Cubbie Blue Super Arcade Fun Time

Sunday, June 9th, 2013

I have not written in months, so this is yet another postponed post but enjoy...

On the morning, we were on the road again. When we reached Chicago, it was almost game time. We checked in with our hosts- Chris and Stephanie at a place I found on airbnb just a 10 minute walk from Wrigley Field. We also figured out Billy Corgan's old house and the Family Matters house was close by but you can only have so much fun.

Return to Wrigley

This was my fourth time at the Friendly Confines, and it did not disappoint again. Everyone talks about how great Fenway is, sure it has its charm, but I'll take Wrigley over Fenway any day. It is as Dave or Paul called it 'timeless'. If it weren't for the video screens, you would think you were watching a baseball game in any era. Those ivy covered brick walls, where Andre Dawson can get lost (who is also always nude in Dave's mind for some reason), and outfielders legitimately fear for their life. I may be wrong, but I feel like this is where they coined the term- warning track. I know I'm wrong but it sounds right, doesn't it?

Anyways, after loading up at the concession stands on a souvenir pepsi cup, fritos dog, and chili cheese tater tots at The Works Loaded Dog stand- the group of us moved towards our seats. I have to say I was slightly disappointed. I decided to book us terrace infield seats, so we could keep cool and out of the sun but our view of the historic scoreboard was slightly obstructed. Next time, I would move further from home plate if it meant having a clearer view of the field.

The game itself was slow at 1st but picked up. Pirates hurler, Jeff Locke had a no-hitter going for nearly 6 innings but the Cubs finally broke through with it. I already saw Verlander no-hit the Blue Jays a couple years back- didn't need to see my NL team no hit. This would have turned out to be a real ugly no hitter, Locke kept walking people and a Cubs run had already score due to some good base running. Cody Ransom was the Cub of the day scoring the 1st run, and breaking the tie with a 3 run home run. Somehow Kevin 'Greggles' Gregg managed to save the game- something he never seemed to do without giving everyone a heart attack during his time in Toronto!

Before the game was done, I found myself a nacho helmet (they had a chicago dog variety as well), and shared the behemoth with the group. At the end of the game, we had that damn 'Go Cubs Go' stuck in our head as the Cubs were victorious. I felt for the Cubs Store workers as one girl told me they basically had it on a loop for an hour after the game. Brutal. But catchy!

Cubbie Blue

After meandering around Wrigleyville, and checking out sports store, we made our way to Goose Island Brewery. This place is the best! They have beer flights available- so you can sample a few of the beers in smaller portions. The tastiest beer I had was the Cubbie Blue, but the 312 Urban Wheat is also excellent. We hung out on the surprisingly available patio- maybe it was because rain was threatening most of the day but held off. Go here, you won't regret it- touristy or not.

Pizza Night

I tried to warn everyone that two deep dish pizzas were going to be too much, but did they listen? No one ever does. Fairly sure that one small deep dish stuffed pizza can serve a family of 10. We were sitting in  the Giordano's at Belmont, and a contingent wanted to have pepperoni or bacon or some other pork product that I could not partake in. So we ordered a small veggie and medium meat pizza, plus all you can eat salad, bread, and pop. Did I mention that we had some beer in the afternoon? Well this was a combination for delicious disaster. I don't think we even finished half the pizza but you know what- who cares, we had fun!

By the way, this is my rank of Chicago deep dish pizza joints (chains anyway): 1. Giordano's, 2. Lou Malnati's, 3. Gino's East (when they aren't taking forever), 4. Pizzeria Uno (but to be fair, I had it at O'Hare Airport- so that doesn't count). Never understood why Chicago Deep Dish has not made its way in Toronto more. There has been like 2 or 3 places in the GTA that has ever made it- and 1 of those is in Hamilton.

Double Door and Pacman

We met my friend Maya near the Double Door in the always great and formerly trendy (maybe still trendy), Wicker Park. Someone Maya knew was playing in a band there, but I think by the time we waddled our pizza filled bodies onto the 'L' train, they were already done. Still had to see the Double Door, had never been in my life.

We traveled into the danker and quirky basement space as the main venue was not being used for a Sunday night show with maybe 50 people at it. I will have to go back there with the main venue in use. Anyways, Maya showed me the billiards room where there were poster upon poster of great and not so great bands from over the years. It was a cool peek into the history of the venue. I don't remember much about the bands we did see play, but they were loud, and maybe trying a little too hard. But we enjoyed the company, and the atmosphere- even randomly dancing with strangers.

Once things winded down, we moved over to the Emporium Arcade Bar to play some classic video games. Maya hit it out of the park by taking us there, it made me hope that Toronto had such a place. This wasn't Dave and Busters or Playdium, this was a legit bar with a great craft beer list and everything from Asteroids to Duck Hunt to Turtles in Time. It was incredible- especially for nerd gangs like us. It was a great end to the night.

