Back in the Saddle

Due to another writing project I'm doing, and probably some other reasons having to do with general laziness and getting busy with other things, it's been a while since I've given you a Chicago report.  And while the purpose of this blog is not to bore you with my daily activities - that's what Facebook's for, right? - I've had a couple of experiences that seemed blogworthy.

But before I get to that, let me apologize to you, Dedicated Reader, for a glitch that you might have observed with some of the pictures in the Driveabout.  Or, rather, spaces where pictures used to be.  I was trying to prune my Google storage and didn't realize that Blogger doesn't independently store pictures - it (apparently, I discovered) takes them from Google Plus.  And so, sadly, they are now gone.  Armed with a court order and resources that far exceed my interest in such an endeavor, I probably could get them back.  However, I have come to terms with that loss and all I can do is say that I have learned my lesson.

And now, to a couple of events of the past six weeks.

First, I went on a bike ride with my friend, Donna.  She had called and asked if I wanted to go for a ride with her at (and I'm sure that was the preposition of the proposition) the Botanic Garden.  It was a beautiful weekend in September and I'd heard that the gardens were lovely, so of course I said of course!  She picked me up about 3:15 Sunday afternoon, I lodged my bike into the back of her minivan, and we headed north.

I've driven by the Botanic Garden on my way to Highland Park - it's about 15 miles north of my apartment, more or less.  Donna initially headed toward the Expressway, which you get to from my place by driving north a little bit and then west for a long way.  But she didn't get on the Expressway, saying, "I didn't realize how far north we are.  We're almost there."

At this point I realized that Donna's plan for the ride was different from what I'd understood, since we were not driving toward the gardens.  Turns out that we were going to ride to the Botanic Garden along a Forest Preserve District bike trail, which is about 14 miles.  We'd get a bite to eat at the Botanic Garden, and then ride back.

I've been on longer bike rides, but I hadn't planned on this today.  My major concern was that the sun was going to set about 7 p.m., which was just over three hours from when we were setting off.  I am not a fast bike rider, and the math was making me uncomfortable.

Still, in for a penny, in for a pound and we took off.  A friend of Donna's joined us.  The friend has a bike that weighs less than my laptop and she is very fast.  Donna is in the middle, speed-wise.  Both Donna and her friend definitely looked the part of bikers, with helmets and bike shorts and all of that.  I looked like somebody out for the bike equivalent of an afternoon stroll.  Plus my shoe string got caught in my pedal at about Mile 3 and the only way I could get off my bike (once I stopped it) was to fall over.  (This is a family blog, as they say, so I will spare you any pictures of the bruise on my backside but it was epic.)

When we got to the Garden, the cafe was closed.  This was lucky for me, time-wise, but Donna hadn't eaten all day, so she had to make do with the next best thing which was a $10 chocolate bar from the gift shop, the cheapest food item they sold.

But all that aside, it was a glorious ride.  Nearly all of the trail is through parkland and along the river (which is not very big at that point; more like a stream).  Lots of trees and we even saw some deer.  (That is the benefit of riding at twilight.)  Even on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, it wasn't crowded.  I've gotten accustomed to riding on the Lakeshore Trail which is the bike riding equivalent of driving on I-40 in North Carolina, home of NASCAR.  While I love the Lakeshore Trail, riding in the forest preserve was much more peaceful.

And the Botanic Garden itself is beautiful.  Due to the time, we didn't stay, but we looked around just a little and I took a couple pictures to show you what it's like.

This is just some of the landscaping along the driveway.

Donna with her dinner.

And we made it back to the car while there was still enough light to see!  It was a great experience.

The second event of note was this past Thursday night, when I became part of the Fourth Phase.  Yes, football fans, I got to see Da Bears!

My friend Sharon and her husband Steve from Fort Wayne have Bears season tickets.  Steve couldn't go to this mid-week game so Sharon invited me.  Score!

My only previous NFL experience had been seeing the Colts play at the RCA Dome a few years ago.  And while I remain a Colts fan (even in the post-Manning era), the RCA Dome was not a particularly interesting venue.  I decided after that game, in fact, that I'd really rather watch at home on TV.  But I knew Soldier Field would be different, especially since I was going with a pro.

