My trip to Chicago in June, 2011 was a smashing success! There were so many highlights, I don't even know where to begin. So, let me just describe my trip chronologically, but beware this is long, and there's a lot to cover, including railroads, pro softball, old neighborhoods and a trip to Wrigley Field. I'm exhausted, my feet are sore, and there are over 500 pictures and videos in my camera. (And this post is inspired by the humongously long and extremely well photographed blog posts from my daughter
Alyssa’s blog)
Thursday, June 16, 2011
I stopped along the way to Chicago in Elkhart, Indiana, the home of the
National New York Central Railroad Museum. Someone asked me on Facebook what was it doing in Indiana, and I replied that Elkhart has always been in Indiana. I think my Facebook friend meant what was the museum doing in Indiana, in which case the answer is that the New York Central Railroad traveled through Indiana, on its way to Chicago and St. Louis. This museum was well worth the $5 admission charge. It has an old Hudson steam locomotive, New York Central 3001, and Pennsylvania Railroad GG1 4882 (an old locomotive powered by electricity in the overhead catenary wires), and a New York Central E8 diesel locomotive, which you could enter and walk around inside. Sadly, these locomotives will probably never run again. There were many old photographs, railroad implements and other rolling stock, and I wished I had more time to study and enjoy it all. But, I had to get to Chicago for a 7:30 appointment ...
The first home game for the
National Pro Fastpitch Chicago Bandits was at 7:30pm and I didn't want to miss that! I have been watching softball on the television for a long time; now I was going to see the stars in person. And it was the grand opening of Rosemont Stadium, the first ever stadium built for a women's professional team. By 6:45pm, I had arrived at 27 Jennie Finch Way (that's the address of the stadium), and there was quite a crowd already, with police directing traffic (for a women's softball game!) And what a beautiful stadium it is! A lot of people, including the players,
were very impressed.
On the field were 12 Olympians, women I have watched for years, many since their college days. And because the stadium is so cozy, they were probably 50 feet away from where I was sitting. We were treated to a great pitcher's duel.
Monica Abbott, one of best pitchers in the world, USA Olympian, the 2007 NCAA Player of the Year, and NCAA career strikeout leader, pitched for Chicago, while
Danielle Lawrie, two-time NCAA Player of the Year, and Canadian Olympian, pitched for the USSSA Pride. The game went scoreless into the bottom of the 7th inning, before Buffalonian
Caitlin Lever (another Canadian Olympian) singled home the winning run for Chicago. Abbott wound up with a 1-hit shutout. The crowd went home happy.
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| Monica Abbott |
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| Danielle Lawrie |
Friday, June 17, 2011
The plan was to take public transportation (subway and bus) to Wrigley Field, arriving hours before the game between the Chicago Cubs and the New York Yankees, so I could walk around the historic neighborhood known as
Wrigleyville. The guide book that I purchased said the walk around Wrigleyville would be about 2 miles. I have had a lot of foot problems in the past, but I knew I could walk for 2 miles, I have done that many times recently at home. I arrived at Wrigley Field around 10 a.m., and already the area was packed, even though the game didn't begin until 1:20 pm. Nevertheless, I had plenty of time to do my walk.
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| Wrigley Field |
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| Beautiful old row homes in Wrigleyville |
But the guide book was way off! After walking for nearly two hours, I checked the GPS in my cell phone, and discovered I had already walked over 5 miles! Well, on the one hand I was very pleased that I could walk so far, as in the past I would have never been able to do so, but on the other hand, my feet were hurting, and I had to cut the tour short. The good news was that for the next four hours, I had a seat for a Major League Baseball game.
My seat was in the upper deck, in the next to the last row. Unlike my seats for softball, I was hundreds of feet away (and above) the players. It just wasn't the same. Yes, I could see that player was Alex Rodriguez, and that player was Mark Teixiera, and so on, but it just wasn't the same. And Derek Jeter was on the disabled list, I don't think I saw him, and Mariano Rivera was in the bullpen and didn't play in this game, and I don't think I saw him either. The Cubs won 3–1, and the crowd went home happy.
