Chicago adventures
I’m back in the saddle after a week’s vacation, spent mostly in Chicago. My wife had a business conference, so my daughter, granddaughter and I went along, too. Planes, trains, taxis, boats, buses, carriages, we took them all on our adventure to one of my favorite towns. I generally use these wife-working-me-on-vacation trips to do a bunch of work myself. But when you’ve got a 21-month-old in tow, little work gets done. Little work, but a lot more fun.
Chicago ranks with New York and San Francisco as my favorite American cities to visit, and while I don’t make the outrageous claim that Chicago trumps New York, I will say this. Chicago has more personality. Manhattan Island is the world’s melting pot, but that doesn’t mesh into a singular identity. Chicago sort of does; hearty, Midwest toughness, city of broad shoulders. A few thoughts on Chicago.
Baseball Town
America has few baseball cities left. Cities in which baseball rule, in which the daily rhythm of the baseball team(s) is the heartbeat of the city’s sporting landscape. The NFL has taken over most major American cities, and most cities without pro football don’t have a baseball franchise. Think about that. The only three cities with major-league baseball and no NFL are Los Angeles, Toronto and Milwaukee. Milwaukee is a Packer town, because the whole danged state of Wisconsin is eat up the Pack. Toronto is a hockey town. And LA is an NBA town, I suppose, although it’s really a Hollywood town.
The only real baseball cities left are New York, Boston, St. Louis and Chicago. Maybe Cincinnati; I don’t know enough about Cincinnati to pass judgment. But Chicago — though everyone lives and dies with the Bears, and everyone still looks back longingly on the glorious ’90s with Michael Jordan — most definitely is a baseball town, with the Cubs and White Sox providing maybe the best off-field rivalry in pro sports.
The Cubs and White Sox didn’t even play each other until interleague scheduling arrived 10 years ago, but they remained bitter rivals, because of the geographical boundaries in Chicago (Sox south side, Cubs north) and the sociological stereotypes (Cub yuppies, Sox blue collar) and their shared futility (Cubs no World Series title since 1908; Sox none since 1918, until breaking through in 2005).
This summer figures to be a fun time in Chicago. Both the Cubs and Sox are in first place. The city can dream about a Red Line World Series; the Red Line train — mostly elevated — runs just past Wrigley Field’s right field wall and also a short walk from the left-field wall of new Comiskey Park (OK, U.S. Cellular Field).
Newspapers
Not too many two-paper towns left. But Chicago has the stately Tribune and the hard-edged Sun-Times, and both are read on the trains and buses that criss-cross the city. Newspaper competition is a wondrous thing; we lost it in Oklahoma City a quarter century ago, about the time a lot of cities lost it, including metropolises like Houston and Phoenix and Atlanta.
Chicago gives you an option. I read both, of course, while I was in town, and the Sun-Times is my pick. The blazing-guns style of Jay Mariotti works well in a place like Chicago.
Pizza
The best pizza on the planet is Giordano’s, which are dotted all over Chicago and feature stuffed pizza. Takes 35 minutes to bake and is well worth the wait. Sorry, New Yorkers. It’s not even close. Stuffed pizza is not the same as thick crust; Giordano’s crust is reasonably thick, but it’s the good stuff — the cheese, the ingredients — that is really thick.
I’m sure Chicago has all kinds of great restaurants, but I’d eat at Giordano’s every night if it was up to me. Alas, I only made it twice last week.
Wrigleyville
I did something on this trip — I’ve made four extended trips to Chicago — that I’ve always wanted to do. Hang out in Wrigleyville. My nephew now lives in Lakeview, which is adjacent to Wrigleyville, the neighborhood surrounding Wrigley Field, so Saturday we took the train, the Red Line, to Addison Street, the Wrigley Field stop, and my nephew met us. He gave us a walking tour of Wrigleyville and Lakeview. Must have walked a mile or three and really got a taste of what the neighborhood is like.
Wrigley Field, of course, is totally cool, and it starts with the neighborhood itself. Wrigley really does set right in the middle of a neighborhood. No parking lots. No planned economic development (discounting rooftops owned by enterprising landlords). Wrigley Field is surrounded by houses, Addison and Clark Street businesses (which cater, admittedly, to Cubs culture) a fire station, the El, stuff like that. Looks a whole lot like other Chicago neighborhoods, except one of America’s most revered sporting coliseums sits smack dab in the middle.
