Chicago... the city, the Cubs.

We had a long weekend in and around the city of Chicago. We visited family that I hadn't seen in years, went to the museums, the zoo, the aquarium, Navy Pier, and (the best part!) saw a night game at Wrigley Field (Cubs vs. White Sox).

The city is bigger than I remembered, busier than I thought it would be, but it does seem to be more of a community than a city. Chicago really knows how to be small-town nice, rather than big-city busy.

This past weekend was the 75th anniversary for a couple of the museums, so admission was free, and everyone in Chicago seemed to be there. The museums were packed, so we quickly toured the Science & Industry Museum, and the Aquarium-- it was just too, too busy at both places and the noise was deafening. We took our time at the Field Museum-- not as many people interested in Natural History, I guess.

After the Aquarium, we took a Lake Michigan boat to the Navy Pier... lots of restaurants and shops, and we were going to ride the Ferris Wheel there, but the sky clouded up and there was thunder in the distance, so I didn't want to be that high up if a storm rolled in.

Buckingham Fountain seemed larger than I remembered, and they light it up at night and it's just beautiful. We were there at 9:00 pm, and the lights and water was accompanied by Sousa marching music.

The Brookfield Zoo was a beautiful park, nicely laid out, mature trees, nice exhibits for the most part, except for some very old smaller ones that have seen their day and really should be removed or renovated. We had great weather over the weekend, with just a couple of light rain showers while we were there.

The baseball game at Wrigley Field was incredible. Chicago Cubs vs. the Chicago White Sox-- both teams at the top of their leagues, with a city rivalry similar to that of the NY Yankees and the NY Mets. Wrigley itself was just amazing... no large television screens, no digital scoreboards, no over-the-top advertising. Everyone is there to watch a baseball game. Period. We had a very light rain just before game time, but it cleared up quickly, and before the sun game out, we saw a double rainbow over Wrigley. It was magical, beautiful.

The fans were really into the game, from beginning to end. Singing, chanting, clapping, dancing in their seats. The game we went to was sold out, and we were lucky to find tickets on eBay weeks before our trip. Big bucks for the four tickets, but worth every penny and then some. We took my aunt and uncle to the game, and my aunt thought we were joking when we started walking towards seats right close to the field. She's a big Cubs fan, but hadn't been to a game in years.

There are apartment buildings all around Wrigley Field, and the apartments have bleachers built on top of the roofs... seats are sold in those roof-top seats, and they have barbeques going, umbrellas up to catch some shade, and those fans are as much a part of the game as those at Wrigley.

I've been to other baseball games, here in Houston, and back in NY, but the game at Wrigley was unlike any other. I hope no one ever gets an idea to replace Wrigley with (yet another) corporate ballpark. And if someone should, I hope every Cubs fan in the city of Chicago goes to Wrigley and sits right on the field, and in all those seats, and just stays put. After seeing that game at Wrigley, I just can't imagine any other ballpark being any better. And, with apologies to our own Astros, Wrigley Field surpasses any ballpark that Houston has to offer.

After the game (the Cubs won, 7 to 1) we walked about six blocks to my uncle's car. All the way, we could hear the fans talking about the game, televisions in the bars and restaurants were showing the game's highlights, nearly everyone was wearing either a Cubs shirt or a Cubs hat, and baseball was just in the air. And I do mean in the air. It was electric, incredible, unbelievable.

A night game at Wrigley Field. Chicago Cubs vs. the Chicago White Sox. The game we saw was the third one, and the Cubs won all three against the White Sox. Next weekend, there will be three more games at the White Sox ballpark (I forget the name of it just now), and I'm sure we'll be watching the games here, and my husband will be sitting in front of our television wearing his Chicago Cubs hat.

I think I'd rather be a Chicago Cubs fan than an Astros fan.

The only thing I didn't get to do in Chicago-- see Oprah's studio, and The Oprah store. We'll just have to go back.

Go Cubs!