Friday in drippy Chicago

 Friday was a drippy day in Chicago.  It didn't rain it just dripped for most of the day.  Rain is a pain, but drippy weather is fine by me.  I had my navy blue jacket that my mom bought for me when I was a freshman in college along so I was good to go.  It's always good to feel way out of style when in a major US metropolis. :-)
Look at my lovely travel partner/guide.  We used public transportation to get around the city, which means we did a fair bit of waiting for buses and trains but for the most part it was an excellent way to get around.

 First stop on Friday was a tour of Wrigley Field.  Ben's been to a couple games at Wrigley, but I'd never been in the ball park before.  It was interesting to learn about the history of the Chicago Cubs and the park itself.

 Like I said, it was drippy outside, especially at the beginning of our tour.  Thankfully, we were under the upper deck at the beginning of the tour.  The grounds crew was in the midst of tearing out the sod while we were there.  The plan is to re-level the field and re-sod it this fall.  Apparently, this is the third time the field's been re-sodded this year.

 The ball park feels old, but well cared for.  I can understand why people seem to worship the place.

 From the patio of the upper deck there's a pretty nice view of downtown Chicago.

 Through an unmarked door in the first level of the stadium/park we went down a flight of stairs into the Cubs clubhouse.

 We were only allowed to see this much of it:

 and then we walked out into the Cubs dugout.  It was just as simple as it appears on TV.  The only fancy thing in this dugout is the padded bench (the visitors just get a plain wooden one). And the roof of the dugout is low enough I would have hit my head on it if I'd stood straight up from sitting on the bench.  Stuck right in between the clubhouse and the dugout is a tight space with a urinal - it seemed rather gross to me....but I'm a girl.

From behind home plate looking toward the pitchers' mound.

 After the tour we ate lunch at Murphy's - a place our tour guide said served the best burgers in Wrigleyville. Since we didn't try burgers at other restaurants in Wrigleyville we can't say if they're the best or not, but they were pretty good.

 In the afternoon we toured the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio in Oak Park.

I didn't purchase the $5 photo pass, so the only photos I have are of the outside...but below is the exterior of the studio.  Frank placed exterior doors in obscure places to force people to look at the structure and take in the space they were about to enter.

 This is the front of the house. He designed his home prior to developing his signature Prairie Style, but there were definite hints of it even in his early work. He was a genius - one of the most tangibly felt design elements of FLW for us was his use of dark, tight hallways that lead to big, bright rooms.  He used the halls to move you through a necessary space quickly and then the bright room at end was even more impressive as a breath of fresh air.

 For dinner we met Andy and Lia at Farmhouse.  It was fabulous food, atmosphere and company.

 From Farmhouse we traveled over to Margie's for ice cream.  Ben and I went to Margie's this summer when we were in Chicago and it was just as fabulous this time as last.

 The wood paneling, brown pleather booths, neon signs

 and the jukebox at the table is awesome.

 Oh, and the ice cream and fudge sauce are simply ridiculous.

And after all that, we were tired and full!