Friday Five: Summer of Baseball

Last weekend, Mike and I traveled to Chicago.  We had planned this trip a few months ago, but it worked out that we were escaping Hurricane Irma in the Southeast over the weekend.  We had the best time and checked two more ballparks off our bucket list.  We started our baseball trips over Memorial Day, taking advantage of as much of the summer (and baseball season) as we could.  Here are a recap of the five we visited in 2017:

1. Milwaukee Brewers: It was the rainiest of days, but it was awesome how many people were still tailgating before the game in the parking lots (tailgating before a regular season baseball game, right?! SO. COOL.).  Well, I'm not sure how many of those people really made it to the game, because we had our own section in the upper deck, but at least we were dry and warm with the closed convertible roof!

2. Atlanta Braves (again): This was our second time checking the Braves off our list, since their new stadium just opened this season.  It was also our second rainy game of the year, but, unfortunately, Atlanta doesn't have a close-able roof.  We didn't care, bought the cheapest $5 seats we could, and were still determined to see the stadium, even if there wasn't a game.  The good thing about being the only ones there was getting awesome inside food info about H&F Burger who usually has lines around the lower concourse during games!  The burger was so good!  On top of that, the game was only postponed a couple of hours so we to watch baseball, too.

3. Cleveland Indians: I love stadiums that are right downtown.  We walked 3 blocks from our hotel and were there.  They had the best assortment of food, and the stadium was PACKED.  We also got to see my Yankees, which was a sweet bonus!

4. Chicago White Sox: At the beginning of this year's baseball season, I went through a ton of teams' schedules to see when we could make home games.  To kill two birds, I thought I'd see if we could watch the White Sox and Cubs in the same weekend.  Well, there was one weekend in the entire season where they were both home, so we immediately booked tickets.  I grew up a Cubs fan, so checking off the White Sox started off was just a necessity, but Guaranteed Rate was a really cool field.  We had delicious Mexican food and even went on "Halfway to St. Patrick's Day," so we brought home ridiculous Irish hats and watched a fireworks display after the game.

5. Chicago Cubs: OMG the Holy Grail.  I think I squealed when I caught a glimpse of the stadium for the first time on the L.  It was everything I pictured and more.  We got there early to check out the Wrigleyville bars, headed into the stadium with time to spare to walk down to the dugouts and take photos, ate deep dish pizza, and walked every foot of every level.  This was the perfect way to end our 2017 baseball tour.

Next week, I cannot wait to share more posts all about our trip to Chicago.  We had the best time during our first trip to the Windy City, and we have some first-timers tips for all of you who are looking to visit the Midwest, too!  Have a great weekend!

Linking up for Oh hey, Friday, Five on Friday, High Five for Friday, and two doses of Friday Favorites