Baseball and Hot Dogs and Cheese Curds, Oh My!

We have been leisurely making our way to various ballparks and checking them off our list. It feels like we've been doing this a while and that we should be a lot further along than we are. So, I decided we should be a little more aggressive this year. 

So, we hopped on a plane and flew to Sweet Home, Chicago! What a town. Two baseball teams, amazing architecture, interesting history and delicious food. What more could you want?

From our hotel, we took the train to Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs. This was at the top of my list as it's the second oldest ballpark in the MLB. It opened in 1914 and I was afraid it would be torn down before I could have the pleasure of seeing it. 

This is a view from our seats in the upper decks. We were sitting with long time season ticket holders and they were lovely. We were welcomed several times and even chatted with fellow "stadium chasers". The Cubs were hosting their rivals the St. Louis Cardinals and there were lots of Cards fans in the house. Unfortunately, the Cards won but it was a beautiful day for a ballgame.

You can't go to Chicago and not get a hot dog at Wrigley Field. This is a Polish dog with grilled onions and peppers. The dog had some kind of spice that burned a little when I stopped eating it. Holy Cow that was a good hot dog. Even the bread was good. 

On the Southside, you have the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field. John had the pleasure of seeing a Sox game at old Comiskey Field right before they tore it down. We took the train here as well. It's all part of the experience!

This was a night game and the weather couldn't have been better. While it was 109 in Dallas, it was gorgeous 75 degrees in Chicago. Unfortunately, White Sox were playing our Rangers. The Rangers had shellacked the Sox the night before and we were hopeful. Dressed in our Rangers gear we were representing along with a few other Ranger fans. We were not alone. One of the ushers stopped us and said, "Please let us win. You guys won last night." Well, Jacob deGrom granted their wish by giving up six runs in the first inning and it just went on from there.

Meanwhile, a person has to eat. It was $5 Polish dog night. This dog was different than the one at Wrigley but just as tasty. It only had the grilled onions and it didn't have that spicy kick but this was better than your average dog and, only $5. I could have had another.

In the upper deck they have this fantastic view of the city. We went up around the third inning just as the sun was setting and got this beautiful picture of the Chicago skyline.

Chicago is more than just baseball. The first thing we did when we got there was head straight to Lou Malnati's Pizza. It's deep dish Chicago style pizza that takes about 45 minutes to get but so worth the wait. The crust is thin but hearty enough to hold the tons of cheese, sauce and toppings, in our case Italian Sausage. I could only eat one piece.

Chicago is also known for it's gangster lore. Al Capone ran the mafia from Chicago. And this is the famed Biograph Theater. It's where the "lady in red" betrayed the infamous bank robber, John Dillinger. The FBI gunned him down and crossed Public Enemy No 1 off their list.

Chicago sits right on Lake Michigan. This is the concrete beach. It was 75 degrees and there were people in the water as I was wearing a sweater. The sand is imported.

The Chicago River is also the location of their riverwalk. It's awesome. The river traffic is usually pretty busy with tour boats and such. They have restaurants and bars as well. It's a great place to stroll after eating a huge piece of pizza.

In Millennium Park there's "the bean". That's not it's official name. I think it's called Cloudcroft. It's cool because it reflects all the stuff around you,

We took an amazing boat tour. We went through the lock out to Lake Michigan where our guide told us all about the cool buildings along the shoreline. The big tall black one used to be called Sears Tower. Remember that kids? Now it's called Willis Tower. It's the tallest building in Chicago and that doesn't include the antennas on top.

There's the Navy Pier with the Ferris Wheel, which was invented in 1893 for the World's Fair that was held here in Chicago. It's okay. This isn't the original Ferris Wheel so it safe to ride. The pier was packed! 

And the newest, coolest place in the city...the Obama Presidential Center. We walked by but couldn't go in. The line to take photos with the statue of the Obamas was crazy long. But we'll be back.

Chicago is a great town. A few of the restaurants have lost their way. We ate at Pippins (no relation to Scotty) and they only take credit cards. No cash. Then they charge you 4% credit card charge on top of your bill. What? At least the food was decent. Then we went to another sports bar and they charged us a "platform fee" whatever that is, on top of the 3% service fee. That was a little disappointing but I assume it's left over from the pandemic. Hopefully these places will stop that. 

But this is a baseball tour. So we rented a car and drove up to...Wisconsin! 

On the way we stopped in Kenosha. You might remember that town from the movie, A League of their Own. It featured the Kenosha Comets. It was a cute little town right on Lake Michigan. They had a really interesting Civil War Museum. 

