Captain_Oblivious
DIS Dad #257, Galactic Salad Dodger
- Joined
- Nov 10, 2008
- Messages
- 13,446
There was one benefit of staying at the Best Western that I failed to mention: a free copy of USA Today in the morning. Scotty was able to grab ours in the morning and helpfully set it out for us to read.
Soon everyone was awake, and Barry must have somehow heard us through the walls because he sent us a message asking if we wanted to come over for breakfast. After making the trek to their room, they brought out yet another taste of Wisconsin: a pastry known as a kringle. Or, as Barry referred to it, the pastry that looks like a toilet seat. Anyway, you already know that I believe presentation is overrated as far as food goes. This proved to be the case here as well. Basically, it was a big raspberry Danish, and made for a nice, satisfying breakfast.
Our group was splitting up on this morning. The men were headed to Wrigley Field for a stadium tour. For some unfathomable reason, the women were more interested in checking out some obscure girly doll store.
Obviously, they got the raw end of this deal. We said our goodbyes and headed for the subway.
You might be interested to know that we found the subway station and got on the correct train bound for Wrigley with no navigational issues whatsoever. However, Evan body-checked me the whole way down the street. Im pretty sure this meant he liked me, and that the attempted shove in front of an oncoming bus was simply the result of Evan being over-enthusiastic.
Obviously, someone from the CTA has visited Disney World before:
I was really looking forward to seeing Wrigley for the first time. I had actually looked into getting tickets for a game, but for my family it would have cost approximately the GDP of Guam to obtain them. And given the fact that Julie and Sarah werent too interested anyway, I figured a stadium tour made more sense. Dave was pumped. Hes really become a huge sports fan over the last year or so, and was over the moon with excitement when I told him hed get to see the clubhouse and the dugout. I think Scotty was excited too, but to tell the truth, Im not really sure what goes on in that boys head.
We got to the stadium about an hour before our tour, so that gave us time to wander the neighborhood, take some pictures, and check out the souvenir shops. Evan was already decked out in his Cubs finery, but the boys all decided they needed Cubs hats to commemorate their visit. Evan got an old-school retro Cubs hat, Dave went for the classic C logo, and Scotty got the one with the cute, cuddly bear cub on it. Scotty is a sucker for cute, cuddly, furry animals and is on a mission to collect every single stuffed puppy in existence. I had to shield him from the stuffed Cubs before he broke the budget.
Yes, Im wearing an obnoxious orange Flyers t-shirt in the middle of Chicago. The reason for this is that I was scheduled to meet my Official DisDad Nemesis©, who is a big Blackhawks fan, later in the day. Yes, his team beat mine in the Stanley Cup finals a couple of years ago, but I still felt the obligation to uphold the Nemesis By-laws and do something to annoy him. Surprisingly, nobody gave me any trouble about the shirt throughout the day. This may have something to do with the fact that the Flyers lost.
The kids did their best Ernie Banks impressions. No, they probably dont know who Ernie Banks is.
The tour started right on time, and we were led into the seats behind home plate on our first stop while the guide gave us the history of Wrigley Field and the Cubs. Its the second-oldest stadium in baseball (Bostons Fenway Park is the oldest), having been built in 1914. Originally there was no outfield walljust a rope held by ushers with spectators standing behind them. The Cubs were forced to build a wall later by Major League Baseball. Why? It seems that whenever they played the St. Louis Cardinals, the rope would move back and up when the Cardinals were batting and forward and down when the Cubs were at the plate.
From here, we climbed up to the top of the stadium to see the press boxes. Heres the stadium organ.
And heres the Cubs TV booth, where legendary announcer Harry Caray called the games.
I didnt envy the press corpsat the top of the stadium, there was a rafter in the way and the view of the field wasnt that great. On the plus side, they did get free wi-fi.
From here, we descended to the Cubs clubhouse. I could tell Dave was excited and enjoying himself, because he talks a mile a minute when he gets excited. Daddy, I can see the scoreboard! Daddy, looka bird on the roof! Etc., etc.
The visitor clubhouse shows the limitations of older stadiums. Its a cramped space that is actually above the main concourse of the stadium. See the pillar closest to us in this picture? That was the original wall up till the mid-1980s. If you think that is cramped, remember that the Chicago Bears used to play football games here toowhich means 55 guys had to dress in that little space. Still, the Cubs have spared no expense to make teams comfortable. For the postgame meals, they have provided a single fold-up table in the middle of the room.
We got to see the famous bleachers in the outfield as well. On the way, a service door was open, giving us an up-close view of the famous ivy-covered outfield walls. This is the same ivy that was first planted in 1938 (or soI forget the exact year).
Barry showed me a sign on one of the homes across the street that is keeping track of the years without championships. These numbers mean: "After Championship": 2 years since last division title, 51 years since last pennant, and 102 years since last championship.
And if I remember correctly, Barry also told me Eamus Catuli is Latin for, We stink!
The final stop was a walk across the field (ok, the track on the edge of the field) to the Cubs dugout. We took our time, getting some once-in-a-lifetime shots behind home plate.
Before we could even get to the dugout, the guide started announcing that everyone had to leave. Knowing our boys would be crushed if they didnt get to go in the dugout, I asked the guide if we could take them in there for a quick look-see. Real quick, the Dugout Nazi answered. I mean, REAL QUICK. Weve gotta go. Im not sure what exactly the hurry wasit was an off day for the Cubs. Maybe they thought the Cubs would sign our boys to un-tradeable $150 million contracts if they hung around.
Barry and I traded cameras so we could try and get pictures of each other with our kids in the dugout. It wasnt much of a help. Our boys had barely sat down on the bench before the Dugout Nazi was yelling at us to get out. So much for our photo op. We basically just fired off as many pictures as we could while we walked back out.
Despite ending on a negative note, I thought the tour was a lot of fun. Very informative and interesting, and it was a thrill to see the historic ballpark in person. I knew Dave was happy, because he started talking about trying to get tickets to see a game there. And I knew Scotty was feeling normal, because he asked when we were going to eat lunch.
Continued next post...

