By: Chuck Hilston
Friday June 29th
to Friday July 6th
Chicago
What better
place to start? Upon arriving on the
afternoon of Friday, June 29th, you may feel a bit overwhelmed by
everything. There is no possible way to
explore a city this big with only a few days, right? Don’t sweat it. Instead of rushing to see everything, try to set
some goals for yourself.
If
you arrived in the early afternoon, odds are, as you check in to your hotel, the
flight has made you somewhat hungry. Of
course, the thing to do here is obvious: try to get yourself a Chicago style
pizza! There is no shortage of potential
options here, but some of the most famous ones would be Lou Malnati’s or
Gino’s. Now that you have enjoyed some
delicious pizza, you can think about strolling for a while on the magnificent
mile to wrap up a good first day.
Even
if you are not a huge art fan, the prestige associated with the Chicago Art
Museum makes a visit worthwhile. After
all, if you are traveling with your wife --who is big on art but not sports--
compromise might not be such a bad idea. Once everyone gets tired of looking at art, it
wouldn’t be a bad idea to head over to the Chicago Navy Pier. If you have kids, they would definitely enjoy
the rides and shops here, plus it provides great scenic views of the entire
city.
Chicago Cubs vs.
Houston Astros 3:05 PM (June 30th)
Ah,
Wrigley! Despite over a century of
complete ineptitude, your fabled walls and ivy grass outfield are romanticized
in a way almost unrivaled in all of sports. Many fans have this on their “bucket list”,
and with the amount of history and tradition associated with it, for good
reason. Just make sure that at some
point you get a picture taken reaching your hand out with an obnoxious facial
expression over the fabled Section 4, Row 8, Seat 113. In case you don’t
remember, let’s take a little walk down memory lane in regard to its significance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6er1XE2j0pE
(Poor Steve!)
Based
on the order we are going in, it would seem that the next logical step would be
to take over a parade or turn back the odometer on your rental car (if you
didn’t understand that reference, you really should watch more movies). For the rest of the evening and the next day,
there is no shortage of things to do. Among
them are Wills (formerly Sears) Tower, Millenium Park (a must), getting a
picture next to the Michael Jordan statue, a tour of Northwestern, and lots of famous places associated with the
likes of Al Capone, Obama, Oprah, and many more.
Cleveland
This
will likely be the longest stretch of continuous driving on the trip, but it
isn’t all barren. Keep in mind, an unbelievably large number of America’s most
important inventors, presidents, and most influential people came from this
area. In order to be succinct, there are
3 main stops that may be of interest. Of
course, a visit to Notre Dame’s campus and stadium (home of “Touchdown Jesus”)
is a pilgrimage for many sports fans and isn’t far from the highway. Moving on, there are two more stops in
western Ohio that may take up the rest of your “Sunday Funday”. The first is the Lake Erie Islands, especially
Put-in-Bay, which draw comparison to
places off the coast of New England for how nice they are, but not how
expensive. For those thrill-seeking
roller coaster fanatics, this is your “mecca”. Cedar Point is unquestionably the king of
thrills at amusement parks around the world. From the Millenium Force which
takes you down an initial hill of 300 feet and goes about 90 mph for a majority
of the ride, to the Top Thrill Dragster, which lives up to the name, shooting
you at 120 mph 420 feet in the air in less than five seconds, this is
definitely not for the faint of heart.
If you decide to stay nearby in
Sandusky for the night, it should be a little over an hour drive to get into
Cleveland. Once there, your first impression
will be how much the city doesn’t live up to its reputation as the “Mistake by
the Lake”. To start with, many people
would head to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, but that’s definitely not the
only option. The art museum is one of
best in the world, and is also completely free of charge, as is the house from
the classic movie “A Christmas Story”. For lunch, Cleveland is very well known for
two places in particular. One is Melt, which is famous for making overstuffed
grilled cheese sandwiches on the west side, and the east side, to counter this,
has a place called Slyman’s, known for its fantastic corned beef sandwiches.
Cleveland also has many different restaurants, shops, and a new aquarium within
close range of the stadium.
