course of my life. Guess how many times I'd been to Wrigley Field before this weekend?
Zero.
Wrigley Field is the historic home of the Chicago Cubs baseball team. My family decided to road trip three hours to watch America's favorite pastime in honor of my dad's birthday. Little did I know that Wrigley was celebrating a birthday, too.
While watching the Cubs dominate the Marlins, I learned a few interesting facts about the stadium:
1. The stadium is 100 years old. (Happy birthday, Wrigley!)
2. Wrigley didn't always have lights. And received lots of criticisms for expecting to fill a stadium with only daytime games.
3. While the stadium feels tiny compared to the last stadium I was in (Dodgers, anyone?), it actually holds over 40,000 people.
4. And just in case the stadium fills up, there's always the option of watching the game from a neighboring rooftop bar. These unique local eateries and bars have become affectionately known as the Wrigley Rooftops.
The Wrigley Rooftops can be seen here peeking out over the stadium. They consist of bleachers and seats on top of local residential or restaurant buildings.
5. As if you needed one more reminder of its age, Wrigley boasts one of the last hand-operated scoreboards around. That's right, folks, no Jumbotron at Wrigley Field — at least, not yet.
After the thrilling Cubs win, we scoured the nearby neighborhood for a delicious dive bar to eat at. We ended up at Flaco's Tacos. I'm pretty picky when it comes to food, but I would have to give Flaco's an 8/10 stars. The food was delicious, but the atmosphere was a little stale.
Overall, this was a very successful and fun first TRAVENTURE. I'm stoked to see what the rest of this summer has to bring! Where would you like to see me visit next?
*Editor's note* The original version of this post was published on June 9, 2014, on lauradaronatsy.wordpress.com and later transferred here.