Next blog... "Fog Before the Storm"

Moon Women, Secret Agents, and Cerveceros

Saturday, June 8, 2013


And now the well belated continuation...


After a night of pleasant sleep on the floor of a Holiday Inn Express- it was time to get up. By pleasant, I mean terrible and virtually non-existent but it was my choice to sleep on the floor. Still beat the tent floor in Cooperstown!



With self pity out of the way, and the waves of post road trip showers over- we ventured out to taste America. Paul and Dave were already ready to go to Denny's next door but the ad for the Red, White, Blue breakfast plate gave us a final push in that direction. When an old man in a commercial declares his pancakes to taste like America, how can you not resist?



From what I understand, American tastes like something between disgusting and great. The pancakes were covered with icing of some kind, and were sickly sweet but compelling nonetheless. While everyone else partook of typical Denny's fare, I played spoiler by getting one of their healthier options- a surprisingly good veggie omelet with turkey bacon. This was topped off with all you can drink breakfast Dr. Pepper.



Drunken Visions in the Forest


Upon the advice of a few Milwaukeeans, we headed over to the Miller Brewery tour. The brewery campus is fairly large but the tours start in the gift shop on the West side, something that took us a few minutes to figure out.

On the tour, they start you off with a short film about Miller's long history. The film covers how they bailed out the City of Chicago with booze during the great fire. No doubt something Brewers remind Cubs fans all the time. The movie continues to tell the tale of the 'Girl in the Moon' which is featured on Miller High Life. Apparently, a Miller employee got lost in the forest after a work function and had a vision of the girl in the moon. I translate the story as meaning he got really tanked, stumbled into the forest and started hallucinating. Not as inspiring as a 'vision' though, so I see why they chose the former explanation.

After seeing the inner workings of the plant itself, they took us into the underground caves where Miller used to keep the beer cold in those pre-mass refrigeration days. Then came the best part of the tour- free tastings! These started in their tavern with a generous serving of Miller High Life-which we had to down pretty fast. We chased this with two more samples- I had the excellent 'Canoe Paddler', as well as the watery low calorie offering- Miller 64. Don't try the 64, not worth the calorie savings.

Half intoxicated, except for Dave, who was driving, we stumbled into Downtown Milwaukee. We walked a bit around the core but not enough to truly felt like we really experienced downtown. The canals were beautiful and every patio along the river seem to be calling us. I will have to return again.

We made our way to a nondescript alley to a door labelled 'International Exports', that's when we knew we were at the 'Safe House'. This spy themed restaurant and bar will make sure you work for your entrance if you don't know the password. In our case, we had do the hokey pokey while everyone in the restaurant watched us on camera.

Through the door, the place was full of spy movie memorabilia, posters, and pun filled signs. Once, our waitress starting calling us 'spies' in a silly earnest voice, we realized she could not turn off the shtick intended for kids. It was all in good fun, so we played along. The food was pretty good in the end- Andrea and I split the 'Our Man from Havana'- a Reuben with Caribbean dressing, which still had far too many fries. Overall, a silly but fun experience.

Into the Ballpark

After a pit stop at the hotel, we made it to Miller Park via taxi. Word to the wise, if you want to use your hotel's shuttle, you will likely have to be part of a Brewers hotel package. There is also a ton of bars downtown that offer shuttles- but our hotel was out west- so its a moot point.


Miller Park is a cross between a baseball stadium and an airline hanger, but it definitely works as a dome. It is elements of those retro ballparks but with ultimately a modern feel. An outdoor ballpark that can be covered if necessary. This is in stark contrast to our concrete monstrosity here in Toronto which only feels like a ballpark when the top is popped. Add to that, the food selection and beverage choices were aplenty. I searched for Cheese Fries in a helmet in vein, but I did manage to get deep fried cheese curds, and a hot dog. Andrea grabbed one of the many flavour of baked potatoes- this one of a tex mex variety, and of course a pretzel. There are many more adventurous food choices like a meatball stuffed with spaghetti, deep fried cheesecake, deep fried bacon, and every type of sausage or meat product ever imaginable. They amazingly have vegetarian and kosher options- even though they are rare to find.


At the ballpark, they were celebrating Latin Heritage night, so the Brewers had their latin inspired 'Cerveceros' jerseys on, which personally I would love if the Blue Jays did something similar. Our organization owes a lot to the latin communities, as long as it is done in a respectful manner, and not in a patronizing way that these theme nights can sometimes turn into. The atmosphere was fun at the ballpark, but the whole game had a weird feeling since we had no stake in whichever team won- but we decided to cheer for the Brewers. The home team ended up prevailing 4-3 after the Phillies made a late surge on the back of Dominic Brown.


