Restaurant #15 – Bistro Campagne

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Heather, Wigs and Julie

Updated to add photos.  Some readers (talking to you Jimmy!) were requesting photos, so Wigs' job is to take pictures.  I didin't want to be that person at the restaurant.

It was a beautiful day today and looked to be a beautiful night, so we decided to find an outdoor space and do some planning for our fall trip to Spain.  Well of course then it starts raining - severe storm watch, potential for hail and 70 mile per hour winds.  Awesome.  Fortunately we just got some slight rain and the big storms were south of us.  This has been a really rainy summer, which stinks.  I heard we have already hit our annual average rainfall.  Boo.  Luckily the weather cleared up so we could enjoy our outdoor dining.  Kevin had a hockey game, so he wasn’t joining us.  He’s just along for the ride on these trips anyways.  Even though he likes to gripe about not having any input into vacation planning, he really doesn’t want any J    

The Bistro is a French café up on Lincoln Ave (4500 N).  Kev & I went there years ago, but it’s been a long time.  Their outdoor space is big, and what’s really nice about it is that they don’t cram as many tables as possible in there – very roomy between tables.   The downside is that we had to wait for our table.  They said about 45 minutes, but the time flew by as we talked about Spain.  We found out the bartender lived in Madrid for a couple years, and there was another woman at the end of the bar who is going there next March.  (March?!  So far away – I hope to have 3 vacations in by then.)  Heather and I were drinking Cotes du Rhone, while Wigs had a French Manhattan.  I may have to start drinking Manhattans – it tasted good.  Not sure what made it French.

Our table outside was under a large pine tree.  Well, not right under it, kind of on the outskirts of the branches.  It was a tad buggy, which is weird for the city.  So I’m blaming it on the tree.  Or maybe all the rain we’ve had.  There was a crazy beetle flying around (I hate those things – they are so erratic when they fly and you never know where they are going), and I whacked away a spider coming down his web.  (Luckily I had no idea it was a spider – I thought it was a white fuzzy – otherwise I may have really freaked out.)  I think I killed another spider on my arm (or maybe the same one), but I didn’t want to look at whatever I smashed.  Wigs swore he got bit by mosquitos on his toe and his back.  Heather was so annoyed with him that she threw her red wine on his white shirt.  (JK – our table was small, better suited for 2 people, so the 3 of us were kind of tight at it.  There was a slight fumble with the wine and a little went on his shirt.) 

For appetizers, we had snails.  I mean escargot.  Not at all sure what I expected on this, but it came out in a round pan that kind of looked like a mini-muffin baking pan.  The snails were in each little round hole and smothered in butter and what looked like pesto (menu called it garlic-Pernod butter). 

It smelled delicious.  Taste was OK.  Not awful, but just not as good as it smelled. 

We also split a salad with a ton of froo-froo lettuce, blue cheese, prunes and pistachios.  That was delicious – not too heavy on the dressing, which IMO seems to be a lost art nowadays. 

Wigs also ordered the French Onion soup (Soupe a l’Oignon Gratinee), which looked like a ton of cheesy, gooey mess.  He loved it.  For entrees, Wigs ordered Foie de Veau (aka liver).  Very brave.  Menu described it as Calve’s liver with bacon, carmelized onions, balsamic reduction and potato puree.  There were some larger and smaller chunks in it, and he said the larger ones tasted like sweetbreads, while the smaller ones had more of a beefy flavor.  (Or maybe it was the other way around…) 

Heather had the Cote de Porc (Pork Chop), which came with peas (the hook for Heather), carrots, roasted cipollini and sauce Robert.  This looked fantastic, and she said it was really good. 

I ordered the Poulet Roti Forestiere (roasted chicken) with wild mushroom ragout.  It also came with onion frites, but I said to hold those and had some green beans instead.  (I’m on a fried food ban – we’ll see how long I can last.) 

We also ordered Champignons (sautéed mushrooms with garlic and parsley). 

Wigs also ordered a hearty French beer to go with his dinner, while Heather and I stuck w/wine. 

Everything was really good.  We ended up being the last people in the place (is it just me, or does this seem to happen often???).  They were actually putting barstools on the bar inside, and we were still hanging outside.  Yikes. 

Total thumbs up on atmosphere (though buggy) and food. 

I’m getting worried about hitting the 40 mark on the restaurants by the end of Cub season.  So this experiment may go into the fall.  And next Hawks season! 

