The Cubs @ Cincinnati

Most of you know that baseball is one of my favorite sports. Thankfully, Todd and I are both die-hard Cubs fans! We have been to Wrigley several times this summer and also enjoy watching the Cubs play on the road (heck, they have a better record on the road)! This past weekend we went with my parents to watch the Cubs play at Cincinnati. They had never been to that ballpark, so we invited them to come along. Unfortunately, we had tickets to the Saturday game and they clinched the division title on Friday night, but it was still a good day to see a game. We got to see a few homeruns and watch the game with thousands of other Cubs fans. Cincinnati never draws a big crowd, but there were about 39,000 in attendance on Saturday and I would guess a good 30,000 or more were Cubs fans. You can see the pictures I took of the crowd and it was a sea of blue. After the game, people were singing the "Go Cubs, Go!" song and flying "W" flags everywhere. We walked around downtown Cincinnati and Cubs fans were out like in downtown Chicago. It was awesome!

As far as Great American ballpark goes, it is a really nice park if you are in to comparing parks. Depending on your seats, you sit in padded seats, can get in-seat food service, and even have access to private lounges (which can come in handy if you are at the ballpark during college football season). My parents were floored at how crappy the 7th inning stretch was at the park. The Reds don't have anyone come and sing; they just play the sound track for "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" and end it at that. Fans sing, but it is not the same and they don't insert their team's name in the song or shout for more runs at the end of the song. Lame. Trust me, nothing compares to Wrigley and downtown Chicago, especially if you are a Cubs fan.

That night we went out to eat to an upscale small chain restaurant. It was good, but we were there for 3 hours! During that time, my mom had to send her steak back twice. She ordered medium rare and it came out well-done twice. Normally she would eat without complaining, but her order was so wrong it had to be corrected. By the time they finally got her order fixed, it was almost 11pm and we were all full anyway. But, we got free dessert, she got her meal free, and Lucy got a good doggie bag out of the deal.

Now, on to the playoffs...Let's go Cubs!!