I like to watch at least one Cubs game per season. Given where I live that is tougher than it was during certain other times in my life, but I still try to do it. That is especially true when the Cubs are good, and at the time of writing they are sitting in first place in the division.

When I checked this season’s schedule, the Cardinals were slated to visit Wrigley Field for the Fourth of July weekend. As my sister-in-law is a Cardinals fan, I pitched the idea of a family trip to Chicago. While that meant that I also got to organize the trip, everyone approved. I flew in on Thursday and everyone else drove in.

We went to the baseball game on Friday afternoon. Wrigley is always magical, the best baseball stadium there is. I booked our accommodation so we could walk to the stadium. We walked around the stadium soaking in the building atmosphere as people queued in line for the bleachers and others milled about in the bars and restaurants around the ballpark. We went into the stadium early to let things build and to go to the concession stand and bathroom before the first pitch. There was a pregame flyover in celebration of the Fourth of July during the national anthem. Our seats were on the first base side in the lower bowl tucked under the upper deck bleachers. This made tracking fly balls a little challenging but I don’t have any real complaints. This was especially the case as the game unfolded. The Cubs hit a franchise record 8 home runs. Headed into the top of the ninth, with the score 11-1, the Cubs even trotted out a reserve infielder to pitch the final inning. The Cardinals scored two runs against the slow batting practice pitching but could muster no more and the game ended 11-3. Fly the W.

Saturday was a different sort of day. In the morning most of us walked to a commercial area set in the midst of the three or four story residential buildings that make up Lakeview/Wrigleyville. Then we regrouped and headed into the heart of the city. Temperatures reached the low 90s so we spent the afternoon ducking in and out of stores along the Magnificent Mile. We stopped for a few obligatory pictures at Millennium Park then doubled back to our dinner spot along the Chicago River. For the evening, all five of us went to the sketch revue show at The Second City, a legendary comedy venue where I wanted to see a performance. Over the course of ~90 minutes the cast ran through at least two dozen sketches, some interwoven with callbacks, some taking minutes to unfold, and others taking thirty seconds or less. It was a very punchy show. There were a few references that I missed, which was bound to happen given how little I watch cable television or listen to pop music. Overall, though, it was a really good show that offered a lot of laughs. Live comedy, much like live sport, brings you into the present in ways that aren’t possible when an experience is intermediated through a screen.