PS – check out these pictures from the Hawks rally.  Wow.  Can’t wait to talk to Wigs to hear about it. 

http://chicago.barstoolsports.com/random-thoughts/this-is-how-you-parade/

 

Game 23 - Cubs vs. (AL) Astros

Cubs vs. (AL) Astros

Saturday, June 22, 2013

Shelly, Joe, Charles, Maggie, Trish, John, Heather, Wigs, Kevin & Julie. 

Big crowd today for Edwin Jackson bobblehead!  Kevin was dawdling around the house (and in his defense, I didn’t tell him the plan for going into game…), but I got fed up with waiting for him and left without him.  I wanted to make sure I got the bobblehead (and I did)!! 

JO was wearing the black Astros hat Kevin gave him a couple weeks ago, and Kevin had on his black Hawks hat.  They both thought that may have been a tactical error in the heat/humidity on Saturday.  It was a hot one, but there were some clouds that did help make it not so bad. 

Charles’ birthday is on Tuesday, so this was his birthday game.  Happy Birthday Chuck!! 

T Wood on the mound for the Cubs, and had another “quality” start.  But the Cubs couldn’t come through on the chances they had, and two blown calls by the umps sunk their chances.  They had 8 hits and left 8 guys on base (6 of them in scoring position).  Schierholtz hit homer #10 for the season (his personal high – really??), and Valbuena had a couple RBI’s.  The Stro’s Martinez hit a 3 run homer to Waveland which tied the game at 3.  And F’ing Ronny Cedeno executed a squeeze bunt in the 9^th to give them the one-run lead.  #hatethatdude

The two bad calls: Soriano out at 2^nd stealing a base, and Barney called strike with bases loaded on a 3-1 count.  Sigh.  Feels like Cub spirit.

Paul Sullivan’s twitter account (and article in the Sunday Trib) was recounting how the guys in the Right Field Bleacher Patio had their backs to the game, and one of them almost got beaned by Nate’s homer.  That’s too bad – that would’ve served them right!  He also said they tossed their beer cups and Jackson bobbleheads on the field before the Astros game, but weren’t tossed.  Really???  I guess we need to prepare for more of that crap once the renovations are done and they add more patios for more douches.  Awesome.  The fans in Center field were also trying to start the wave.  Usually you don’t see that in June – it happens more in April and September when the tourists are in town.  Just shows that the “regulars” aren’t buying tickets in June/July/August like they used to.  Something else to look forward as summer slogs on.  And Yes, summer weather is finally arriving.  Yippee!!!

Kev/Wigs left the Cub game early to go to Bernie’s and secure a table for the Hawks game.  Trish & John also left with them.  They started upstairs where Kevin M & Linda from Bernie’s reserved a table for us.  But the satellite feed was freezing up, so they went downstairs for the Comcast feed.  Joe & Shelly left game to buy a Hawks t-shirt for Joe.  Heather & I stuck it out until the end and then met the gang at Bernie’s.  Charles/Maggie peeled off first, and then Shelly/Joe, Trish/John.  Kevin had a hockey game (another 11:00-er at Johnny’s, so he was going there to watch Hawks game).  Heather, Wigs & I watched the game – Hawks win!!!  Kaner’s first goal was beautiful.  So exciting.  One more win.  One Goal. 

Check out these photos of the Super Moon:

http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/06/23/19102639-supermoon-makes-a-big-impression-share-your-super-snapshots

Recap: 

Cubs Win Lose 4-3

My season record:  Visitors 15, Cubs 8

Parking update:  No parking today!  JO & Trish didn’t want to be pulled away from Hawks game to let people out of their garage, so they skipped the parking.    

Game 22/Restaurant #14 - Mia Francesca

Cubs vs. (AL) Astros

Friday, June 21, 2013

Heather, Kathleen, Kevin, Darren, Angie, Kristen & Julie. 

Wigs met us for dinner.

Happy Summer Solstice!!!  One of my favorite days of the year because it has the most sunlight.  Well, it’s supposed to have the most sunlight.  The rain made it difficult to tell.  Kevin’s grad school friend Darren & his wife Angie were in town from CA and Wrigley Field is on his bucket list.  Kev met Darren & Angie at Bernie’s while I waited for Kathleen and finished up some work.  We headed down to the stadium, and as we were walking by Clifton, we heard the announcement that there would be a rain delay.  (It hadn’t started raining yet, but they knew it was coming.)  I texted Heather and she was already inside, so Kathleen & I headed in to keep her company.  It was super windy, and not at all the hot/humid day I was led to believe we’d be having.  The tarp was on the field, and we were hanging in the bleachers listening to Gary Pressy (sp?) on the organ.  When we saw a flash of lightning, we decided it was time to head below. 