Now Wrigley Field is a great place to watch a baseball game, despite me sitting in the nosebleed seats. What I didn't expect was that on this warm day, I was shivering cold in the upper deck. I guess there's a reason why they call it the Windy City. I tried a real Chicago hot dog, with ketchup (no mustard, I hate the yellow mustard that most places have) and it was delicious. So I got another one. Tube-steak lunch!
I was somewhat concerned about my return trip, as the game ended at rush hour on a Friday afternoon. Nevertheless, there was a fleet of buses waiting at Wrigley, and I took one (even got a seat) to the subway station, and then from there zipped back to O'Hare Airport at about 60mph on the train, all the while watching the traffic sitting bumper-to-bumper going nowhere. The subway runs right down the middle of I-90, so you get a good look at the traffic.
So I arrived back at my hotel near O'Hare with plenty of time to go out to dinner and then get to the second Bandits game. The crowd wasn't as big. We were treated to another exciting game. The Pride scored first, on the stadium's first ever homerun by Pride designated hitter Melissa Roth. The Bandits scored 4 runs in the bottom of the third inning to go ahead 4–1. But the Pride scored three in the top of the sixth inning to tie the game, and then brought in their ace pitcher
Cat Osterman, USA Olympian, three time NCAA National Player of the Year, and the NCAA career leader in strikeouts per inning (over 2 per inning!). Osterman is considered by some to be the best pitcher in the world.
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| Cat Osterman |
The big Cat has been my favorite player ever since she was a player at Texas, so I've seen her many times on television for the University of Texas, and for Team USA, but this was the first time I got to see her in person. It was quite a thrill to see her pitch in person, maybe 100 feet away from where I was sitting. Cat's pitches move so much, that batters regularly swing at balls (and look pretty bad doing so), while they watch strikes go by.
In the top of the seventh, USA Olympian
Natasha Watley singled, went to second base on a wild pitch, and scored as USA Olympian
Jessica Mendoza, one of the best hitters in the world, singled to score Watley. Osterman was on top of her game, pitching the final two innings of the game, striking out 4, and not allowing a hit.
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| Natasha Watley |
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| Jessica Mendoza |
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Since the crowd was a little smaller than the previous night, I decided to stay and get autographs. This is one of the great things about the NPF, the players all stay until everyone who wants an autograph gets one. I waited about 20 minutes before getting to the first autograph, and then met and got autographs from all the players. A few looked like they just wanted to get back to the hotel, which I completely understand, but 90% were quite friendly.
Lexi Jager, from Western Michigan University was very nice, and I talked to her about the Mid-America Conference, the conference of my alma mater, the University of Buffalo. Caitlin Lever also was very pleasant. USA Olympian Vicky Galindo flashed her famous huge smile as I approached for an autograph. Bandits catcher
Rachel Folden told me she had a bad day, but the fans always made her feel better, a very memorable thing to say! Most of the women were very pleased to hear I had been watching them on television for years. Unfortunately for me, Osterman was not very talkative. Monica Abbott, on the other hand, was extremely gracious and posed for this wonderful photo.
Pride catcher
Megan Willis, who wears number 5, had gotten into a spat with the home plate umpire, and received a warning about her behavior, wrote something under her autograph. Did she really write "M Willis 5 pissed"??? No, it couldn't be, but I can't read what she did write.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
The day began with a trip to the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois. As much as I enjoyed the museum in Elkhart, this museum was ten times as large, and I walked around for over 5 hours and still didn't get to see everything. I took a ride on old inter-urban train cars, saw all sorts of old steam engines, and got to walk through passenger cars from 75 years ago. These old passenger cars were remarkable in that the sleeping berths were somewhat like beds in a closet. You had no room on either side of the mattress. In the daytime, the bed folded up and you could sit in the room, next to a sink/toilet. What an amazingly cramped way to travel. Of course, if you were rich and could afford a better room, there were luxury accommodations available where you could actually stretch out and enjoy a little space.
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| Burlington Northern F-9 Locomotive, the only F-9 remaining in existence |
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| A cramped roomette, with upper level bed folded out. The bottom left leather seat actually lifts up to reveal a toilet. |
Although my feet were sore after several days of walking, they weren't as sore as I thought they would be.