Greetings from Kenosha!

Then it was on another baseball town...Milwaukee. I was here for work a few times. I liked the vibe of this town. It wasn't until I visited here that I realized where the Milwaukee Brewers got their name. Insert eyeroll here.

This is American Family Field previously known as Miller Field. I liked the old name better. As we were driving to the stadium, you could see the top of the ballpark and I thought it was a bridge. It was very odd. The roof is retractable but not on this night. Do you see those clouds?

We had amazing seats in this park. Even though the name is a little dopey, it's appropriate. Outside the stadium they had putt putt golf, live music and a playground. Inside they had batting cages and pitching cages along with another playground. Lots of kids here tonight.

This was called a Tipsy Polish Dog. It has sweet peppers, brown mustard, grilled onions and 

French fries. Unfortunately, this one had been sitting under a heat lamp so the fries were a little stale but the dog was good. You might see a bit of a theme here. They like the Polish Dogs in this part of the country and rightly so!

These Wisconsin fans are crazy. In Green Bay, the Packers fans wear cheese heads. Here, they wear bottle caps. I love it!

Remember that cloud I pointed out? Well it turned into this! In the second inning everyone's phones went off at the same time with the tornado warning. There really wasn't much anyone could do so the game went on. Luckily, we were all safe. I know it hit elsewhere and did some damage. I was grateful for the dome though it leaked in outfield. When we left in the 7th inning, Milwaukee was beating Seattle 11 - 0. By the time we got home, the final score was 22 - 0. I actually felt bad for Seattle.

Meanwhile, Milwaukee is another cool town. We stayed downtown. They, too, have a bit of a riverwalk. It's not quite as extensive as Chicago but look who we ran into? It's the Bronze Fonz from Happy Days. Look it up, kids!

This was a really cool tour. It's the Pabst Mansion owned by Captain Frederick Pabst. You know this guy. He brewed Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer. The blue ribbon was just decoration that he put on the bottle when he sold the beer at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair but the name and decoration stuck. The house was built in 1892 and is on the campus of Marquette University. If you're in the area, definitely do the tour.

Milwaukee has a lot of cool stuff as well. This is the rooftop sculpture garden of the Grohmann Museum. All the artwork in this museum features man at work. Lots of cool stuff. It's on the campus of the Milwaukee School of Engineering, which seems appropriate. This town has lots of universities.

We took another impressive boat tour in Milwaukee that started on the Milwaukee River and took us out onto Lake Michigan. That cool boat looking structure is the Milwaukee Art Museum. It seemed like there were all old people on this tour. Hmm...

Another cool view from the boat. This is the Daniel Hoan Bridge that took forever to build. This is the unfinished bridge that the Blues Brothers drove over in the car chase scene. This is looking out onto Lake Michigan from the Milwaukee River. It was the perfect day for a boat tour. The weather was gorgeous. I think the temperature was in the upper 70s and in Dallas it was over 100. 

This is the Milwaukee Breakwater Light. It's a lighthouse that was built in 1926 to mark the entrance of the harbor. Not your traditional looking lighthouse. There used to be people that manned this lighthouse. Back in the day, August Schlitz (his name might sound familiar) gave them a TV so they could watch the Brewers games. It was decommissioned by the Coast Guard in 2011. Someone bought it and is trying to raise money to turn it into a museum. 

This is inside the Milwaukee Art Museum overlooking the lake. I'm not sure who the crazy woman is.

Milwaukee is definitely a sports town. In addition to the Brewers, it's home to the Milwaukee Bucks who, sadly, just lost Giannis. He was traded to Miami. I wonder what kind of hat the Bucks fans wear...

You can't go to Wisconsin without trying cheese curds. What exactly is a cheese curd? Fried tasty goodness! I asked our waiter and his response was, "You must not be from around here." He tried to explain it but all I got out of it was that everyone makes them differently and we should try more.

From Milwaukee we drove to Madison, which is the capital of Wisconsin. That was probably our second worse day of weather, the first being the tornado during the Brewers game. It didn't really affect us because we were inside. It rained a good part of the way to Madison. But along the way, we saw a lot of this: Rural Wisconsin with the dairy farms. Just beautiful.

Madison itself is on an isthmus. On one side is beautiful Lake Monona. This is the Monona Terrace where you can go and sit and enjoy the beautiful weather. 

A view of Monona Terrace from the top of the capitol building. We got to tour the Capitol which was pretty cool. You can go in and roam around but on the tour you can go into the Senate chambers and the Assembly Chambers as well. And, of course, you can go to the observation deck and see the amazing views of the city.