We basically stood against the brick wall and did a lot of people-watching.  The rain did come down, and the ushers weren’t letting anyone up to the seats, so it must’ve been lightning.  A big cheer went up when the ushers let people back into the seats.  But it was still raining pretty hard, so we stayed downstairs.  I was following the Cubs on twitter, and they tweeted a picture of the couches in the batting cages and said the first x amount of people there would get free tickets to the Metro for the Hot Stove/Cool Music show.  So I got tickets!  Not sure if we’d make it to the show, but we had them just in case, and I thought maybe Darren/Angie would be interested to enhance their Chicago experience. 

So three hours later….  Game finally scheduled to start at 4:35.  (Dang – I could’ve worked a full day!)  Kevin, Darren & Angie came in with enough time to see some of the players hitting in the batting cages below right field, and Kristen came in right when the game started.  Figured there were going to be a lot of drunk people after that rain delay, and they did end up cutting off beer sales earlier than normal.  I didn’t think people were that bad, but definitely a few. 

Garza on the mound today, and had a really good game.  He held the Astros to 1 run over 8 innings (OK, I know it’s only the Astros….).  His pitch count was pretty low, but when he walked a guy in the 9^th, Sveum wasn’t going to risk anything and pulled him out.  Home runs by Rizzo, Barney and Hairston for the Cubs, and Carter for the Stro’s.  Garza is looking like good trade bait – he’s only given up 1 run over his last 15 innings (thanks gal pal Carrie M!).  I hope that Hairston is also trade bait, but I’m not sure his .161 batting average is going to attract anyone.  Barney was just a triple short of the cycle, and had a long flyout to center field in the 7^th, that we were hoping would be dropped, but no such luck.  The girls left in the bottom of the 8^th inning since we had dinner reservations at 7:15 and we wanted some of us to show on time.  Kevin & Darren waited out the 9^th and sang Go Cubs Go.  Darren thought that was cheesy.  Yea, I guess it kind of is, especially when playing the last-place team…

Dinner was at Mia Francesca’s on Clark Street.  We didn’t walk the full “gauntlet” of Clark Street south of Addison, since we cut over on Sheffield, so Darren & Angie didn’t get to experience that.  Ha ha.  Wigs met us along the way and magically appeared while we were walking.  We haven’t been there in ages, and we were hoping to sit outside since they have a nice little patio garden out back, but with the threat of rain, they weren’t seating anyone out there.  We started with a Pizza Spinoci, bruschetta and fried calamari as appetizers.  All very good.  We ordered a few bottles of wine and Wigs/Kristen had big girl drinks.  For dinner, we had a variety of meals from fish to pasta.  I think everyone enjoyed, and all was delicious and very fresh tasting.  After dinner, we walked back up the Clark Street gauntlet - Darren/Angie went to the red line to head back to their hotel, while the rest of us went to Bernie’s for a nightcap.  We persuaded Tommy Peak to join us for a couple, and then he had to head home before Ginger locked the doors on him. 

Recap: 

Cubs Win 3-1

My season record:  Visitors 14, Cubs 8

Parking update:  No parking today!    

Restaurant #13 – Roots

Restaurant #13 – Roots

Heather, Cindy, Kevin & Julie

Saturday, June 15, 2013

Hockey night!!!   Wigs was going to the Hawks game at 7:00 (well, actually picking up his brother at 4 and going to Beer Palace.  Or is it Beer Bistro?  Don’t know why I can’t remember this...).  Kevin had a Stinger hockey game at 11:00 PM - talk about poor timing! 

So we decided to head down to Cindy’s hood and go to Roots.  She’d been there with Kristen & Heather earlier this year and had a good time.  I thought it would be a good spot for Kevin to go for a little bit before he headed to his game.  He plays at Johnny’s Ice House, which is just east of the stadium, and he figured it would be a mad-house trying to get there around 10:00 when the Hawks game could be letting out.  They do have a bar at the rink (called The Stanley Club), and we toyed with the idea of going there to watch game.  Good thing we didn’t’, as Kev said it was mobbed with all the hockey team guys watching Hawks before/after their games.   And probably smelling like feet (as Heather said when we went to rink a couple years ago to surprise Kevin to watch one of his games).    

