Tag / away.com

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30 For 30 – Know All Of The Best Places To Take Tourists In Your Home City

Sears_TowerThe fine folks at away.com have come up with a list of 30 Things Every Traveler Must Do Before They’re 30.  Of those 30, I’ve managed to accomplish 12 of them, or roughly 40% of them, some of which was even before I turned 30.  Today, we finish up this project with #27 on their list, know all of the best places to take tourists in your home city.  The obvious answers for visitors to the fair city of Chicago include Sears Tower, Navy Pier, Wrigley Field, and many of our fine museums and theaters.  Not so obvious locations would include Hot Dougs, Superdawg, and Chicago Comics.

 

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30 For 30 – Eat An Iconic City Meal

The fine folks at away.com have come up with a list of 30 Things Every Traveler Must Do Before They’re 30.  Of those 30, I’ve managed to accomplish 12 of them, or roughly 40% of them, some of which was even before I turned 30.  Today we look at #26 on their list, eat an iconic city meal.  Once again, I did not really have to travel far to fulfill this task.  Chicago has its own list of iconic meals, including the hot dog, Italian beef, and, of course, the deep dish pizza.  While I’ve never had a true Chicago-style hot dog, I’ve more than made up for it with Italian beef sandwiches and pizza.

 

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30 For 30 – Go To New York City

WTC6

The fine folks at away.com have come up with a list of 30 Things Every Traveler Must Do Before They’re 30.  Of those 30, I’ve managed to accomplish 12 of them, or roughly 40% of them, some of which was even before I turned 30.  Today we look at #24 on their list, go to New York City.  I detailed my one and only trip to New York a few weeks back.  Looking at what I wrote there, I don’t think I left anything of substance out.  Which, unfortunately, leaves me with very little to say this week.

I would love to return at some point.  There’s two new stadiums to check out, not to mention any cultural sights to see within the city limits.  Maybe next year.

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30 For 30 – Save Pennies To Go Somewhere You Really Want To Go

The fine folks at away.com have come up with a list of 30 Things Every Traveler Must Do Before They’re 30.  Of those 30, I’ve managed to accomplish 12 of them, or roughly 40% of them, some of which was even before I turned 30.  Today we look at #23 on their list, save pennies to go somewhere you really want to go.  When I graduated from college back in May of 1997, I gave myself a little buffer before starting my job in August.  The plan was to head out west for San Diego Comic Con.  The only problem with that was that things like traveling and attending a con costs money.  And, since I had put off starting my career, I had none.

So, I had to push my plans back a year for my first foray to southern California.  As summer of 1998 rolled around, I had managed to put together enough sheckles to head out to San Diego and split a hotel room with 7 other people.  I turned into a full-fledged vacation, getting out there well before the con started and hitting up the zoo and other tourist attractions around the San Diego area.

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30 For 30 – Visit A Neighbor To Our North Or South

TimHortonsThe fine folks at away.com have come up with a list of 30 Things Every Traveler Must Do Before They’re 30.  Of those 30, I’ve managed to accomplish 12 of them, or roughly 40% of them, some of which was even before I turned 30.  Today we look at #21 on their list, visit a neighbor to our north or south.  My first foray to Canada occurred on August 2, 1999, during a trip to Detroit to see the White Sox take on the Tigers in the final season of Tiger Stadium.  A quick bus trip across the border led to dinner in Canada, at a barbecue place whose name escapes me now.

I took a second trip to Canada in 2010, again as part of a trip to see the White Sox and the Tigers.  This time I was staying in Windsor, with the bus taking me back to Detroit for the game.  To ensure my Canadian experience was complete, I did enjoy a morning breakfast at Tim Horton’s, even taking in a maple donut.   One quirk of both trips north of the border has been the difficult time I’ve had getting back in to the United States.  Apparently the agents working the border there are not used to people crossing back and forth for purposes of baseball.

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30 For 30 – See A Game At A Classic Ballpark

Cubs_L_flag_070602The fine folks at away.com have come up with a list of 30 Things Every Traveler Must Do Before They’re 30.  Of those 30, I’ve managed to accomplish 12 of them, or roughly 40% of them, some of which was even before I turned 30.  Today we look at #20 on their list, see a game at a classic ballpark.  Thankfully, I’ve never had to travel far to do this.

From my birth in 1974 until the end of the 1990 season, I was lucky enough to have two classic ballparks right here in my own backyard.  Comiskey Park was at one time considered to be the “Baseball Palace of the World”, although it had fallen on hard times by the time I was old enough to enjoy it.  Struggling White Sox ownership groups over the years had put off necessary repairs and preventative maintenance so that, by the time the group led by Jerry Reinsdorf and Eddie Einhorn purchased the club from Bill Veeck, the stadium needed a lot of work.  After deciding that it would be prohibitavely expensive to repair the park, the new owners worked at getting funding for a new stadium and, on September 30, 1990, the White Sox defeated the Mariners in the last game ever in what is now known as Old Comiskey Park.

The almost exact opposite was happening on the other side of town.  The Cubs were also under new ownership in the early 80s, but instead of telling everyone who would listen how run down their stadium was, they sold the history of the ballpark and the experience of it to great success.  The lore of the Friendly Confines was born, and, thanks to the superstation status of WGN television, people came from all over the country to be at Wrigley Field.  For some of them, the game itself was unimportant.  Wrigley Field in general, and the bleachers specifically, became Chicago’s biggest (and most expensive) beer garden.  Time, however, doesn’t care how much fun people are having or how much Old Style is flowing, and Wrigley Field has shown its age in recent years.  As we sit here one month into the 99th year of baseball at the corner of Clark and Addison, the Cubs are working hard on a plan to renovate the stadium so that it can be used well into its second century.  Maybe the Cubs will even win a World Series there.

