What’s the best way to explore a new city?
Nancy and Mark were sitting around one day early in the year. Mark said, “you know, I would really love to go see a Major League Baseball game somewhere new. Where can we go?”. “I know! Let’s go to Chicago! Easy flight, no connections and we can take the subway to the game.” Let the planning commence!
First up was picking the dates based on a baseball game. They found an afternoon game between the Cubs and the Pirates and good seats in a section or two behind the Cubs dugout. Nancy booked the flights and found a place to stay. It definitely had to be close to the prominent downtown area and close to the subway.
Next up was finding the attractions. Wendella for a boat tour on the river, stores in the area, and definitely time for the Navy Pier.
Everything was mapped out for the four days they would be there.
The big day arrives! Naturally, their flight is delayed by an hour but who cares – it’s their only flight! The flight was easy and when they arrived in Chicago, they figured out how to schedule an Uber and found the spot to stand and wait. Their driver was really nice but the trip took a long time! There was so much traffic.
Their Air bnb was a hotel which was really weird, but they didn’t mind. A restaurant was attached, but wasn’t part of the hotel, but it was handy and tasty.
One morning, they ate at Ed Debevic’s which had classic, American comfort food and waiters with a schtick. They didn’t care if they got harassed, the food was worth it.
On the day of the game, they walked downtown first and found a sports store and purchased some Cubs gear. Coming out of the hotel, they just followed the other people wearing Cubs shirts and hats and they led them right to the subway. It was fun talking to the other fans, because everyone was from somewhere else too!
The game was great, a little rain but they planned ahead and brought rain ponchos with them from home. Plan, Plan, Plan!
The river tour was fun but Nancy bought tickets for the wrong day! Luckily, there were still tickets available for the next ride so they purchased new tickets on line and ran to the line for the next ride. Sometimes planning ahead doesn’t work too well when you don’t check the date first!
They looked through the list of attractions they compiled and nearly everything was checked off the list. Mission accomplished!
On the morning they were heading home, they got directions on how to take the subway to the airport. It was a little quicker and a lot less money. They were glad they did a little research on that how to get there because it was a fun experience.