The University of Wisconsin's main campus is here in Madison. I had a couple of gigs here back when I actually did work and I really liked the vibe of the city. It's like Austin used to be before it was gentrified. I stand by that initial assessment. The town still has a pretty cool college town vibe.

This is the Arboretum which is run by the University. It's just acres and acres of trails and parks. 

As I mentioned, Madison is an isthmus. On the other side is beautiful Lake Mendota. The first time I came to Madison was in February. My client's office was right on the lake and I asked about it because I couldn't see it. That's because it was covered in snow and frozen solid. This is a view of Lake Mendota from the Washburn Observatory on the U of W campus.

Walking around town at night, the Capitol looks gorgeous.

We had a great time on this trip. We left Dallas just in time to miss the worst of the summer heat. The whole time we were up here we were thinking...summer home? Certainly not full time because it gets seriously cold here in the winter. As in the lake freezes solid. In a couple of weeks we'll continue our aggressive chasing of stadiums. Until then...

Seriously, what's a cheese curd?

The week of Destiny and other stuff

This last week in May we traveled to Colorado to celebrate what I'm calling "The Week of Destiny". Our niece-in-law, Destiny Speltz had a lot going on this week. 

First, she was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Air Force and had the ceremony where she was given the oath of office by her fiancé,  our nephew, James. That was so cool to watch.

Then she was pinned with her epaulets by her Nana and her step-mother, Stephanie. I'm probably saying this wrong, and if so, I apologize. But these are her 2nd Lieutenant bars. Isn't she gorgeous?

Then finally, there was her first salute, which was with her father. I was practically in tears when the ceremony was over. 

But that was just the first day! The next day was her graduation ceremony. She was graduating from the Air Force Academy. Unfortunately, we didn't get to go to that as there were limited number of tickets. 

As if that wasn't enough, there was the rehearsal dinner on Friday. This is the rental house where here family was staying. They had a lovely dinner in the back yard.

Then she and her bridesmaids as well as the groomsmen actually rehearsed their parts in the wedding. Destiny looked amazing yet again.

This was James as he watched Destiny come down the aisle. That's right. In addition to all the other stuff Destiny had going on this week, she also got married! 

Mr. and Mrs. James Windsor. They got married at the Eisenhower Golf Course on the Air Force Academy and it was beautiful! It had been raining all week but not on her big day. How she was able to do all of this and keep her sanity is beyond me, but we are so happy to have her officially part of the family!

Afterward, they threw a raucous party that was too much fun! James and Destiny with mom and John at the party.

A quick photo with the family: Michele, Emily, David, Mom, John, Courtney and me. Sharmila was taking the photo for us. We all had such a great time seeing everyone and participating in all the events. What a week!

This was a photo from the balcony of the golf club. It's enchanting just like the whole week was. Congratulations to Destiny and James. We hope they are as happy as we have been.

After that week of partying with the fam, we decided to take a little trip since we were already out there....

It was a two-ish hour drive to Cheyenne, Wyoming and we'd never been so we threw our stuff into the family truckster (aka, John's Lexus RX) and headed north!

Cheyenne is the capitol of Wyoming and this is the historic governor's mansion. I don't think he lives here anymore but, at one point he did or maybe I should say she did. That's right, Wyoming was the first state to have a woman as Governor. Nellie Tayloe Ross took office in 1925, completing the unexpired term of her husband, William B. Ross, who unexpectedly died in office.

Wyoming became the 44th state in 1890 but the capitol building was constructed between 1886 and 1890. Located in Cheyenne, it's the celebrated site of the 1889 constitutional convention of Wyoming which cemented Wyoming's status as the first state to guarantee women's suffrage. It's a cool building. And you can tour through most of it. We saw both the House and the Senate Chambers and Suffrage Hall where they discuss some of the women who made historical contributions to the state. If you're there, stop in. It's cool!

In downtown Cheyenne, they have this cool mural.

Cheyenne was also the home of the Union Pacific Railroad. This old depot is now a museum that depicts the history of the railroad. It's a cool building. For 105 years, the Union Pacific carried passengers across the U.S. That stopped in 1971 when Amtrak took over. In 1997, Amtrak made its final stop in Cheyenne. Note the street is Capitol Avenue. On this street, if you face away from the depot, you can see the Capitol.

I just thought this was a cool mural for Wyoming. We stayed a couple of days, which was long enough to get the flavor of the town. There's not much here, even if it is the capitol city. 