Soon everyone was awake, and Barry must have somehow heard us through the walls because he sent us a message asking if we wanted to come over for breakfast. After making the trek to their room, they brought out yet another taste of Wisconsin: a pastry known as a kringle. Or, as Barry referred to it, the pastry that looks like a toilet seat. Anyway, you already know that I believe presentation is overrated as far as food goes. This proved to be the case here as well. Basically, it was a big raspberry Danish, and made for a nice, satisfying breakfast.
Our group was splitting up on this morning. The men were headed to Wrigley Field for a stadium tour. For some unfathomable reason, the women were more interested in checking out some obscure girly doll store.

You might be interested to know that we found the subway station and got on the correct train bound for Wrigley with no navigational issues whatsoever. However, Evan body-checked me the whole way down the street. Im pretty sure this meant he liked me, and that the attempted shove in front of an oncoming bus was simply the result of Evan being over-enthusiastic.
Obviously, someone from the CTA has visited Disney World before:

I was really looking forward to seeing Wrigley for the first time. I had actually looked into getting tickets for a game, but for my family it would have cost approximately the GDP of Guam to obtain them. And given the fact that Julie and Sarah werent too interested anyway, I figured a stadium tour made more sense. Dave was pumped. Hes really become a huge sports fan over the last year or so, and was over the moon with excitement when I told him hed get to see the clubhouse and the dugout. I think Scotty was excited too, but to tell the truth, Im not really sure what goes on in that boys head.

We got to the stadium about an hour before our tour, so that gave us time to wander the neighborhood, take some pictures, and check out the souvenir shops. Evan was already decked out in his Cubs finery, but the boys all decided they needed Cubs hats to commemorate their visit. Evan got an old-school retro Cubs hat, Dave went for the classic C logo, and Scotty got the one with the cute, cuddly bear cub on it. Scotty is a sucker for cute, cuddly, furry animals and is on a mission to collect every single stuffed puppy in existence. I had to shield him from the stuffed Cubs before he broke the budget.

