Wrigley Field "The Friendly Confines". Bucket List item...about to be knocked off!! How lucky for me that my BFF #1 just relocated to Chicago and was able to help me do this. Thank you BFF #1!! The only REAL way to get to Wrigley is via train. It just adds to the whole mystique of arriving at the second oldest active ballpark in America, behind Fenway, in old-fashioned style. It was a scorcher, heat index of 103 degrees when the Cubs took on the Phillies for a 7 p.m. start. No doubt about it, we were going to need some old-fashioned thirst quenching too! My BFF#1 and her husband, plus my better half and moi, donned our Phillies red and headed into Cubbies blue territory. Man, they sure talk funny here.....DA Cubs!
Wrigley Field, built in 1914...home to the Chicago Cubs. Hats off to Wrigley for being a notable exception to the recent trend of selling corporate naming rights to sporting venues...hello Citizen's Bank Park, I'm talkin' to YOU!
Wrigley is known for it's iconic marquee over the main entrance...
and it's ivy covered brick outfield wall, that has never met an outfielder it didn't want to beat up ....
and it's hand-turned scoreboard, no jumbo-trons here! Which reminds me, did you know Jim Belushi's REAL name is "Jamison"? Makes me wonder what kind of grief big bro John gave little Jamison over that! Jamison was the Cub's guest of the evening to sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" in the Harry Caray seventh-inning stretch tradition...
It's also known for those long-suffering Cubbie fans who probably coined the phrase "There's always NEXT year"...
The Phillies really stunk up the joint this evening. Halladay proved he really isn't a God when heat exhaustion forced him to vacate the mound early. The weather was hot, while the Phillies' bats were cold. My guys lost. And it was a REALLY bad "hair day". But all was good because...
my better-half nabbed a foul ball, much to the chagrin of the ONLY obnoxious Cubs fan we encountered all evening. Yep! A 10-year-old boy sitting directly behind me. Seriously mom, you should have muzzled that kid! But revenge was sweet. If he would have been nice we might have been tempted to give him this foul ball...haha, who am I kidding!! AND, after about 10 "Old Styles" under his belt...this bearded Cubbies fan sitting in front of me thought he was my BFF #2. Bucket List item, CHECK!
--Kathy
oh wow!! your shots are like being there
ReplyDeleteI love Chicago and have seen Wrigley but only from the outside and that really doesn't count
Dianne, next time you are in Chi-town...grab a ticket and go inside! It's a real treat, akin to stepping back in time. Don't forget to grab a brewski too :)
ReplyDeleteHi - I happened upon your blog from the photo you posted on "Click it up a Notch". I admire your work and am wondering if you still just use the Auto setting on your camera...........you have a great eye. Also your "Iron City" beer comment made me laugh out loud as I am from Pittsburgh. Your blog posts have given me inspiration to really starting using my camera every day. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteKathy O'
Kathy O,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the nice comments. I consider myself an extreme novice with photography...no formal training whatsoever except trial and error. So I truly appreciate your thoughts. Haha...I have not ventured into manual nearly as much as I would like to. I have so far been using the presets on my camera. Which is a stretch for me because I always lived only on the "Intelligent Auto" setting before....which requires NO intelligence, so I'm not sure why they call it that! :) Slowly expanding my comfort zone tho.
I live outside of Philly, but spent a number of years in Pittsburgh when my husband went to Pitt. My oldest was born in West Penn Hospital out there. So I know "Iron City" (aka Iron Sh*tty) from personal experience!
Do you have a blog?
Kathy
Loved this Wrigley post! As a native Chicago-an and a die hard Cubs fan, I feel like you did the place justice. I also have a goal of seeing every stadium... have yet to make it to PA!
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Clem