Cindy got there around 5 and scored us some seats at the bar to watch the game, which was perfect.  Way to hold people off Cindy!! We picked up Heather and navigated through the Puerto Rican celebrators at Humboldt Park and surrounding areas.  Crazy – people hanging out car windows sitting on car doors and flying flags.  Chicago culture – catch it!! 

Roots has a ton of different beers on tap and in bottles, so that was fun to try different things.  We started with a couple salads (Greek and Asian Chicken) which were really, really yummy.  For pizza, we ordered ½ my fav (broccoli and sausage) and ½ pepperoni and red peppers.  Sadly, I didn’t like my fav there!  The sausage was a bunch of crumbles scattered over entire pizza vs. big chunks of sausage.  So bleh on that.  The pepperoni and red pepper was good.  They call it Quad City style, which had huge rectangle pieces.  Overall, I thought it a little cheesy (on the pizza, not the place). 

It was crowded, but not crazy crowded.  You could tell it was a good neighborhood place with beer seekers comingling with families, hockey fans, etc. The problem:  service was terrible.  Between period 2 and 3, our server didn’t come down to our end of bar once, even though our glasses were clearly empty. At one point, we all ordered drinks, and she didn’t bring mine.  When she finally came back, I said I never got the beer I ordered.  And he waitress said “I put it down”.  I’m like “Um, I’ve been sitting here and you didn’t bring it.”  Really – you’re arguing whether or not I got the beer??   And our dirty plates and half-eaten pizza was sitting on the bar for probably 2 hours.  I think it was still sitting there when we left.  Awful.  I’m glad we went, but don’t think I’ll make any effort to go back again.  Don’t worry Cindy – there are still a ton of other places in your hood we still need to conquer!!   

Cindy headed home and Wigs & Michael picked Heather & I up to drive us home.  They were angry and dejected after the Hawks loss. I don’t blame them - terrible game.  Their power play seriously sucks.  Ugh.  I went home and watched Magic Mike.  Ha ha J 

Restaurant #12 – GEB (Graham Elliott Bistro)

Restaurant #12 – GEB (Graham Elliott Bistro)

Heather, Wigs, Kevin & Julie

Friday, June 14, 2013

Our original plan for tonight was to go to Ada Street.  They don’t take reservations, so figured we’d be in the same boat as everyone else trying to get in for dinner.  Well, come to find out that they just stopped taking reservations on June 1^st, and anyone who had made a reservation prior to then was “grandfathered” in, and their reservation was honored.  Which is fine and fair – I just wish we had known this before going there.  Two hour wait at 8:00.  Decided that was too long so we opted for Plan B, GEB over on Randolph Street.  We called first and got a reservation for 9:00 and then grabbed a cab.  Since we were early, we decided to sit outside and have a cocktail while we waited.  We could’ve eaten out there, but it was way too chilly for that.  (yes, its June!!!! But feels like April.  Ugh!)

We all got fancy cocktails off the cocktail list, and by fancy, I mean that we don’t normally order cocktails so in my world, any cocktail is fancy.  Mine was really whiskey-y, Kevin’s was “girly” (according to Heather), and H/wigs had normal ones.  J  Clearly I don’t remember what everyone had.  Good people watching while waiting for table as the Taste of Randolph was going on. 

We moved inside when our table was ready, and switched it up to wine, while Wigs went with another whiskey drink.  Inside was nice, but nothing super special.  They did have an open air-ish kitchen so you could see dishes coming out, which was good to spy on.  And they had a bunch of crazy candles throughout with real people’s pictures on them - James Brown (Father of Soul), Ronald Reagan etc.

For appetizers, we ordered the Beef Tartare and Field Greens salad.  Both were good.  Not sure what I was expecting the beef to look like, but it came out looking like a pile of corned beef hash.  But it was good.  Entrees were as follows:

Heather – Fettuccini with English peas & lavender scented veal ragu.  Server said it wasn’t a full portion, but it was totally fine as a meal on its own since we had salad and app.  Heather gave it thumbs up!

Wigs – Spring rabbit with bacon wrapped saddle, Thumbelina carrots and dill.  He said it was delicious.  We all wondered what the saddle was, but picture where a saddle is on a horse, and yep, that's what it was.

Kevin – Berkshire pork chop with charred onions, white polenta and ramp salsa verde.  He said very good. 

