They Flew The W!

 I’m back from Chicago!  It was an absolutely wonderful and amazing trip!  We had so much fun!  

Before I tell you all the highlights, I have to make a couple of observations. First, the entire state of Illinois is one gigantic construction zone!  The entire length of the state, from Cairo to the Wisconsin border was all construction.  We go 5 miles with both lanes open, then 20 miles of one lane.  Traffic never stopped, but it was slow-going.  Second, I made a terrible mistake when I was younger.  I should have gone into the orange barrel business!  I’m not exaggerating, I bet we saw a million orange barrels on this trip!  If I’d gone in the barrel business, I’d be richer than Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Bill Gates combined!  

Now.  Our hotel was 2 blocks from the Red Line train station so we walked over and took the train straight to Wrigley.  We went a little early and wandered around Wrigleyville before the game.  Went in a couple of places for a beer and a snack. Met a couple of nice guys from Milwaukee there to root for the Brewers.  Took the train back after the game and walked back to the hotel.  We felt perfectly safe and weren’t afraid or anxious at all.  

The game itself was unbelievable!  The Cubs were on fire!  Great hitting, great pitching, several exciting plays in the field. And I crossed off 2 items on my bucket list, I watched them hoist the “W” flag, and I got to sing “Go Cubs Go” with the crowd after the win!  It was a great night!  

Chicago is one of my favorite big cities. I really like the city.  We took a bus tour on a double decker bus and were on the top in the open air.  It was cool!  We saw all the major sights and a lot of things and places that were in the “Blues Brothers” movie! The night after the game, we took a nighttime cruise on the Chicago River and got to see all the tall buildings lit up. It was beautiful!  We also went to “360 Chicago” the observation deck on the 96th floor of the John Hancock building.  That was impressive.  Seeing the city from above was awesome! On to Milwaukee!  

As I told you, Susan was born in Milwaukee. Actually, she was born in Cudahy, a suburb, so we went there first. We found the hospital where she was born and looked around the town.  She even bought a t-shirt with “Cudahy Packers”, the local high school!  We went on into Milwaukee to tour the Pabst mansion, the home of Frederick Pabst, who started the Pabst brewery. At 5 pm, we were all given a 16 oz. PBR, and we toasted Capt. Pabst! As it turned out, the mansion adjoined Marquette University, where Susan’s father was the ROTC instructor at the time she was born.  The next day we toured the Harley Davidson museum.  I loved that because I’ve always wanted a Harley!  We found a farmers market/arts and crafts festival at one of the parks.  We really enjoyed that. The weather was perfect and there were so many beautiful vegetables and some of the most gorgeous flowers I’ve ever seen. We also enjoyed the Public Market, with all sorts of vendors and food choices  

We enjoyed several local restaurants on the trip.  She found a Polish buffet in Chicago that she wanted to try.  Her grandmother was from Poland and Susan grew up eating Polish dishes like kielbasa, pierogies, potato pancakes, and cabbage rolls.  It was my first experience with Polish food, but I enjoyed it!  We also ate at a German restaurant near our hotel in Milwaukee. She grew up in Germany while her dad was in the army and she enjoys German food.  We tried to not eat at chain places, but to eat local.  

As the song said in Dirty Dancing, I had the time of my life!  What a wonderful gift from Susan.  I’m so lucky to have her in my life.  Go Cubs Go!  

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