An anniversary baseball game in Chicago
For our anniversary, my husband and I always go to a Seattle Mariners game. If they play in Seattle we’ll have a staycation or take a quick drive to the mountains after the game. If the Mariners play somewhere else (definitely the preferable opinion), we book plane tickets.
Our first anniversary at Safeco Field
These are not whirlwind vacations where we pack in sightseeing. Instead, we spend hours and hours talking to each other over long dinners and drinks. We sleep in and take naps. There are leisurely runs, coffee shop dates, and zero plans (except for that Mariner game of course). I think the genesis of this chill-vibes-only tradition comes from our very first anniversary. On our first anniversary, we found ourselves having a two-hour-long dinner at a mountain resort - something we’d never done before. When we woke up the next morning we reveled in the fact that we’d just spent 24 hours together. By ourselves. Something else that had never before happened.
When I met my now-husband I already had a toddler in tow and a full-time job. There were a few kid-free dates, but these were planned events with curfews. We very quickly got pregnant, bought a house, had another kid, and then got married. Our wedding was on a beautiful tropical island surrounded by family - both our extended family and our two little girls. It was a beautiful week. However, our wedding night involved a toddler having a nightmare and a little one who was still nursing at night. Not that I’m complaining because I did and do love our life, but it is amazing how little time I’d spent with my husband before that first anniversary.
Turns out I really do love hanging out with the guy. Thank goodness.
Now, our anniversary weekends are sacred days. I never know how to categorize them. Is it a vacation? A return to the dating days which we never really had? A chance to flex our SuperMarinersFan muscles? A marriage retreat? The correct answer is, of course, all of the above.
I anxiously await the day in late summer when the Major League Baseball gods release the schedule for the following year. So we can plan our getaway. So far, we’ve been to Kansas City twice, Minnesota for a Twins game, and lots of home games. Of course, we went nowhere in early 2020.
This year, the Mariners played the Cleveland Indians on our anniversary. They played the Chicago Cubs the day after. Even before COVID, we weren’t purists. We’d gone to a game the day after our first anniversary and decided to do it again this year.
Nothing against the Cleveland Guardians (well, maybe a little. I do remember how that Cleveland team beat the ‘95 Mariners dashing our closest hopes to getting to the World Series), but it was an easy choice to go to Chicago instead of Cleveland. It worked out beautifully. The Mariners were apparently freezing during the Cleveland series, but Chicago experienced the first days of Spring while we were there. We enjoyed those early sunny days and eighty-degree weather as much as the native Illionians did.
Good seats are a must. We gotta be CLOSE to the action!
Wrigley Field was a joy. As we made our way to our (very good) seats in our Mariner teal and blue, an elderly usher welcomed us to Wrigley Field, apologized that the ivy along the back wall hadn’t grown in yet, showed us her world series ring, and teared up talking about the 2016 World Series. Classic.
Ultimately our Mariners lost. That was sad but it was cool to hear the Cubbies sing Go Cubs Go after their victory.
We enjoyed our non-baseball time from our hotel in Wicker Park. I agonized a bit over this location decision, as it may have been a bit more conventional to stay downtown near the museums, The Bean, The Magnificent Mile, and the Navy Pier. But I’d already been to Chicago a couple of times and ultimately decided that staying a few miles out of the city in an artsy area might meet our relaxation goals better. We checked out a couple of museums downtown but mostly stuck to Wicker Park.
We stayed at The Robey, one block away from the Blue Line L train between the airport and downtown. It’s a towering art deco hotel with a cute cafe at street level and a rooftop bar with a view of the city on the 13th floor. There is a cabana club with a pool, but unfortunately not open yet when we were there in early April. Because the hotel is close to the Subterranean (a live music venue), and the L line, I requested a quiet room which was granted.
View from the rooftop bar at The Robey
Our on first night in the city we had evening snacks and lots of drinks at Violet Hour. The restaurant attempts a prohibition vibe by eschewing signage and windows (find the place by looking for the door with the light and camera above it), which means that inside the restaurant is dark. High backed chairs add a semi-private vibe. Our waitress was phenomenal, the drinks were great, and we spent hours here. We also ate tacos at Big Star and grabbed a pizza from Lou Malnati’s to enjoy next to the fountains in Wicker Park. Our other Wicker Park activities included running on the 606 trail and checking out the stores along Milwaukee Ave - particularly Myopic Books.
