Fun and Adventure on Chicago's Historic Navy Pier

My husband and I visited Chicago once before and saw many of the city's iconic sights--see all my prior posts about Chicago at this link. This time we wanted new experiences and went to the Navy Pier. The photo above is a view of the pier jutting out into Lake Michigan from the nearby Hancock Building--more about that on a future blog post.

The historic 3,300 foot long Navy Pier was originally designed in 1916 for shipping and recreational purposes, but it has evolved over the years into a premier entertainment center. It is the Midwest's # 1 tourist destination and attracts over 8 million visitors a year! (All photos and photo collages in this post will enlarge if clicked on)

We entered through the main entrance located at 600 E Grand Ave in Chicago, Illinois. 

Inside this building, there were various shops, restaurants, and a greenhouse, and the entrance to the Chicago Children's Museum. 

Outside the building, we saw the 150 foot high Ferris Wheel that was modeled after the world's very first Ferris Wheel constructed for the Chicago 1893 World Columbian Exposition, and the "Wave Swinger" that towers forty feet over a pond of water and swings riders fourteen feet in the air!

My husband and I had to take a ride on the Ferris Wheel! We enjoyed the spectacular views of the Chicago waterfront from our gondola car during the one revolution the Ferris Wheel makes.

By this time we worked up an appetite for lunch and decided to eat at the Billy Goat Tavern and Grill located on the pier.

There is a lot of history revolving around the Billy Goat restaurants, as you can read on these placards inside. (click to enlarge collage)  The staff really does yell out "Cheezeborger" when you order, and they also say "Double Cheezeborger is Better!"

Even so, we opted for the single cheeseburger and ate it outside on the restaurant's patio, so that we could enjoy the view and the beautiful weather.  It was a very tasty cheeseburger wrapped in its big bun!

Magically, our time on Navy  Pier seemed to have made my husband taller and it made me smaller--smile!

There are many other attractions and entertainment events on the Navy Pier--click here to see a list and event schedule--but two that we were attracted to deserve blog posts of their own.  One was the Richard H. Driehaus Museum of Stained Glass and the other was a Tall Ship Windy schooner ride on Lake Michigan. Come back soon to see both posts!

Wrigley Field--Chicago Cubs-Celebrating 100 Years!

I've mentioned a few times, recently, that my husband and I were fortunate to spend a weekend in Chicago in early May.  I'm sorry that it has taken me a while to edit a thousand photos I took there, and also for a trip we took soon after that to California, but in between I was also delayed by having my laptop repaired for a glitch that was preventing me from staying connected to the internet (thankfully that was covered under my computer's warranty!)  We visited Chicago to attend an annual business event that the company my husband works for hosts every year--a rooftop viewing of a Chicago Cubs baseball game at Wrigley Field! It happens that this year is the 100-year celebration of the Chicago Cubs Wrigley Field!

According to this Wikipedia article, the Chicago National League Ball Club is the only franchise to play continuously in the same city since the formation of the National League in 1876. They are the earliest formed active professional sports club in North America.  In their history, they have also been known as the Federals, White Stockings, Orphans, Colts, Panamas, Rainmakers, Spuds, Trojans, Microbes, and Zephyrs. According to this MLB website, on New Year's Eve 1913, Chicago Federal League owner Charles Weeghman agreed to a 99-year lease on a small parcel of land located at the corner of Clark and Addison Streets on Chicago's North Side. At a construction cost of $250,000, a ballpark with a seating capacity of only 14,000 was constructed and named Weeghman Park, later to be named Wrigley Field in 1927. On April 23, 1914, the Chicago Federals played their first Major League game at the ballpark, defeating the Kansas City Packers, 9-1. Four days after opening day, the first renovations were made. The outfield walls were pushed back as much as 50 feet and the scoreboard was moved from left field to its present location in the center field. Many renovations later, Wrigley Field is the tenth smallest actively used major league baseball park, and the oldest National League baseball park.

We were going to be watching the Chicago Cubs play the St. Louis Cardinals at a "rooftop" venue outside the park.  The Chicago Cubs has a few official rooftop venues for left, center and right field, and there are also many privately owned rooftop venues. We were going to see the game at Brixen Ivy, a private executive rooftop experience.

As you can see there are quite a few rooftop venues across the street on the left field side of Wrigley Field. Brixen Ivy is the white brick building, third from the left.

There are three walk-up levels in the building. On the club level, we could pick up food, which was included in the all-inclusive ticket. The other levels had an indoor and porch viewing terrace, and the last level had an outdoor terrace with bleacher seats.

Beer and wine and non-alcoholic drinks were also included in the service.

The event was very well attended! Most of the people stayed inside to watch the game as unfortunately, the day was chilly and damp.

I went up to the true rooftop of Brixen Ivy to take photos. As you can see we had a great view of almost the entire Wrigley field from its stadium-style seats.

The rooftop terrace also had a bar and snack service and some tables and chairs, plus TV screens to view the game.

My husband and two of his invitees from New York.  We all stayed on top and enjoyed the game!

These were the rooftop seats on the building next to us

If you click on to enlarge this photo you can see many buildings outside the red brick right field of Wrigley Field that also have rooftop views!

More views of the game and of Wrigley Field.  The Chicago Cubs won the game, so all the fans were very happy!

I had to include this photo of a Chicago firehouse that was located on the corner, near our rooftop venue, as these lucky firemen also get to enjoy the Cub home games!  My oldest brother was a lieutenant in the FDNY for almost 30 years, and all firemen are true brethren.

That evening, my husband and I, and his guests at the game went to Lou Malnati's at the Gold Coast location, as per the request of his guests.  They are New Yorkers and wanted to try Chicago style deep dish pizza.  It was delicious, but I have to admit that since I am a native New Yorker myself, I prefer New York style pizza.  I think a personal preference for pizza is a matter of what you know the best.

While the weather was cold the day we attended this rooftop Chicago Cubs game, the next few days of our visit to Chicago were absolutely beautiful! We visited the Navy Pier, took a clipper ship ride on Lake Michigan, and went up to the top panoramic viewing windows in the Hancock Tower! Chicago is a fabulous city to visit -- please come back soon to see those future blog posts!