Traffic, by the way, was miserable. This was early afternoon on a Saturday, and cars were everywhere. I don’t know why anyone in Chicago owns a car, unless it’s to drive somewhere out of town. There are no places to park cars and no room on the streets to drive them. Saturday reminded me of a harrowing day; Mac Bentley and I flew to Chicago in September 1994 to cover Oklahoma State’s football game at Northern Illinois. We rented a car and decided to tour Chicago before heading out to DeKalb. We saw new Comiskey, got to Lakeshore Drive and headed for Wrigley. Traffic was miserable, so we punted and headed out for DeKalb on what the map said was a state highway. We encountered an ocean of stop-and-go traffic. We inched our way west through Chicago and into its suburbs, which were no better. We went 50 miles in four hours and 15 minutes and made it to the stadium with 15 minutes to spare before kickoff. My nephew sold his truck when he moved to Chicago; wise move.
But the Wrigleyville and Lakeview neighborhoods were thoroughly charming. The housing was very interesting, mostly Brownstones. The real-estate prices were steep — we guessed maybe $300 a square foot, but we might have been high — but you can see what attracts people. The businesses were both quaint and chain. A neighborhood pub might be next to a Gap Body. We found a place that sells nothing but cupcakes and each had a $3 cupcake, except for me. I’ve never been big on cupcakes; hard to eat and not evenly distributed. But that’s a different paragraph.
Anyway, a fun day, and a piece of Chicago not everyone gets to see just by going to a Cub game.
Tourist attractions
A few thoughts on tourist attractions you might consider if you go to Chicago.
Navy Pier: The No. 1 tourist stop in Illinois, jutting more than half a mile out into Lake Michigan, includes an excellent Children’s Museum, Chicago’s Shakespearean Theater, a huge Ferris Wheel, a stained-glass window exhibit, tall ships (in the summer), boat tours and all kinds of restaurants and pubs. A fun place to walk around.
Michigan Avenue’s Magnificent Mile: Listen up, all you males. You want to get on your wife’s good side? Suck it up and take her to Chicago for a shopping trip. From the Chicago River going north to Lakeshore Drive (and the historic Drake Hotel), the shopping is spectacular, from what I’m told. Your wife will be so grateful, I’m betting she’ll even be willing to hit both Wrigley and U.S. Cellular on the trip.
Lincoln Park Zoo: Fabulous zoo and it’s free. Of course, it’s better if you’ve got a 21-month-old squealing with glee at the sight of every animal. The highlight — a polar bear tank in which the massive beasts keep diving into the water and swimming right up to you. Who knew polar bears preferred the water?
Lake Michigan: A friend of mine the other day wondered why it’s not called Ocean Michigan. Certainly seems like it, particularly with the sandy beaches and the currents that come washing in. The water’s not as salty as Padre Island, but the people watching and the bike riding and the dog walking and the Frisbee throwing are just as good.
Chicago River: By all means, take a river tour. Downtown Chicago built up along the Chicago River, and dozens of epic skyscrapers and wondrously constructed buildings form the city’s skyline. Chicago’s downtown architecture beat New York’s, although New York’s skyline, particularly at night, is hard to beat. Most tour guides are excellent storytellers, giving you the history of Chicago through many of the buildings, including the Tribune Tower and the Wrigley Building, which sit along the Chicago River and form the gateway to the Magnificent Mile.Museums: Chicago is renowned for its museums, but I’ve got to admit, I’ve toured perhaps the most famous, the Museum of Science & Industry, and thought it overrated.
American Girl Place: Ask your wives and daughters. I’d never heard of it, either, but it’s a big deal. A really big deal.
DePaul softball
Not that anyone cares about this besides me, but riding the El on Saturday afternoon, we stopped right next to DePaul University. I noticed a big softball schedule displayed where commuters could easily read it. The Blue Demons had a doubleheader that day, it said, against Connecticut. Connecticut or Providence. Anyway, I thought if I wasn’t holding my sleeping granddaughter, I’d jump off the train, go find the softball park and catch some innings.
