The Friendly Confines...

I did it. I managed to make it to the Mecca of baseball. The spiritual home of the game. The Friendly Confines of WRIGLEY FIELD!

After missing out twice to see them, Thursday was our last chance. My cousin dropped me and the brother off at the local Metra station (kinda like Go Transit). From there we made it into town no problem. While walking en route to the bus to take us to Wrigley, we noticed that we had reached Clark, the road Wrigley's on. We figured if we kept going north, we'd hit Addison and make it with plenty of time. BIG mistake!

We ended up walking for about an hour until we gave up and went to a 7-11 for replenishment. The dude at the counter said it was about a half an hour away and proceeded to compliment my brother on his Stewie shirt (I mention it because it happened all day - its as if it's an Illinois magnet). Of course minutes after we start walking it rains, like PISS! We get soaked until we find a Blockbuster to chill in for a bit. We ate some hot dogs at a local hot dog restaurant ($2 for a stacked dog and fries!) were we talked to a local who claimed to be 1/2 Indian (he was totally white!). Eventually we got to Wrigley with 5 minutes to go before the game!

Thank goodness for my ticket office experience. Knowing full well of seats being released I mozied on over to the window and requested the 2 best available. I got the bland reply of 2 Terrace Box seats for $22 total. Totally embarrassed, I bought them and was apologizing profusely to Zan for not being able to do better. He said it was no problem and the fact that we were there was enough. We managed to get in the gates right before the pre-game ceremonies, despite Zan being pulled over for not having his ticket scanning properly (it did eventually!).

Jonathan Davis of koRn threw out the first pitch. It was Jackie Robinson day so Ernie Banks and Jackie's daughter were there for some pregame ceremony. National anthem done by a school band. The seats you ask? Section 220 row 15, BEHIND HOME PLATE! They were the Rogers Centre equivalent of Field Level Infield tix behind the plate, and for 11 bucks apiece! Evidently it was a value game for some reason and those tix normally go for about 30 apiece. We so lucked out!

The game was exciting, Kerry Wood making his season debut. He struck out 2 of 3 in the first inning and was given a standing ovation, something I have NEVER seen in Toronto, at least not that early! He then proceeded to get shelakked, to the tune of a 5-0 defecit. My brother and I decided to get some eats and look around.

We saw some cool little things around, and have some pictures (which I'll post eventually!). The Cubs managed to catch up and had runners on 1st and 3rd with 2 out in the bottom of the 9th when Neifi Perez decides to BUNT, leading to the easy out for the Nats. It was a shocker to the point that the boos didn't stop for a good minute! A prickjob of course, but typical of Chicago's "Lovable Losers" from what I hear.

Moment of the day had to come in the washroom stalls. First off, the urinals are esentially massive sinks people piss into, and do so in communion. Secondly, a guy had the nerve to wear a white sox hat to which the cubbie faithful dissed him. The arguing contined while everyone was pissing until the line of the trip came : "Quit holding your dick and go back to the South Side!"

Such good times so far. Have done a TONNE of shopping, as the prices are decent to amazing, and the selection is unbelievable. What they say about the food here is true, it's in IMMENSE proportions and cheap, which explains the heffers I've seen every few minutes. The people here though are suprisingly over-friendly, to the point that they will shake your hand if they know you're a tourist, give perfect directions, and even pay bus fare! Never in my life have I seen a boyfriend and girlfriend thank me profusely for having given them their dropped bus token.

I got more stories I'm sure, but need some sleep, the Sox/Cubs matchup at U.S. Cellular Field is in 10 hours and I need some sleep!