Will H's USA Trip

I continued my streak of attending at least one sporting event at each stop by checking out the Cubs / White Sox series on Monday afternoon.  The Cubs won the world series last year, breaking about a hundred year drought so the city is still pretty high on the team.  It also gave the owners a chance to significantly raise ticket prices.  The cheapest seat was over $70, so I went with a $30 standing room only pass. Of all the baseball games I've seen so far (Mets, Yankees, Red Sox), Chicago had the most enthusiastic fans.  The game started at 1pm on a Monday and the stadium was damn near full and quite rowdy.  Part of that was due to the fact that it was a cross town rivalry game as both teams call Chicago home.  It's also why the tickets were unusually expensive, as they charge more for their marquee games. Wrigley field is an unusual stadium compared to most all others.  It's the second oldest park in operation today (Fenway is the oldest)....

South Bend is about 100mi east of Chicago, about two and half hours away, certainly close enough for a day trip.       As I expected, Notre Dame has a very scenic campus.  This year they're celebrating the 175th anniversary of their founding in 1842.  It was very pleasant bike ride despite the heat.           School wasn't in session, but the administration building was open and a had a few historical items on display, including the Crown of the Blessed Virgin.  The crown was created in France and presented to to ND in 1866 by Empress Eugenie and Napoleon.  It weigh 52lbs and consists of solid gold, silver, and precious jewels.  It was stolen in in 1886 but later recovered, though in a severely damaged state and later restored.  I imagine the alarm system is a little more up to date than whatever was being used in the 19th century.      The well known Basilica ...

Heading north from Chinatown on the Lakefront Trail, I visited Lincoln Park, home of the Lincoln Park Conservatory and Zoo, both free and open to the public (maybe that's why taxes are so high here.)        The conservatory is an indoor greenhouse with a few different climates featured.  The care takers added a bit of a Jurassic Park theme to the rain forest exhibit with a few dinosaur decorations.   The grounds surrounding facility are well manicured with lots of seasonal flowers. The zoo is right next door to the conservatory. The zoo is quite large and features a large number of animal exhibits.  I was surprised how well it was put together for a free venue.      The lion exhibit was very entertaining as the male lion had a habit of getting up on top of the tallest rock and roaring at the crowd.  I've never witnessed a lion roaring in person, it's one of the most gangster things I've ever seen. ...

The Lakefront Trail is an 18.5mi path that hugs the western bank of Lake Michigan.  It's a mixed used jogging and biking trail with several premier attractions along the route (Navy Pier, Soldier Field, Museum Campus, and several beaches.  Prior to heading out I stopped for lunch at the Chinatown market near my Airbnb.  They had a few interesting items on the menu.      The trail is very well maintained and very pretty.  The lake is exceptionally clear, reminds me of the Caribbean.      In addition to the natural setting, there are couple of artistic installation for folks to ponder.      That evening I found a couple of oddities.  First, Chinatown is totally obsessed with Thai rolled ice cream.  Second, one of the local Latin bars has a sense of humor, judging from their Wednesday night special.