But that gives me a chance to "diary" a day in the life and talk about what I am celebrating today: The Chicago Blackhawks have won their third Stanley Cup as Champions of the NHL in the past six years. The 2010-2015 Hawks are a true dynasty. I am a hardcore hockey fan. Honestly, I don't follow any other sports and have no use for the American big three: baseball, football and basketball. No interest. Outside of hockey I like real football (soccer) and MMA, but they are casual interests. Hockey is my game and I've been a Hawks fan since I was a kid.
However, I want this blog to recall yesterday's adventure for me and the Pennell family, who are enjoying their visit to America and stay in my home. As I mentioned, in yesterday's blog we had a Cubs game planned for last night. Tickets for the Hawks game would have been next to impossible to get and über-expensive. My bonus dad Joel (my preferred term for my "stepfather:") was able to get us great Field Box seats for the Cubs game from a friend that is a season ticket holder. But, as I also mentioned, my Bristolian friends seeing their first American major league baseball game would be completely dependent on the weather. And it has been raining heavy here in Chicagoland.
Then it was onto downtown Chicago where we our adventure with on and off heavy rains would begin. After parking downtown near Millennium Park we had to seek shelter in a Starbucks and wait out the rain a bit. Then we finally made it across the street to the park, but our visit was short as it started pouring again.
The decision was made that we needed to change plans to an indoor venue. Brandon wanted to see the Shedd Aquarium so headed two miles south to the museum campus and the sun had come out again. The line ("queue" to my Brit guests) to get into the Shedd was insane so we walked around the lakefront and museum campus. Here's a great shot of the Pennell's with the glorious Chicago skyline in the background.
From the Museum Campus we drove north up Lake Shore Drive past Oak Street and North Avenue Beaches and went to Lincoln Park Zoo. This is Chicago's famous Free Zoo, although parking is $25. The weather cooperated while we were there. I hate zoos, but it had been 25 years since I'd been to LPZ, a place I used to visit regularly especially the reptile house where I would be allowed behind the scenes thanks to being friends with the Curator and keepers. The highlight was a big male lion who put on an amazing display of his incredible roar.
After the zoo we headed to Wrigleyville, but the skies had opened up. It was already obvious that there was little chance that our baseball game would take place. But we had plenty of time and parked ($50!) and headed to Casey Moran's, which is an amazing sports bar and beer garden right beside Wrigley Field. Beer and buffalo wings and we were content, but outside the window the thunder, lightning and torrential rain was out of control. Our plan was to wait it out a bit, but with the Hawks playing on the other side of town with a chance to win their third Stanley Cup in six years. I was thinking of escaping Chicago and heading back out to my rural home to catch most of the game on TV.
So I got a bit excited when I checked the Cubs website and saw that the game had been officially postponed until the end of August. The Pennell's wouldn't get their American baseball game and that was disappointing for all of us. But it would have been tough to watch the slow-paced baseball game while paying attention to the exciting sport of hockey on my iPhone. And the fact that Casey Moran's was filling with Blackhawks apparel wearing fans coming to watch the hockey game was making me envious So our high-priced parking space next to Wrigley Field was abandoned and we got out of the city. The rain was coming down hard and the police and emergency teams were coming out in force. Obviously the city was preparing for chaos if the Hawks won the cup, but there was also the flash flood and tornado warnings. It was a crazy evening to be in downtown Chicago. So I drove as fast as possible to make the one hour trek home. Several underpasses were blocked by police cars as people had failed to make it through the deep water on the road. A few detours and we were on the tollway and headed west. We made it home with about a minute left in the first period, ordered some food to be delivered and settled into watching the Hawks game. I did my best to explain the rules as we watched and Mark and Brandon had already become Hawks fans and had t-shirts Mark had bought when he visited me last October.
And then they did it. The cup was hoisted by Jonathan Toews and then handed to the 40-year old Kimmo Timmonen. Kimmo had played little in the playoffs because his skating and skills had understandably diminished with time, and 40 is old for a pro athlete playing the fast and tough game of hockey. But the Finnish hockey player was a superstar at one time, and played for years for the Nashville Predators, which are my "other team" as I lived in Nashville for almost 7 years and used to go to their games when I couldn't see my Hawks.
Tomorrow we'll be back on topic - the hairy spider hobby - and I'll get into full on rant mode. Thanks for sticking with me for this "diary entry" blog. This afternoon Mark adds some more ink to my ongoing sleeves and tonight we will celebrate some more. But mañana I will deliver a rant!
All the best, MJ
1 comment:
Beautiful photos....especially of the skyline
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