We hit the road and drove to Laramie by way of Curt Gowdy State Park. The views were amazing. This is just outside of Cheyenne on Happy Jack Road.

Curt Gowdy State Park was awesome. This is the view of the reservoir from the visitor center. I would imaging this place is packed with campers during the summer. The temperature was mild, the scenery was beautiful and the hiking trails were plentiful.

This was our first hike of the day. Just a small one.

But it led to this amazing view. I could have sat up here for hours and just soaked up the peaceful ambiance.

This was the crystal reservoir at the other end of the park. Everywhere you looked was just amazing scenery.

Just outside the park, we got on the Lincoln Highway which was the first transcontinental highway in the U.S. It was established in 1913 and is 400 miles across the continent. It runs along Interstate 80 but used to follow the Union Pacific Railway. This is a monument to the highway's namesake, Abraham Lincoln. It sits at a rest stop along the highway.

Laramie is a cool little college town. We liked the vibe here better than in Cheyenne. There were a lot more restaurants and museums here and that really isn't saying much.

The University of Wyoming is here. We stopped by the campus to check out their art museum and to walk around. We thought it would be deserted but there were still athletes here practicing for something.

The big thing we did here was tour the Wyoming Territorial Prison. Ever hear of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid? Butch was incarcerated here at the prison for 18 months. He was sentenced here for 2 years for horse theft and was pardoned after 18 months. The prison was built in 1872 and officially opened the doors in 1873.

The museum was really cool in that they had these photos (mug shots taken when the convicts entered the prison) along with their stories. I always find that fascinating. This guy is Samuel Berry, aka convict #5. In 1891, he was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to 20 years along with another guy. His sentence was commuted to six years and he was released in 1896. 

The north cell block. They had a whole exhibit on Butch Cassidy. They in the south wing, they had exhibits on the women who were incarcerated here. All in all, it was very interesting. 

Laramie also had one of two Carnegie Libraires in the state of Wyoming. I love this. Andrew Carnegie would donate money, in this case $20K, to build a library. The town would be responsible for stocking the library with books and running it. A lot of places (like Dallas) have torn down these buildings so it makes me happy to see some that are repurposed for other uses. This one, built in 1905, now houses city offices.

From Laramie, we headed back south to Fort Collins, Colorado. On the way we saw this amazing sight. You'll not see snow capped mountains in Dallas!

Last time we stayed in Fort Collins, it was on the way home from Utah. It was an overnight thing and we'd been thinking about it ever since. So, we decided to come back and check it out. 

We stayed downtown at a hotel called the Elizabeth, which was really cool. We loved the vibe of the downtown area. This old mural makes me happy. I love a good Coca-Cola mural. We took the opportunity to just relax. 

Not far from our hotel was Fort Collins' own Carnegie Library. It was built in 1904 and was recently renovated and turned into the Center for Creativity. Once again, I love that they repurposed the building rather than tear it down.

Our last stop before we headed home was back to Colorado Springs. Every year we go up there to visit our friends and this year was no different. As Evangeline says, it's tradition!

This gorgeous girl is Remy. She's playing Mario Kart with her brother, my good friend, Gideon. We love playing with these guys. They are so smart and funny, they keep us on our toes.

After a bath, she came over to sit with me and I couldn't resist a selfie.

Our friends drove up Pike's Peak with us in tow and it was a blast. We'd been on the cog train before but we'd never driven up the mountain.

My buddy, Gideon. 

As we neared the summit, we saw the Cog Train going down.

View from the top of Pike's Peak. The elevation is over 14K feet. I have to admit, I was a little light headed but we got donuts and that really helped.

John and our friend, Ariel. He was our driver up the mountain. He did an amazing job.

What I was trying to capture here was the winding road down the mountain. You can't ride your brakes down, you have to use your gears.

When you get down to the Ranger Station, they use a thermometer on your brake pads. If the temp is too high, they ask you to pull over for a specified amount of time based on the temp. We pulled over because we wanted to check things out. Ariel is talking to the park ranger asking him about the temps. While we were there, you could smell it when people rode their brakes down the mountain.

On our way back to their house, we came across a gang of deer! Just hanging out on the side of the road probably plotting evil tricks to play on unsuspecting drivers. Or, just being adorable.

Our last night in Colorado Springs, I got a sunset photo that was amazing. What a fabulous two weeks it has been. We were happy to be included in Destiny's festivities. And we also enjoyed our week touring around Wyoming and Colorado. If you haven't done it, I highly recommend it.