One Last Dance


One thing I can say is that the ballpark's outdoor parking lot is massive, which caused a lot of headaches getting out of the park via cab. There does not seem to be a whole lot around Miller Park, except you know, highway, so walking anywhere would have gotten us just as far.


Once we got back to the hotel, some of us were tired while others wanted to continue partying. I found myself somewhere in between and we dragged ourselves over to a nearby hotel bar which was seemed to be Jimmy Buffet inspired. It was a weird mix of older women and college age kids, and a really loud, obnoxious R&B cover band. Maybe it's just not my scene, but after a drink, we called it a night, and prepared ourselves for the trip to Chicago.

Next blog, "Cubbie Blue Arcade Super Fun Time"

Long Drive to Centerfield

Friday, June 7th, 2013 

Before the border, everyone has the jitters. There is something utterly irrational about this anxiety, considering we were just on vacation, and had done nothing wrong. By the time our passports had been given the once over, our fears had come true.We were asked to go into the office and are interviewed again by a 2nd border guard. We sat and we waited.

After a long delay staring at business news, suddenly the alarm bells go off and guards run out of the building and converge on a car. It soon becomes clear they will be leaving soon, because the border guards found what they were looking for. From what we gathered, a gang of white men with glasses, or the 'nerd gang' were on the loose wreaking havoc everywhere they went, and we loosely fit that description. Maybe we were stopped because we made the mistake of telling the border guard we would be painting the town red, and he misunderstood. Not quite sure.

After a couple came in with handcuffs and were brought to the 'interview' rooms, we were released shortly thereafter with a 'you can go'.

We drove through Michigan, which seem to stretch on for days, signs for McDonald's, adult video superstores, and of course the occasional abandoned movie house (see: Flint) scattered along the way. By the time, Indiana came it was nightfall, and it was my turn to drive. Everyone was tired by this point, and we ran into a bit of construction, low light, and quick turns in a short span. It was a bit harrowing, but we got through it, even if it was a bit of a roller coaster ride. I should have volunteered to drive a bit during the day, just to get used to it again- it had been months since I had driven. No dents or lost limbs, so we'll put this one in the books as a small victory.

Gary, We Hardly Knew Ye

After all the legends Paul and I had told the group about the city of Gary, most of the group thought we were going to get shot at on the highway. Thankfully, these fears never came true and we made an effort not to stop anywhere in the city. Although the birthplace of the Jackson 5, Gary has a reputation due to its being the murder capital of the U.S. for quite awhile, and its economic strife. I can remember going through Gary on a Greyhound sometime ago, and seeing industrially scarred buildings along the highway, and the downtown looking mostly rundown as we passed through. Needless to say, we made it through Indiana quickly.

Despite my not so great start to my driving, I was now driving straight into Chicago. The skyline at night sparkled and it was a shame that we were not staying in the city until a couple of days later. We drove on through until we needed to make hotel arrangements for that night. We got off the highway, and stopped at a McDonald's in Skokie. It was near the end of the night, and the place was crowded with rowdy High School students, but seemingly only one cashier to take our orders for our late night snack.

After waiting what seemed like longer than our border stop for food, we ate and tried to figure out our next move.The Wi-Fi was fast enough, but Paul couldn't get Hotwire to extend our Saturday stay one way or another. When we called Hotwire directly, the operator seemed like they wanted to get rid of Paul, and suggested he tried and call the Holiday Inn Express directly to see if they could give us an early check-in at 1am. A hotel is not likely to forgo a whole night's worth of money to accommodate an early check-in 13 hours in advance.

Andrea and Genevieve were getting antsy, and did not understand why we couldn't settle the hotel issue on the road, while Dave tried to look up Skokie hotels just in case. Paul finally was able to talk to someone at the Holiday Inn Express, albeit with a patchy phone connection. It seemed that the gentlemen had to put Paul on hold to get the spelling of his name right but that might have just been fatigue talking. We were able to get a room in the hotel but no cot.

Milwaukee Bound

On the road again, we made our way to Milwaukee, and members of the group dozed off one by one. Of course, there was a long detour to our hotel due to construction on the exit off the highway. Just our luck.

Paul, Dave, and I went into the hotel and talked with the front desk attendant, Darrell, who actually turned out to be pretty awesome. Just as we were checking in, a local twenty something drunk staggered into the hotel looking for bars. Darrell assumed he was with us. The drunk in question followed us out to our car, and started asking what we do for a living. Dave remarked that he was an actor and comedian, and which point the man said that Dave was not very funny. He also told us all his past experience with Canadians, which every drunk American has the compulsion to do. Eventually, we were able to shake him and make it to our room, not looking back.


Within minutes of settling in the hotel, Andrea opened the bathroom door, and the mirror on it dropped to the ground and cracked. We hoped this would not be an omen of things to come...

Next blog, "Moon Women, Secret Agents, and Cerveceros"