Wrigley Field & Navy Pier

Today's photos 

Today started with egg and bacon muffin in Dunkin with a coffee before we got on the 22 bus up to Wrigley Field.

We had started to get into baseball in the last year or two and had been looking

forward to seeing a game for ourselves so got a couple tickets for the afternoon game on Wednesday the 2nd of September then headed off into the Cubs shop on the other side of the road to buy some sporting goodies, I got myself a very nice Wrigley Field hoodie but probably spent more money than we intended to do but what the heck, its hard to resist buying things in this sort of shop you just want it all.

Outside the shop on the wall is one of the Earthcam cameras that we watch

online so I had to take a picture of that. it's fascinating to see how early the crowds start to turn up but that's nothing to when the game finishes.

From there we had a quick coffee in Macdonalds then got on the 152 for a ten-minute ride down to Lake Shore Drive then hopped on the 146 down to East Street Beach. 

One thing that you don't realise about Chicago is that it at least two fantastic

beaches and both have bars on the sand as well but now was not the time for that. It was only a short walk along the lakefront until you come to Navy Pier.

By now the sun was starting to come out but it still had been really warm and humid so far today, it was nice to be on the pier with a breeze blowing. There are all sorts of things to do on here from a museum to a ballroom dance hall but the main attraction here is the Ferris wheel. 

This is one of those sort of wheels that continually turn so Jane wasn't able to go

it but at only $8 I thought I would give it a go. The gondolas are of the open type so when you get on they lock the gate behind you but there's not much to stop you falling out, all was going well until I got about 60 feet up then I thought this might not have been one of my best ideas as I'm not that keen on heights anymore but there was still another 90 to go. I'm glad I went on anyway as the view from the top is amazing and I got some fantastic photos from up there.

One thing I had missed while planning was the Crystal Gardens which is a

subtropical indoor garden with various water features, it must be a great place to come to on a cold winters day. We left out of the back way then down some stairs to the lower level where they were plenty of shops to have a look round, as we were starting to get a bit worn out we had a drink in MacDonalds before heading outside into the late afternoon heat to catch a bus back. It would seem that most of the buses in the city start here so there is plenty to choose from.

We hopped on the 65 bus then transferred to 36 and although there was a bit of a

wait doing it this way it would drop us outside Butch McGuire's for a swift ale, we opted to sit outside and watch the world go by, this was also the first time I tried a tall pint of Lagunitas but I can't have too many of these as they are a bit on the strong side, they also sold Snakebite in here as well. Now its now time to chill out and reflect on what was a good day, then go to the shop and get some beer and snacks for the evening with a couple of local newspapers.

Today had been another good day weather-wise although the mid-thirties can be a bit uncomfortable at times when your clothes start to stick to you.