Julie – local whitefish with roasted sunchokes and citrus coulis.  This was awesome!!!  Very light breading and totally flaky fish cooked to perfection.  I eat a lot of fish, and I can’t think of where I’ve had better.  Fantastic. 

We opted for another bottle of wine in lieu of dessert, and Wigs had a couple beers.  Service was so-so.  Confusion at beginning of table as to who our server was, and then the guy didn’t come around very often.  But all in all, a good dinner, good menu, good atmosphere.   

Game 21 – Cubs vs. Reds

Monday, June 10, 2013

Heather, Wigs, Kevin & Julie

Weird night at the ballpark.  It’s June and it feels like April.  It wasn’t snow boot weather, but it sure wasn’t shorts and flip-flops.  Although many came dressed like that so they had to be freezing.  And well, well, well, look who made an appearance:

Mai Tai Guy!!  I think he’s lost a little weight, but was trying to make up for it by downing at least 10 mai tai’s during the game. 

It was super foggy.  Check out these pictures, which really don't do it justice as to how foggy it was:

 You can barely see the press booth in this one.

It would kind of come and go, but was pretty thick during the first few innings, faded away and then came back.  So bizarre.  In the first inning, Valbuena dropped a popup near the pitcher’s mound, but I’m not convinced that was fog-related.  He ended up throwing the runner out at 2^nd while the batter (Cozart) was safe on first – I don’t understand why the infield fly rule wasn’t called.  Maybe the fog???  Who knows.  Cozart ended up scoring on a Brandon Phillips single, his first RBI of the evening.  I had just commented on how Phillips has 46 RBI’s on the season already.  Seemed like a lot (and compared to the Cubs, oh yea it is). 

From my gal Carrie:

After the second, the Reds' outfielders talked to the umpires as they came off the field about the conditions. The umpires then conferred among themselves, but there was no stoppage of play. Meanwhile, the White Sox game against the Blue Jays eight miles south at U.S. Cellular Field was delayed more than an hour due to the fog.

We noticed at first they put an “R” on the scoreboard for the White Sox game.  They later changed it to an “F”.  ha ha.

Here is a link to some photos from both Cubs and Sox games.
http://mlb.mlb.com/cutfour/index.jsp?partnerId=ed-7181366-565831973#contentId=50244526

In the 3^rd, Phillips came up with the bases loaded, and of course hit a grand slam.  4 more RBI’s.  He tacked on another in the 8^th for all 6 runs in the game (his career high of course).  Add that to the 46 he started with and he’s at 52 which is 2^nd in the NL, behind AZ Paul Goldschmidt.  (In the AL, Miguel Cabrera has a whopping 69.)    Phillips did have a throwing error, which led to a Cubs run in the 6^th.  So there.  Another plus – Phillips has now passed Joe Morgan for Reds RBI leader for 2^nd baseman, and has tied him on the HR list. 

Castro finally broke his 0-15 slump with an RBI double in the 9^th.  Dusty said they couldn’t see it in the fog.  Boo hoo. 

Oh, and Mai Tai Guy (MTG) almost had a meltdown in the 8^th when his friend apparently sat on his mai tai.  And since it was the 8^th, there were no more to buy.  He’s screaming at the friend saying “you’ve got to calm down and sit down”.  While friend was the calm one sitting down and MTG was the one who was not calm and doing all the yelling.  We thought it could get ugly, but WAIT – he found another mai tai under the seat.  OK, they’re BFF’s again.  Phew.  Crisis averted. 

Recap: 

Cubs Lost  6-2 (hmmm – same score as game 20….)

My season record:  Visitors 14, Cubs 7  (a .333 winning percentage, while their season winning percentage is .410)

Parking update:  No update.  JO is in SF for his new job.  Do Trish & Bonnie park without him???  I need to find this out.

Game 20, Restaurant 10 & 11 – Cubs vs. Pirates

Saturday, June 8, 2013

Restaurant #10 – Yakzie’s

Restaurant #11 – The Bistro

Heather, Wigs, Kevin & Julie

Ernie Banks #14 Flag Day!  I got there early enough to score a flag.  It was another crowded day in the bleachers, and when sun was out, it was warm, but when clouds came, it was a little chilly.  And finally a 3:05 game on a Saturday, which allowed us to get stuff done before the game.  Kev helped Wigs on the front porch, while I finished a book.  Yes, that is too getting stuff done!! 