We'd had plans to see the game for some time and I knew it was an evening game.  Sharon called me last week to firm up the details, and when I asked her what time we'd meet, she said, "Let's see....the game's at 7:20 and you can get into the parking lot four hours before the game starts, so I'll be there at 3:20."  I was going to L it down to Soldier Field, and I asked Sharon if I could bring some beer or something.  "No," she said.  "I'll have it all so you don't need to worry about carrying anything.  I'll bring the grill and everything."

The grill.  Indeed.  This was going to be Tailgating with a Capital T.

To get to Soldier Field, I take the Red Line (of course I do) to Roosevelt and then take the bus that goes to the Museum Campus.  I went one stop further because Sharon was parked on Northerly Island.  The bus was completely packed, and at the stops between Roosevelt and Soldier Field a couple people got off and on, but at the main Soldier Field stop the bus completely emptied out except for the bus driver, a nice little nerdy kid in a suit, and me.  The nerdy kid was going to the Adler Planetarium (of course he was) where he was a volunteer.  We both laughed at how empty the bus had suddenly become.

Sharon had texted me a picture of her view of Soldier Field as a way of helping me find her.  I showed a security guard the picture and he got me pointed in the right direction, and I found her with no trouble.

When I arrived she already had the grill going and was opening up a couple of boxes of Triscuits to go with the hummus that was already sitting there.  But no beer.  Okay, one of those statements is a lie.

We asked the guys parked next to us, who were already cooking on a family-sized grill, to take our picture.

Look at the spread, with a tablecloth and everything!

Brian Piccolo was smiling on us that day, because the weather was absolutely perfect - sunny and low 70's when we started, clear and 60's during the game - and the guy next to us was a firefighter.

There are a lot of things I like about firefighters.  It's hard not to like someone who will run into a burning building to save you and your loved ones.  But one of the less profound things I like about firefighters is that they can cook, and they like nothing more than to share food.  So in addition to the delicious chicken Malibu sandwiches that Sharon made (along with Triscuits and hummus), we also got to eat quesadillas and meatballs.  Delish.

After two and a half hours of enjoying our little party and catching up, we packed up the tailgate and started walking over to Soldier Field.  As you approach the bridge off of Northerly Island, there's a guard and two dumpsters.  Sharon had warned me about this - it is the end of tailgating.  So we surrendered our beer cans and continued walking with 47,000 other fans into the stadium.

Pre Game

As of that moment, I didn't have any Bears fanware, a problem I have since remedied.  (Oh, so you don't think less of her, Sharon donned her jersey over her white shirt as it cooled off later in the afternoon.)  I had on the closest thing to orange that I own, and when it got chilly put on a dark blue pullover.  Sort of a pathetic effort, I will admit, but it was the best I could do at the time.  What impressed me was that at least 40% of the people at the game were wearing jerseys - and I mean jerseys, that's not counting the Bears t-shirts and sweatshirts and jackets.  There were a lot of Erlacher jerseys, but you can tell the old school fans who were wearing classic Ditka and Payton jerseys.  Lots of tradition at Soldier Field.

One of the traditions, I learned, is that you sing "Bear Down, Chicago Bears" after every score.  Luckily they show the lyrics on the jumbotron.  And we got to sing the song quite a bit, as the Bears won!  (Of course, they were playing the Giants who had nearly as many interceptions as completed passes, but a W is a W and we'll take it.)

I am still smiling about the evening.  It was a lot of fun.  Combined with my visits to the Friendly Confines during baseball season (yes, I know, technically baseball is still going on but for Cubs fans the season ended weeks ago unless one secretly cheers for the Tigers as well), I feel like quite a Chicago sports fan.

Bears Win!

Next weekend I am going to Little Rock.  That is one of the places I wasn't able to get to during the Driveabout, and fortunately a friend moved there this summer so I will get to see her and the Clinton Library and Central High School all at once.  Or maybe just drive by the Clinton Library and Central High School, depending on whether John Boehner is able to decide that the country's well-being is more important than his being Speaker.  In any event, I look forward to the trip and will issue a full report.