I’ve been able to identify 12 games that I attended at the Old Comiskey Park before they tore her down, including the final night game on September 29, 1990.  My Wrigley Field attendance is currently at 312 games and counting.

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30 For 30 – Take A Train Somewhere

MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERAThe fine folks at away.com have come up with a list of 30 Things Every Traveler Must Do Before They’re 30.  Of those 30, I’ve managed to accomplish 12 of them, or roughly 40% of them, some of which was even before I turned 30.  Today we look at #14 on their list, take a train somewhere.  Back in June of 2005, I took a trip to Italy along with about 15 other DePaul grad students.  While there, we partook in many a train ride throughout the Italian countryside.

The one that sticks out in my mind technically broke international laws.  On the way back to our home base along Lake Como, we ended up missing our stop and ended up leaving Italy and entering Switzerland… without passports.  Thankfully, an international incident was avoided and we were able to catch the next train back to Italy with little hassle.

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30 For 30 – Go Somewhere Alone

BigBenThe fine folks at away.com have come up with a list of 30 Things Every Traveler Must Do Before They’re 30.  Of those 30, I’ve managed to accomplish 12 of them, or roughly 40% of them, some of which was even before I turned 30.  Today we look at #13 on their list, go somewhere alone.  I did not start off alone as I traveled to the UK for work in December of 2009.  After spending a week in Belfast, I was due to be on vacation for the rest of the year, so there was no need to rush home.  Instead, I said goodbye to my colleagues and spent the next 4 days alone in jolly old England.

I had made limited plans for my stay in London, two trips to the theatre to see Anna Friel in Breakfast at Tiffanys and Damian Lewis and Keira Knightley in The Misanthrope.  Besides that, I had nothing but time to explore the city.  I bought a 2-day ticket for a double decker bus tour, I went to the Tower of London, I took the tube out to Abbey Road to see the crosswalk outside the studios made famous by the Beatles, I saw the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, and, of course, I saw Big Ben and Parliament.  I would love to go back and see it all again, if it weren’t for the 8 hour flight and the cost of seats that aren’t sardine can-like on the plane.

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30 For 30 – Take One Ultimate Road Trip

SheaBoardThe fine folks at away.com have come up with a list of 30 Things Every Traveler Must Do Before They’re 30.  Of those 30, I’ve managed to accomplish 12 of them, or roughly 40% of them, some of which was even before I turned 30.  Today we look at #12 on their list, take one Ultimate Road Trip.  In the year 2003, the Chicago Cubs were scheduled to open their season on Monday, March 31 in Queens against the New York Mets.  What better way to celebrate than with a road trip to New York to take in the festivities?

The trip sort of started out Friday afternoon with a quick jaunt out to the Budget rental facility near O’Hare airport.  They were the one rental agency that didn’t seem to mind that we were taking the car out of state.  It for real started the next morning at 2 AM as we headed out on I-80 heading east.  Very little of interest happened throughout Indiana and Ohio.  Eventually, we stopped for lunch at an Arbys in Pennsylvania.  This particular Arbys happened to have a breakfast buffet, which was weird.  The customers of this Arbys seemed to be more at home in the hills of Appalachia then in Pennsylvania.  One in particular was wearing overalls with no shirt underneath (at least that’s how I remember it) and was waiting patiently for a new batch of bacon to be brought out to the buffet.  Once it was, this hill person got up, emptied the whole tray onto his plate, and returned to his seat to chow down.

After finishing our processed meat sandwiches, we continued on to our final destination: a Howard Johnson hotel in Newark, New Jersey.  From my recollection, the whole trip lasted a little more than 12 hours.  After a brief nap and a few episodes of the Chappelle Show, our plans for the evening required a train ride to Manhattan, which should have been a piece of cake.  There was a train at the airport and an airport shuttle should have come to the hotel every 15-20 minutes.  After waiting for an hour, the shuttle finally showed up, taking us to the Newark airport where we were finally able to take the train into New York City!

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30 For 30 – Take A Vacation That Isn’t Spring Break

The fine folks at away.com have come up with a list of 30 Things Every Traveler Must Do Before They’re 30.  Of those 30, I’ve managed to accomplish 12 of them, or roughly 40% of them, some of which was even before I turned 30.  Today we look at #4 on their list, Take a Vacation that isn’t Spring Break.  I graduated from college in the spring of 1997 and didn’t start my job until August because I was going to take a trip.  The only problem with that plan was that travelling takes money, and, since I hadn’t started my career yet, I didn’t have any.  So, rather than moving on to the working world I had prepared the past 4 years for, I went back to my old job at a bank for 2 1/2 months.  The next summer, though, was going to be my first real adult vacation: San Diego Comic-Con!

Back in 1998, the Internet was not as advanced as it was today, and instead of social media and message boards, we had email lists dedicated to topics of interest.  One of those lists, devoted to fans of the comic series Strangers in Paradise, had a number of people heading to San Diego for the big convention that summer.  If I remember correctly, there were 8 of us and we were all staying in the same room at the lovely Days Inn in downtown San Diego.  While most of the group was just coming out for the con, I headed out early, spending the entire week out on the west coast.  Along with two other guys who had traveled down from Canada, we explored all San Diego had to offer.

One of the advantages of travelling when you are 23 is that you’re able to stay in a crappy hotel room with 7 other people.  I most likely would not stay in a Days Inn by myself these days or anywhere with 7 other people, unless it was a suite of some kind.  But when you’re young, stretching the dollar is your number one priority, not necessarily personal comfort.