Tag: Wrigley Field

Travels With Charlie Part 2, Day #4 “Goodbye Toronto, Hello Minneapolis”

by reissmd, posted in Minneapolis, Toronto

Last night we had a wonderful dinner in Toronto with our friend Nick and his partner, Aldo.  Nick and I became friends when we met during a trip to Madrid, Spain when we both wanted to experience the country’s culture and study Spanish.  Apparently Nick did more studying than I did since he is now fluent.  At my current rate of improvement I should be fluent some time around the year 2060.  In Spain we were taught by a Reiss Travel blog follower, Angelica, who remains a friend and I affectionately refer to her as my “Spaniard mother”.  

Dinner was at Vos Restaurante Argentino-College (847 College St, Toronto, ON M6H 1A1, Canada).  They specialize in Argentinian food, great service, but not in great air conditioning.  We had a wonderful meal but were too busy talking about life and reminiscing about our times in Spain that I forgot to take any pictures of the food. Patrice did have the presence of mind to take a picture of us but declined a second photo with her in front of the camera.

From left to right: Nick, Aldo, Charlie, Me.

This morning we left the hotel early because of the awful traffic conditions we experienced yesterday. Of course things were much different today (a Saturday) and we got to the airport in about 20 minutes and much too early for our flight.  

We couldn’t get a direct flight to Minneapolis so we had a brief layover in Chicago.  One wonderful aspect of this part of the trip was that we cleared customs (via the Global Entry system) before we even left Toronto.  Many thanks to Charlie’s parents for enrolling him in the Global Entry program and kudos to Charlie for knowing he qualified. 

I had a window seat on the flight to Chicago and saw a great view of the Lake Michigan shoreline and of Wrigley Field (see below).

Lake Michigan and the Chicago shoreline.
Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs.

In Minneapolis we are staying at the Four Seasons Hotel which is walking distance from Target Field.  This place is gorgeous.  There was a slight hiccup on check-in.  They had us set up for a room with a king-size bed but without a rollaway.  Hmmm, we love Charlie a lot but the thought of all three of us in one bed did not sound inviting.  We asked for two queen size beds as we had in Toronto but that was not available.  Luckily they found a rollaway and we were in business.  From our room we have a great view of the city which includes part of the Mississippi River which separates our location from its twin city, St. Paul.

Part of our city view including a glimpse of the Mississippi River.
Charlie enjoying the view from our room.

We didn’t have much of a lunch so we had an early dinner at Murray’s (26 South 6th St, Minneapolis, MN 55402). The establishment is about 80 years old and was recommended by a friend of Patrice. The food, the service, and the air conditioning were all spectacular. We sat at a table from which you could see the below photo. Patrice knowing how old I am said “I bet you know who they are”. I recognized the guy but not the woman. Patrice of course didn’t recognize either because she is too young (ha!).

Eddie Cantor on the left, and actress Joan Davis on the right. If you recognize Cantor you are old, if you recognize both, you are VERY old.

After dinner we walked through “Taste of Minnesota” a monstrous food faire with all sorts of booths to stuff yourself. They only managed to make me sick because we had just had a big dinner. They also had bands and a variety of entertainment venues including a zip line.

Tomorrow will be a happy and sad day. I will leave that for later.

Travels With Charlie Day #5? “Should We Stay In Chicago”

by reissmd, posted in Chicago

Last night it took a very long time to exit the parking lot at White Sox stadium aka Guaranteed Rate Stadium (Do you really think that should be the name of a stadium?). When we finally got back to the hotel it was late resulting in another sleep-in day this morning. When we finally got going we decided to skip breakfast and go straight to lunch. My friend Mike has repeatedly recommended we go to Al’s Italian Beef. I rarely eat beef but I didn’t think I could face Mike when I got home if I didn’t give it a try.

The trio getting ready to eat at Al’s Italian Beef.

Mike said I should order the beef and sausage combo with sweet peppers. Before getting our food I had to use the bathroom where I saw some interesting signs. See below.

Since this place was near Wrigley Field I assume they were referring to baseball
Bathroom archery?
Definitely a Los Angeles County Health Department “A” rating for cleanliness.

Outside the bathroom, I saw pictures of a number of celebrities who have dined at Al’s. This picture made me think Al is not a boxing fan or just not a great speller.

Sugar Ray Lenord?

I ordered the beef and sausage combo with sweet peppers as recommended by my Chicago food expert. See below.

Al’s Beef and Sausage Combo with Sweet Peppers. It was good but I would not go out of my way for it.

After lunch, we headed to Wrigley Field for a tour. We gave Charlie a number of choices of things to do today and Wrigley was his selection without hesitation.

In front of Wrigley with Charlie’s newly purchased Chicago Cubs hat. Hey! I thought you said you were a San Francisco Giants fan?

The tour was great. It lasted about 90 minutes and we got to see all sorts of aspects of the park. We sat in the prime seats and the bleachers. We were able to see the visiting team’s clubhouse and sit in the Cub’s dugout. Our guide told us all sorts of interesting information about the stadium, the Cubs, and the history of baseball in Chicago. But the main thing that made this a perfect outing is what Charlie said upon leaving, “Sitting in the visiting team’s clubhouse at Wrigley Field was the highlight of my summer”. Did you hear that Charlie’s Mom and Dad? Did I mention, that Grandpa is immature?

For dinner, I was lobbying to go to a Chicago landmark called the Wiener’s Circle. The place is famous for its hot dogs but is actually more famous for the attitude displayed by its employees. Rude is putting it mildly. This video convinced me that maybe we should save this for a trip when we are in Chicago without a 10-year-old.

We opted for a quiet meal at the hotel instead.

This will be the last post for this trip. I really enjoyed our “Travels With Charlie”. He is a very good travel partner. Patrice is pretty good too. Chicago is a great city but the weather is not to my liking. If asked would I ever want to live here, the sign below should give you the answer to that question.

As Randy Newman put it, “I Love L.A”