AJ Burnett vs. Samardzija – Opening Day redo.  Too bad the outcome wasn’t the same.  Burnett was on his game, and was close to pitching a complete game (8.1 innings on 112 pitches).  He was lifted after Soriano blasted a 2 run shot to Waveland.  Burnett wasn’t happy about being pulled, and I don’t blame him.  Smardz also had 112 pitches but only went 6 innings, striking out 7.  Pedro Alvarez hit a 2-run homer to Sheffield Ave and Russell Martin also had another homer (2^nd in as many days).

Kevin & Wigs left the game early to try and secure seats someplace to watch the Hawks game.  They ended up at Yakzies of all places – primarily due to seating and screen viewing options.  After the game ended, Heather & I were scouring the bleachers for leftover flags and she was able to snag a couple.  Then we headed over to Yakzie’s, which we’ve decided to call Restaurant #10 since it wasn’t on our list.  We had some hot wings and toasted ravioli.  Food was really slow in coming out (and I get that it was right after a game, but still..) and drinks were expensive (game day pricing), and we decided that we would move after the 1^st period.  Sideways thumb at best.  We were debating on Bernie’s and then the Bistro, or just going to the Bistro.  So we opted for Bistro.  Which we decided to call Restaurant #11 since again, it wasn’t a repeat (for blog purposes..). 

TJ was working, and told Kev if the Hawks lost, he would be banned for life.  KD also met up with us and filled us in on the previous day's drama.  We had broccoli, sausage and tomato pizza, and the boys split a Super Cuban sandwich and tots in addition to the pizza.  All was really good.  The Hawks game was exciting - 2 quick goals made everyone feel like we had it in the bag.  I think for the Hawks too.  There was 9 seconds left in regulation, and the Kings scored.  Ouch. Nothing doing in the 1st overtime period.  The double overtime made for a late night and Wigs was very tired after working on his front porch.  Then Kev fessed up that he dozed off during the Cub game!  Ha ha.  These guys apparently need a nap after the hard porch labor!!  Kaner with the hat trick and the goal in double OT, and the HAWKS ARE GOING TO THE STANLEY CUP!!!!!!   Hurray!!!!  First game is Wednesday night.  Wigs said he is not going to softball.  : )

Recap: 

Cubs Lost  6-2

My season record:  Visitors 13, Cubs 7

Parking update:  No update

Game 19 – Cubs vs. Pirates

Friday, June 7, 2013

Kristen, Kathleen, Kevin & Julie

Floppy Hat day!  But I got there too late to get one.  Oh well.  I thought they were kind of weird looking anyways.  Kevin making a rare Friday appearance!  Kristen was there with a bunch of people from her office.  It turned out to be a nice day – warm in the bleachers (but looked cold in the shade).  Kevin was griping because he didn’t have shorts on, but he’d be freezing later. 

Francisco Liriano pitched for the Buccos and had a good game.  He had a no-hitter going until the 5^th inning when Travis Wood (the pitcher of course) singled to left field.  Wood also pitched a good game, and giving up 7 hits and 3 walks.  Bucs got their 1^st run via a Russell Martin double in the 6^th, and then added another one off Villanueva in the 9^th after Louis Valbuena tried to go for double play instead of throwing home.    Jason Grilli, came in for the 9^th inning and got the save.  He’s leading the Major Leagues with 23.  

From my gal Carrie:  With the loss, the Cubs dropped to 2-5 against the Pirates this season and 6-17 against the NL Central.  The six wins are the fewest for any club within its own division.

In-game fun:  in left field bleachers, some guy started collecting stacks of cups.  It was probably 3 feet tall, and security came down to take the stack upstairs (hopefully to be put in recycle bins…).  Every time they took one stack, he’d start another.  The security guys were lined up at the top of the aisle and must’ve come down 6 or 7 times.  It was so funny.  I tried to get a photo, but it was too far away to zoom in and get a good shot.  Then they did it over in the Bartman seat area, but that only happened once, and that was the end of that. 

After the game, we went to Bernie’s for a couple beers while KD went to Dueces to go dancing.  Yikes.  After Bernie’s, we walked over to RibFest and noshed on some ribs.  We got there early enough that it wasn’t super-crowded, so that was good.  And then we stopped in at Corner 41 for a couple drinks and watched the Penguins lose to Boston.  Back to RibFest for one last platter of ribs, and then walked home. 

