Chicago

So a few of us hit the railroad tracks this weekend for a trip to Chicago.  Basically the main goal would be to get to the Outdoor Classic hockey game at Soldier Field.  Considering we had tickets, that wasn't an issue.  In fact, the majority of the trip was planned and paid for well before Christmas.  So it was long in anticipation, but well worth it.  Boy, what a great time.

It was a quick and easy trip for the most part.  We got on the Amtrack in Port Huron.  Once in Chicago we were able to walk over to the hotel.  Most of the sites to see and places of interest were also in walking distance from were we stayed.  Chicago was a great city with plenty of excitement.  It was cold though.  Very cold indeed.  But there would be an added surprise, the forecast called for 6 inches of snow that afternoon and evening.  I guess it snowed 4 inches over the course of the game.

We sat pretty far up, but surprisingly it wasn't that bad.  I could read the numbers on the players shirts easy enough, but the lettering of their last nights wasn't as clear.  The play was microphoned, and you could hear every cut-of-the-skate, shot, pass, and thump against the boards.  The game took a bit longer however as rink rats frequently had to clean the ice with shovels. 

Other than the game, there was lots of walking around and checking out the highlights of the city, plenty of pinting and pub time, and lots of interesting eats and local restaurants.  But cold.  Cold and windy.

The train is an easy enough way to get there.  It makes for a long ride home though because it leaves later in the day, but you don't have the hassle of parking a car and getting caught in traffic...  Stuff like that. 

And as for the game...  The Blackhawks beat the Penguins by a score of 5 - 1.  There was about 63,000 people at the game.  The 50/50 ticket was a split of $86,000 - no, I did not win, but did have 3 losing numbers in it.  The big screen splashed the temperature at one point and it indicated it was 15 degrees = fahrenheit (2 fehrenheit with the windchill).  I mentioned that they said it snowed 4 inches during the game.  Our tickets were high up there, the cheapest in the building, and they were $130.  But hey, it was lots of fun.   It is something I may not get to do again, though I would get back to Chicago in the summer with much warmer weather.