DePaul softball coach Eugene Lenti is my all-time favorite coach, any sport. Excellent coach. Interesting fellow. Wonderfully charming. But I was holding my granddaughter, so no softball for me. The train took off, I looked off to the other side of the tracks, and right there was the DePaul field, with the game under way. So I can tell Eugene, if his Blue Demons make the Women’s College World Series in May, that I caught a little bit of his game.
Hotel problems
Chicago has a thousand downtown hotels, and yes, they’re expensive. We stayed where my wife’s conference was held, the Hyatt Regency, across the street from the Chicago River. The Hyatt is Chicago’s largest hotel, with more than 2,000 rooms. I’ve always loved Hyatt; the Hyatt Regency in Kansas City is my all-time favorite hotel.
But this Hyatt was disappointing. First of all, it was built strictly for traveling businessmen. Which usually would be fine for me. But this time, I had three women, ages 48, 26 and almost 2. So here’s what I needed: vanity space in the bathroom, drawer space in the room and a swimming pool. I got none of the above. They built that hotel for guys like me, traveling alone. So that was disappointing.
Traveling with a pack led to new necessities. We checked five bags, counting a car seat, and two of the suitcases were monsters. Plus we had six carryons, counting my granddaughter. So I did all kinds of things I’d never done before. Rented one of those carts at the airport to transport my luggage out to the taxi stand. Called for a bellman at the Hyatt. Even commissioned one of those baggage-handlers at Will Rogers to help me with the bags to my car.
-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.
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Comments
Outstanding travelogue! Rarely does anyone ever mention my alma mater – Northern Illinois – even as an aside. But that’s far better consequences than they’ve suffered, recently, RIP fallen Huskies. I was thinking, you’ve really hit it on the head for the touring set and then like a hammer from divorce court, you listed your wife’s age? In the NEWSPAPER? My oh my, did one of those carry-ons fall on your head? Hopefully for your sake, the retribution will be swift and painless. But, not likely! Welcome home!
Murphy’s Bleachers? Still there? Wrigley IS the best place to watch a game. Tho I’ve not been to the “New” Comiskey, the original smelled like the world’s largest urinal, the neighborhood was dangerous and oh yeah, the Sox sucked. If your team is wearing short pants, they are not contenders.
Other attractions: Shedd Aquarium. Maybe the best in the world. The Chicago Symphony. Maybe the best in the world. White Castle. Maybe the most in the U.S. Northern Illinois Univ. Take the toll way and arrive the same day. Bon voyage!
Welcome home! Very nice travelogue/ I have never been been to
Wrigley, been to Chicago twice. Traveling by car outside of Chicago is an experience in paying tolls every two miles it seems.
I think you work too hard, even working on your vacation. Try taking a vacation and not turning on your computor or thinking about writing a story, give your mind some rest. Bless you!!
Is Jim the dude who buys you drinks at the Cabana? Sounds like he would like to rub your feet. Put in any apps while visiting the windy city?
Berry,
Thanks- a very enjoyable read.
We’ve made a couple of family trips to Chicago from the KC area. The most memorable is when I got the John-Candy-planes-trains-autos bug and wanted the fam to have the experience of riding the train from KC to Chicago in order to attend the OU-Northwestern game (my parents from south OKC came up for the ride as well). Believe me, this isn’t something you want to do more than once. Kids were 4 & 7 at the time… train stopped in the middle of a corn field in Iowa for an hour before figuring out they needed to switch fuel tanks- overall- several hours behind schedule and a coach experience probably alot like Greyhound. All six of us- did I mention my Dad was tight- was in the same cramped hotel room with the 2 kids on the rollaway 
.
To top it off… OU played like… well- you saw it. The girls skipped the game and shopped… shopping sounded pretty good in retrospect.
Oh well, still a great memory- basic ingredients- being with the people you love and doing something that everyone will remember for a lifetime.
thanks for sharing and tell “the dish” I said hello.
Mark
I have fond memories of two trips to Chicago, including a doubleheader afternoon in Wrigleyville (Let’s play two!). But the best memory may be the day before the OU/Notre Dame game in 1999. In downtown Chicago, we yelled “Boomer” and “Sooner” across the street to other crimson-clad groups as bewildered businesspeople scratched their heads.