Recap: 

Cubs Lost  2-0

My season record:  Visitors 12, Cubs 7

Parking update:  No update

Pens Update

It's 2 hours before the game, and the parking lot is filling up!  Note this is an AWAY game.  And they don't allow tailgating, booze or grilling in the parking lot. 

Random update - Pens Parking Lot

Sunday, June 2^nd - Kevin went by himself to this game since it was cold and rainy, and I was flying to Pittsburgh, and Heather was also traveling for work, and Wigs bailed (due to aforementioned cold and rain).  Lin Brehmer tweeted during the game that it was FREEZING, and asked when will April end??? 

While I was waiting at bus stop to go to airport, apparently Trish & John drove by.  They called to offer me a ride to Blue Line, but I didn’t hear the phone ring.  And by the time they circled around, I was on the bus with the huge guy snoring in back of bus.  (Thanks you guys - that was a really nice offer!!)  Also, how do people know to wake up when their stop is coming???  It's not like the El, where they announce all the stops.  He was seriously sound asleep snoring.  Trust me, I know what sound asleep snoring sounds like.  (I love you honey!!)  But he managed to wake up just in time to pull the cord and get off the us at California.  Crazy.

So I’m in Pittsburgh, and they are playing Boston in the hockey playoffs.  They lost 3-0 Saturday night in playoffs and game 2 is Monday night.  Sunday night I was watching the Hawks play in hotel bar and the production crew working the Pens game was sitting next to me.  Interesting to eavesdrop on their conversation as it had nothing at all to do with the game or the players.  It was all about the filming (sample comment “Look at Linda go with the hand shot on that one” and “That’s got to be Scotty in the well”).  Pretty funny.  I was texting Kevin and he told me to cozy up to them to try and get tickets.  Um, no, I am not engaging. 

The Consul Center is right across the street from my hotel/office.  The Pens set up a gigantic video board in the space that was once the old “Igloo” (where Pens used to play).  I always saw fans walking towards stadium with lawnchairs, etc., but I never realized how many people go there to watch the game.  Check this out – photo from my hotel room - behind the cars are gobs and gobs of people watching the game:

Picture #2:

Wow.  If you look in the upper left corner (against the brownish hill), this is a row of porta-potties for the fans (burgandy colored with white tops).  Video board is on the far right side.  When I was walking back from dinner, all the fans were waving their white towels, but I couldn't get a photo fast enough.  Crazy.  I thought I would hear some cheering, but I really couldn't hear anything in my room.  As I'm posting this, the score is 4-1 with 2 minutes left in the 2nd.  Yikes - these fans will be on the ledge if they lose this one. 

And if you are ever in Pittsburgh, do NOT go to Sonoma Grill and order duck anything.  Gross.  I am now going for pretzels.   

Game 18 – Cubs vs. Diamondbacks

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Shelly, Joe, Trish, Heather, Julie

OK, this is probably the worst game recap of the season, so be forewarned.  This was one of the scheduled (and rare) Saturday night games – 6:15 start.  It was also Darwin Barney bobblehead giveaway!  And the Hawks were playing Game 1 vs. the LA Kings at 4:00.  And the skies were threatening rain (again).  Kev & I headed down to Bernie’s and got there around 3:45.  Heather and Mary Haines were already at the bar, and we secured the corner (or Skybox as we used to call it).  Cindy and Kristen joined us, and then Shelly & Joe, Lyletta, Trish, OB and some of his friends from Alabama.  Wigs was at the Hawks game with his brother. 

I was planning to stay and watch the full Hawks game and then head into Cub game.  Heather really wanted the bobblehead so she headed in earlier – maybe 5:30 or so??  Trish later joined her to also get the bobblehead and keep Heather company.  They were able to watch Hawks game in the lower concourse by the Cub batting cages. 

Kev had his own hockey game, so he left after the first period to head to that.  Bernie’s has Direct TV, and I swear any slight rain storm, the darn thing goes out.  So of course that’s what happened in period 1 and 2.  We didn’t see any of the scoring plays.  Ugh.  And the skies did open and it was really pouring a few different times.  Announced game start time was 8:30 or so.  Cindy and Trish bailed on the Cub game and gave their tickets to Shelly and Joe. 