Cleveland
Indians vs. Los Angeles Angels 7:05 PM (July 2nd)
This
is probably one of the nicest parks in all of baseball, and also one of the
most affordable. You should have no
problem getting upper deck seats right behind home plate that give a
spectacular view of downtown for a measly 9 bucks. Also, you can bring in food and water, and
through stopping at various booths they are almost giving away additional food
items and souvenirs. This is the epitome
of a fan friendly experience!
Pittsburgh
One
option as you’re leaving Cleveland in the morning would be to make a detour
down to Canton and the Pro Football Hall of Fame. However, despite my disdain for Ben
Roethlisberger and the rest of the Steelers, this is a great city. It’s funny how these two kind of complement
each other. Pittsburgh is also well known for two famous sandwiches, the “Primanti
“ which is sort of a smorgasbord of delicious unhealthiness (meat, cheese,
tomato, cole slaw, fries, and whatever else you want) and I would also say a
calzone, but there are so many different famous dishes there that it would be
impossible to describe them all.
Pittsburgh
has an answer to Cedar Point in Kennywood, which has more of an older, rustic
feel to it (think Knott’s Berry Farm or Coney Island) but is a very nice place
to explore and has added a share of new rides recently. Also, in response to Rockefeller setting forth
money for an art museum in Cleveland, Andrew Carnegie responded by putting
forth money for a science center that is almost unparalleled in the world. Walking around Pittsburgh, with the narrow one
way streets, while confusing, is very scenic and almost reminds you a little
bit of Europe. It wouldn’t hurt first
for getting great scenic views, and also to get oriented with your location in
the city, to take the Mt. Washington scenic incline.
Pittsburgh Pirates
vs. Houston Astros 7:05 PM (July 3rd)
Grudgingly,
I have to say that this is probably the most aesthetically pleasing ballpark in
America. I’m not sure that anywhere can
compete with looking out upon the Ohio River, a beautiful downtown, and the
Roberto Clemente Bridge. Also, they have
the self-proclaimed “Best Ballpark Food in America”, and from experience I know
that you can order “Primantis” in the stadium at restaurant prices-- if you
haven’t already crossed that off your list.
Washington, D.C.
Now,
the Nats DO have a game today at 11:05, but thinking about the practicality of
the situation when you consider that it’s about a 3 hour drive from Pittsburgh
to our nation’s capital, this may be better to avoid. If you’re keeping track, then you’ll know what
day it is and either criticize or laud me for it. Yes, you are officially part of the chaos that
comes with being in the nation’s capital on July 4th. Never having lived in this area, or even
having been here for this holiday, I’m the furthest thing from an expert. However, I can tell you that any hotels within
DC are always going to be absurdly expensive. Thankfully for you, though, they have one of
the most expansive subway systems in the country, so you could potentially stay
in a suburb like College Park (near the University of Maryland) and eliminate
many of your headaches. Overall, the
best thing to do if you plan to be in the National Mall this evening is
exercise patience, since you will likely be waiting in traffic for hours at the
end of the evening. Remember to keep
watch on your possessions since pickpockets love crowds like this. Overall I would recommend doing this because
how many times are you going to be in DC on July 4th? What could possibly be more patriotic for an American?
As
far as tourist attractions go, it’s another place where there are too many to
name. The brilliance of it is that they
are all FREE. Any Smithsonian museum,
national mall historic site, or even Capitol and White House tours (which
require advance reservations) are complementary. Be careful though, since they attempt to earn that
back on food, parking and public transportation. To end your trip, enjoy a relaxing evening at
the ballpark.
Washington Nationals
vs. San Francisco Giants 7:05 PM
While
this may sound like a lot, and looking at prices for similar guided tours will have
you convinced that it is, you really can do this pretty reasonably. Upon averaging the cost for food, tickets,
hotel, car rental, gas, plane and miscellaneous items for a family of four, I
honestly believe that as long as you don’t spend frivolously, you can go for
around $1,500, with flight costs accounting for almost half of that. That’s cheaper than many family vacations
without all the different travel costs incurred. Not too shabby!
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