I've been playing Pokémon Go for about eight of its ten years. This was the first time I traveled for a ticketed event, to the in-person Go Fest in Chicago. In addition to the Saturday morning game session in Grant Park, I took a long weekend to see the sights around the city. And since I'd gotten laid off like a week before, most of those sights ended up being things I didn't need to pay for.
June 5: Millennium Park
My flight into O'Hare landed mid-afternoon, so I checked into the hotel then got on the L to head downtown and see what was going on.
June 6: Go Fest
And the reason I made the trip: From 9:00 to 1:00 the game session I was in took over Grant Park for catching, raids and game tasks.
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Up and at 'em early on Saturday for GoFest! Paid Pikachu a visit before the event got rolling at 9:00.
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Fountain in the middle of Grant Park.
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Proof I was there.
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I visted the Team Valor tent also, saying hi to my teammates.
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And a silly little flex.
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Since fire types are how I roll for my starters, I also posed with a tepig they had out there.
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And a cyndaquil.
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After having done the final raids of the event, I also swung by to get a pic with Team Rocket and the boss, Giovanni.
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After the event ended at 1:00, I walked down to the Field Museum, to try to do the special research tasks there. After that I headed back towards the L. Saw the General John Logan Memorial along the way. Logan was a general in the Civil War and was one of the drivers behind making Memorial Day a national holiday.
June 7: Griffin Museum and River Walk
With the game event behind me, I made my way south to visit the Griffin Museum of Science and Technology. I'm a bit spoiled by the admission to the Smithsonian museums being free, I think; it seemed like a lot to pay for what I got out of it.
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The day after I could have rested, but instead I went to the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry. They were also having an exhibit about Anne Frank, which I don't quite get the connection for, but whatever. That cost extra beyond the museum admission to get into, so I didn't go.
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They also had a big exhibit about the history of shipping, including this model of a 17th Century galley.
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A copy of a figurehead, which would have been at the bow of a ship.
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More model ships, this one of a Phonecian vessel from the early Iron Age.
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Much more modern, this is a Great Lakes freighter from the 60s. The SS Edward L. Ryerson, shown here, was a bit smaller than the more famous SS Edmund Fitzgerald.
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In the same display, an even larger freighter from the 80s.
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They also had a small display set up so you could see what it might have been like on deck of one of the old sailing ships.
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Before the Panama Canal, clippers like this one had to sail around the southern tip of South America.
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Leviathan was a German ocean liner from just before World War I, even bigger than the Titanic.
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After the boats came cars, including this '71 Aston Martin Lagonda.
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A solar-powered electric car from 1993.
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A model T.
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A Rolls Royce New Phantom.
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They had a little five-minute show called Earth Revealed.
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They also had a map as part of the shell around the seating.
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Trains!
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Engine 999.
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A scale model showing how train lines are set up in various parts of the country. This bit is Chicago.
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More Chicago.
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Mountains and tunnels.
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Seattle.
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Large trestles traversing mountain valleys.
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Foucault pendulum.
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The Burlington Zephyr.
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From the front.
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After the museum, I headed north to the River Walk. This is a naval memorial for the submarines that went out to fight World War II.
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The eastern end of the walk, taking a picture through a security gate. On the north side of the river, Navy Pier extends a bit farther.
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Now walking west upriver, looking at the fountain in Esplanade Park.
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At the confluence of the two branches of the Chicago River. Looking at the aptly-named Reflective Tower.
Someone on the bus recommended I get dinner somewhere near the Damen stop on the blue line when I headed back to the hotel. I got there, scrolled the list in Maps, and thought a smash burger sounded really good. I am not a cultured individual.
June 8: Wrigley Field and Lincoln Park Zoo
One thing I wanted to do as soon as I made sure I got my Go Fest ticket was getting the tour of Wrigley Field.
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Monday now, and it's time for the tour of Wrigley Field. This is Gallagher Way, along the third-base line, where the old coal yard used to be. Now it's a public plaza.
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There are statues of famous Cubs players in the plaza. Fergie is the Cubs' all-time leader in strikeouts.
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Mr. Cub himself. "Let's play two."
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Billy Williams spent 31 years with the team.
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Ron Santo was a player for several years before providing color commentary on WGN Radio.
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Ryne Sandberg is the only one of the five that I remember seeing on TV, he played when I was a kid.
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Inside the park now, coming up the tunnel from the concourse to see the field for the first time.
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Looking toward the outfield.
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From the second-level concourse, the houses across the street on Waveland.
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WrigleyRooftops.com isn't owned by the Cubs. It's just owned by the people who own the Cubs.
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In the bleachers, looking like a dork.
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Looking at home plate from the Bums' turf.
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More houses from the bleacher level.
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From the nosebleeds you can see the downtown skyline over right field. I'm pretty sure you can just barely see Lake Michigan between the tallest (closest?) skyscraper and the out-of-town scoreboard.
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A bit more toward center.
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And left.
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If you zoom in you can see an L red line train going by to the right of the orangish building.
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Field level.
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Forget Angels in the Outfield, we've got Dorks in the Dugout. We have alliteration.
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Our guide and the infield.
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The outfield. (Josie's on a vacation far away, come around and talk it over.)
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Looking back up the stands.
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More of the stands.
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And yes, I took a picture of the Waveland Avenue street sign.
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At the Lincoln Park Zoo, in between some short showers. They had flamingos.
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A memorial to Eugene Field, who lived in Chicago in the 1880s, and was considered the "children's poet laureate."
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Not today, you bastards.
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Had to try a Chicago dog while I was there. Verdict: It's all right. A little too much going on that makes it hard to taste the actual beef dog. Almost like having a condiment sandwich. I prefer stadium mustard and onions, or a coney dog.
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In addition to English, Chicago signage is also in Spanish -- which makes sense for a city in the 21st Century -- and Polish, because Chicago.
June 9: Navy Pier and 12th Street Beach
One more free thing to do is walk the length of the Navy Pier that juts out into Lake Michigan, so I did that.
And that was Chicago. At some point I'll have to go back and see some more places that charge admission, maybe even take in a Cubs game. Go Fest is back there in 2027 from what I can tell, so if I've got a job by then (and I have more than a pittance of vacation days available to me) I'll be back then.