During Hawks game at Bernie’s, I ordered a glass of wine, and they gave me a total Dugan pour.  It was gigantic!  Well after couple of those, and I wasn’t sure I was going into Cub game and thinking I may head home and catch up on TV.  But I rallied and made it in after Hawks won (yippee!!).  Heather, Trish, Shelly & Joe were there and we had a couple beers during the game.  Dan (of friend with hot dog stuck in feeding tube fame) was also there with some of his buddies and season ticketholder Jon and his friend Kristen.  Trish left when the rain started up again.  Joe left when they cut off beer sales at 9:15 (instead of 9:20), and he showed them by leaving!! J   I did not pay much attention to the game – we were doing a lot of chatting.  I honestly don’t remember what inning we left.  (yikes)  There was another grand slam – 3 in 3 games (but sadly it wasn’t by the Cubs)!!  We went back to Bernie’s where we saw Michael (Wigs dropped him off, parked the car up by our place and walked back down).  Kev, Michael & I then walked home/to car.  We had to be home pretty close to 10 cuz we watched the 10:00 news.  I know, this is the worst recap ever.  Damn you Bernie’s bartenders and the Dugan pour (of most likely really bad red wine!!).  

Samardzjia did have 11 strikeouts, and he’s now leading the NL with 91 on the season.  Behind him is AJ Burnett of Pittsburgh and Matt Harvey of the Mets with 89 and then Adam Wainwright of the Cards with 84.  Interesting. 

Recap: 

Cubs Lost 12-4

My season record:  Visitors 11, Cubs 7

Parking update:  No car sales today!  JO didn’t want to be tied to the neighborhood to let them back out.  He said he may not do it Sunday either.  And Monday he starts his new job, so we’ll have to monitor :) 

Game 17 – Cubs vs. Diamondbacks

Friday, May 31, 2013

Kristen, Heather, Jon & Julie

Kerry Wood gnome giveaway!  Kristen liked the box better than the gnome. 

Cubs win their 5^th in a row!  Against the first place AZ Diamondbacks.  AZ’s record is 30-24, which really isn’t that great for a first place team.  (Cubs are 22-30.)  Here is what the West division looks like:

WEST	W	L	PCT	GB
Arizona	30	24	.556	-
San Francisco	29	25	.537	1
Colorado	28	27	.509	2.5
San Diego	25	29	.463	5
LA Dodgers	23	30	.434	6.5

We needed Matt Garza to get an RBI today to tie the MLB record for RBI’s by a pitcher in a month.  (He had 2 so far.)  Sadly, no RBI’s for him.  But Jerry, I mean Scott, Hairston hit a grand slam.  Boo.  He seems nice enough, but I would like him and his .152 batting average to go away.  Sigh.  Maybe in July.  First time the Cubs had grand slams in back to back games since Sosa in 1998.  The last time it was done at Wrigley was in 1972.  So we saw history!!

Home runs also by Soriano (Yea!) and Cody Ransom (our 3^rd baseman who plays when lefties pitch).  Yea!!  Garza pitched a good game, holding the D-Backs to only 2 runs on 6 hits, on a day when the wind was really blowing out.  You could tell the Cubs were just trying to put it in the air and hope they fly out of the park.

From Carrie: 

The Cubs finished May with a 13-14 record, increased their batting average (.263 from .235) and lowered their ERA (3.48 from 3.78) from the season's opening month.

More interesting stuff from Cash Kruth of mlb.com (I love that name):

Their starters have the lowest average against in the National League and their ERA ranks fifth in the Senior Circuit. The bullpen, for all its struggles, has a 1.17 ERA in its last eight games.

And the Cubs have a plus-six run differential, outscoring their opponents, 214-208.

"We've been in pretty much every single game of the year," said Sveum, whose club has seen 83 percent of its games decided by four runs or fewer. "We've had a couple blowouts, so it's a very odd record for the run differential, that's for sure."

So that 22-30 doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Something more along the lines of a 27-25 mark does, which is the Cubs' pythagorean winning percentage -- an estimate of a team's winning percentage based on its runs scored and allowed that was developed by noted sabermetrician Bill James.

Although Chicago has committed 40 errors -- tied for the second most in the Majors -- 21 of those have been by pitchers or catchers.

After the game we headed to Bernie’s where our awesome waitress Johnna snagged a couple gnomes for us.  (Heather got to game late and didn’t get a gnome.)  So we got one for Heather and one for Shelly, who was hosting her annual Mai Fest party.  Lots of good food, good wine and good friends.  Fun times had by all.   

Recap:

Cubs win 7-2

My season record:  Visitors 10, Cubs 7

Parking update: $25/spot. JO starts his new job on Monday, so wonder what's going to happen with the parking?!