I would return to Rosemont for game 3 of the NPF series. Osterman would be the starting pitcher for the Pride, while former Michigan star
Nikki Nemitz started for the Bandits. During the pre-game warmup, a crowd gathered around the chain-link fence that creates the bullpen, where Osterman was warming up. They came to watch the best pitcher in the world. And she put on a show in the pregame warmups. Although Osterman usually dominates during the game as well as in warmups, this wasn't her day. In fact, she gave up five runs in three innings, an extreme rarity for her, and the Bandits won 5–1. Abbott came in for relief, and earned the win, her second of the series.
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| Nikki Nemitz |
Sunday, June 19, 2011
The day started with a trip to the historic Pullman district, formerly the town of Pullman. The town was the brainchild of railroad magnate
George Pullman, whose last name became synonymous with the luxury passenger rail cars his company produced. Pullman was upset with the squalid conditions that most workers in Chicago had to live in, and so he designed and built a town that would allow his employees to live a better life. The townhouses that the employees lived in had gas lighting and indoor plumbing (a rarity in the 1880s). Pullman also built one of the first indoor shopping malls. This town received an award in 1896 for being the most hygienic town in the world. Over the years, the townhouses and other buildings have fallen into disrepair, but the current citizens of Pullman have banded together to rebuild their town, and most of the buildings have been returned to their former glory. The shops where the workers built Pullman rail cars still exist, but have fallen into such disrepair that they are closed and may never be restored.
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| Greenstone Church, built by George Pullman for the benefit of his town |
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| Gorgeous row homes in the former town of Pullman, built for Pullman's workers |
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| Remains of the erecting shops, where the Pullman cars were built |
After that, I went to the town of Oak Park, to see some more beautiful old homes.
Frank Lloyd Wright had his studio and workshop in this town, and designed many different homes in the area.
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| Frank Lloyd Wright studio and workshop |
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| Moore-Dugal house, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1895 |
I had walked about five miles this day so far. From there, I went back to Rosemont for the last NPF game.
Taryne Mowatt started for the Bandits. She had a rough day, getting hit on the shins by two line drives in the first inning (and another just missed that same shin by a foot), and was removed from the game. After the game, she was on crutches. We saw a few home runs in this game, by USA Olympian Andrea Duran of the Pride, and by Bandits
Megan Wiggins and Rachel Folden. This was another exciting game, as the Pride took a 3–0 lead in the top of the first, after battering Mowatt, only to see the Bandits take the lead with two runs in each of the first two innings. With the game tied after five innings,
Shannon Doepking doubled in
Christine Knauer for the Bandits go ahead run in the sixth. Abbott won her third game of the series, truly a stunning series for her.
Conclusion
After all that walking and exciting baseball and softball, I was exhausted. The one thing I planned to do that I didn't get around to was eating at a high-end Chicago steak house. I was too tired, and just didn't want a large heavy dinner. Maybe next time.
My feet are sore, but I walked more than I ever did. I had a great time every day, and still I want to see more of Chicago. I think I'll be going back.
Naturally, I wanted to know more about him. I looked up Dion on Wikipedia, and learned, much to my surprise, that Dion could have had a seat on the plane that crashed and killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper, the Day The Music Died. Dion didn’t want to spend the $36 for the plane ticket, as it was a whole month’s rent for his family back then.
This led me to read up more about The Day The Music Died. What a tragic story. A young pilot, probably unqualified and unaware that a blizzard was approaching accepted the job of flying these famous musicians. Shortly after takeoff, in blizzard conditions, the plane crashed into a corn field, killing all on board.
Today, near Clear Lake, Iowa, is a monument to these musicians. Buddy Holly's trademark glasses mark the entrance to the monument. Walking half a mile back into the cornfield (with permission of the land owner), there is another monument at the site of the crash.
These three musicians have not been forgotten. Their music is still memorable and still played on the radio, and I'm sure I can still sing along to The Big Bopper's “Chantilly Lace”, more than 50 years after it was recorded.