Yes, Im wearing an obnoxious orange Flyers t-shirt in the middle of Chicago. The reason for this is that I was scheduled to meet my Official DisDad Nemesis©, who is a big Blackhawks fan, later in the day. Yes, his team beat mine in the Stanley Cup finals a couple of years ago, but I still felt the obligation to uphold the Nemesis By-laws and do something to annoy him. Surprisingly, nobody gave me any trouble about the shirt throughout the day. This may have something to do with the fact that the Flyers lost.
The kids did their best Ernie Banks impressions. No, they probably dont know who Ernie Banks is.

The tour started right on time, and we were led into the seats behind home plate on our first stop while the guide gave us the history of Wrigley Field and the Cubs. Its the second-oldest stadium in baseball (Bostons Fenway Park is the oldest), having been built in 1914. Originally there was no outfield walljust a rope held by ushers with spectators standing behind them. The Cubs were forced to build a wall later by Major League Baseball. Why? It seems that whenever they played the St. Louis Cardinals, the rope would move back and up when the Cardinals were batting and forward and down when the Cubs were at the plate.
From here, we climbed up to the top of the stadium to see the press boxes. Heres the stadium organ.

And heres the Cubs TV booth, where legendary announcer Harry Caray called the games.

I didnt envy the press corpsat the top of the stadium, there was a rafter in the way and the view of the field wasnt that great. On the plus side, they did get free wi-fi.
From here, we descended to the Cubs clubhouse. I could tell Dave was excited and enjoying himself, because he talks a mile a minute when he gets excited. Daddy, I can see the scoreboard! Daddy, looka bird on the roof! Etc., etc.

The visitor clubhouse shows the limitations of older stadiums. Its a cramped space that is actually above the main concourse of the stadium. See the pillar closest to us in this picture? That was the original wall up till the mid-1980s. If you think that is cramped, remember that the Chicago Bears used to play football games here toowhich means 55 guys had to dress in that little space. Still, the Cubs have spared no expense to make teams comfortable. For the postgame meals, they have provided a single fold-up table in the middle of the room.
We got to see the famous bleachers in the outfield as well. On the way, a service door was open, giving us an up-close view of the famous ivy-covered outfield walls. This is the same ivy that was first planted in 1938 (or soI forget the exact year).


Barry showed me a sign on one of the homes across the street that is keeping track of the years without championships. These numbers mean: "After Championship": 2 years since last division title, 51 years since last pennant, and 102 years since last championship.

And if I remember correctly, Barry also told me Eamus Catuli is Latin for, We stink!




The final stop was a walk across the field (ok, the track on the edge of the field) to the Cubs dugout. We took our time, getting some once-in-a-lifetime shots behind home plate.



Before we could even get to the dugout, the guide started announcing that everyone had to leave. Knowing our boys would be crushed if they didnt get to go in the dugout, I asked the guide if we could take them in there for a quick look-see. Real quick, the Dugout Nazi answered. I mean, REAL QUICK. Weve gotta go. Im not sure what exactly the hurry wasit was an off day for the Cubs. Maybe they thought the Cubs would sign our boys to un-tradeable $150 million contracts if they hung around.
Barry and I traded cameras so we could try and get pictures of each other with our kids in the dugout. It wasnt much of a help. Our boys had barely sat down on the bench before the Dugout Nazi was yelling at us to get out. So much for our photo op. We basically just fired off as many pictures as we could while we walked back out.

Despite ending on a negative note, I thought the tour was a lot of fun. Very informative and interesting, and it was a thrill to see the historic ballpark in person. I knew Dave was happy, because he started talking about trying to get tickets to see a game there. And I knew Scotty was feeling normal, because he asked when we were going to eat lunch.
Continued next post...