The field may be new, but the team, of course, is not. My son Frank and I have been to several games at Wrigley, but we’ve never been to US Cellular Field. My boyfriend John and his daughter joined us for this chilly spring game.

We drove all day to make it to Chicago for a 7:05 game on a Friday night. I was a little anxious about our arrival time due to traffic delays and miscommunications about parking. I like to get there two hours before the first pitch. My son is used to my baseball game arrival routine that includes a stroll around the concourse and batting practice. John and his daughter are new to stadium chasing with me and they thought my suggestion that we arrive two hours early was a bit excessive. Successful group travel requires compromise. :-) I relaxed my expectations and we all enjoyed the game.

US Cellular Field is easily reached by the Red Line. We stayed at a downtown hotel and used the El to get to the game. We had GREAT seats in the lower level right above the dugout. This gave us a particularly great seat for a triple play and we enjoyed the White Sox fan love all around us. The players were appreciative and acknowledged their fans whenever possible. There were a LOT of balls hit and tossed into the stands.

My son and I, mostly vegetarians, decided when in Chicago, you’ve gotta go for the Chicago Dog. We got dogs with “everything” – yellow mustard, chopped white onions, bright green sweet pickle relish, a dill pickle spear, tomato slices or wedges, pickled sport peppers, and a dash of celery salt. We loved them so much that we duplicated the toppings for a vegetarian barbecue at home (we used roasted carrots in place of the hotdogs and they were also delicious – it really is in the toppings). I got a piece of corn off the cob that was served with crema, cayenne, lime, and salt and I can’t recommend it enough.

We enjoyed the post-game fireworks and then moved with the crowd back to the El. We got up the next morning and spent the day at the Chicago Art Institute, walked up to the Sears Tower (now called the Willis Tower) for sunset (we were able to easily pick out US Cellular Field and Wrigley), and then ended our short Chicago weekend with a deep dish pizza. There’s a million things to see and do in Chicago, but you can’t go wrong with a ballgame, some art, architecture, and pizza!