Share your Chicago experience!

[Blackshirts007]

I'll start....we drove from lincoln to Springfield to pick up a friend before driving up to Chi...we decided last second to drive up friday evening/night, rather than saturday morning, which ended up being the best decision of the trip...finding a hotel was a mess at 8 P.M....we finally found a cheap one out by the airport. In the morning we left around 8, the hotel had a shuttle that took us to the airport, we then had to take the blue line all the way into downtown (45 minutes) because thats what we decided to do before the game.

 

Downtown was awesome as expected, we pretty much just walked a few miles up michigan avenue, stopped at nike town, checked out some great scenes, etc...we left downtown for the game around 11, took the red line and purple, which were packed with husker fans, it took about an hour or so. once we got to outside of the station, the stadium was nearby and husker fans were flocking at tailgates. The area was VERY nice, residential and clean. The only problem was finding a place for booze, it took nearly a half an hour for us to find the ONE place in the area serving beer...they had coors for $5 and it was a great scene of husker fans. The lady serving actually said we were about 10x better than Ohio State fans last year, she said they have sold more beer to husker fans than they have sold to any other visiting team!! They were not ID'ing people because i went up and bought 4 beers and had no problem. Also does Chicago/evanston not have an open container law? because everyone was walking on the streets drinking, and walking in front of cops.

 

The stadium itself was pretty sh**ty. Inside had a nice feel to it, but it was very weird shaped, and the lights looked like they were about to fall down. They had one small video screen that was most likely smaller than the ones on the 4 corners of our stadium. Their sound system was decent with a good bass, probably better than ours imo. The amount of fans was an incredible thing to see...NW fans/boards will tell you it was a 50/50 split, it was much closer to 60/40 us. I won't talk about the game in this thread because this is just about the experience. The NW fans were GREAT, i cannot give them enough credit. We did not have one problem with any NW fan...no cussing at us, no taunting, no trash talking, no nothing. Many fans told us good luck and thanks for visiting. They were friendly and welcoming.

 

After the game we took the trains back down to wrigley...the trains were packed again with people. We went to giordanos by the stadium, small wait but it took awhile to make the pizza, the pizza was awesome. we got a medium with the 4 meat trio, and that was enough for three pieces each, but we only finished two pieces each. after that we roamed around wrigley and then took the trains all the way back out to the airport and back to the hotel. I left out some things so i don't have an 8 page post, but we were on the trains about 3 total hours, got a ton of walking in, probably around 15 miles, and we were absolutely exhausted when we got done. The people of chicago were nice as well. I had many conversations with people on the trains, and when i asked a few shady people for directions a couple times, they were kind and pointed us in the right direction. Traffic was crazy as expected...something funny is when people decide they are going to run the red light, they just lay on their horn!! Overall great trip, i WILL be coming back in two years. Chicago is one of my favorite cities, and this was yet again a blast. So post your stories if ya have em!!!

 

Chicago Tribune

 

 

Great View

 

This guy was awesome!!

 

Huskers at the trains

 

NW exterior

 

Only beer stand full of huskers

 

Huskers love to travel!

[zoogs]

Awesome stuff, man. Thanks for posting. Make some paragraphs when you get the chance

 

We sure dominated that stadium, didn't we?

[Bradr]

Sounds like a blast, thanks for the post!

 

(Also, I second the paragraphs )

[Eric the Red]

Great post

 

[HuskerShark]

I have to be honest, I didn't expect that kind of showing from the Husker fans in ChiTown. It was spectacular to see so much red in that stadium, so well done to anybody that went!

[Blackshirts007]

I do have one funny story to add. We were on one of the trains at night headin back and there were a couple of hoodlums behind us in the back being loud rapping music, jacking around etc. well we came to one of the stations and one of the kids got off. We think nothing of it, just figure it was the kids stop. We start going again, and keep in mind the train goes upwards of 60 miles per hour. Well this dumbass got on the narrow platform in between the railcars, and rode for about 30 seconds (which is outside of the train on a small platform going 60) and then opened the emergency back door and got back on the train. He scared the hell out of everyone in the train, because no one knew what was happening when the door opened because it made a loud noise from the wind going 60. I thought we were crashing or something!!

[Apathy]

I went to the Northwestern game last year and partied with a bunch of Northwestern fans and they told me that Nebraska fans are by far the best fans in the B1G. They also told me that Wisconsin, Ohio State, and Iowa have the worst fans in the B1G.

[HuskerExpat]

I like reading how other people experience the city I live and live in. With respect to open container laws, the cops in Chicago usually don't care when there is a big event like this as they hav bigger fish to fry. People will openly drink on the street right in front of a cop in Chicago at such an event. With that said, I'm a little surprised that it is the same in Evanston, as the cops in the 'burbs usually are stricter because they don't have as ugh to do. Parts of Evanston are kind of rough though, so maybe they do. Anyway, great post.

[tschu]

Stayed downtown in the Magnificent Mile! Went barhopping til late Friday night (my friend paid the price for that Saturday morning) and had a blast.

 

Saturday morning we got on the train about 10:30 and got off at Central at about 11:30. Someone on our train took a picture of me with a couple other people around me and tweeted it at @Huskers, who then retweeted it so I got a ton of texts about that. I looked hungover as sh#t, lol. But we wandered around NW's campus for awhile, tailgated, then shuttled to the stadium (for free!). More tailgating.

 

Then obviously the game...that stadium seats 47,000 but the amenities are clearly designed for maybe 25-30,000. I swear there were a total of maybe 15 urinals in the whole stadium. I waited for 45 minutes to take a piss. Waited for almost 15 just to get a terrible hamburger. They were sold out of coke and had to get a diet coke :/ But overall the stadium was very nice, the area very scenic. Would definitely go again.

 

Our crowd was very impressive after we finally got it going in the 4th. I gotta say though, seeing Husker fans stream out after going down by 12 with 8:30 left in the game was pretty disappointing. You come all the way here only to leave with the game still up for grabs? Oh well, they paid the price for that.

 

After the game we took the train back to wrigleyville, hit up a bunch of bars, but were pretty tired and headed back downtown and called it a night at midnight.

 

This was absolutely a fantastic weekend and I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to get out and go to an away game. So much to do, very scenic areas, Chicago is my favorite city in the world... and we got a win! GBR

[RedDenver]

I was there and stayed with my brother. We took the train up and tailgated with some NW, Husker, and assorted other B1G fans. Turns out some B1G fans buy season tickets to NW and then only go to their own team's game but still tailgate every NW home game and just watch the other games on TV at their vehicles in the tailgate lots. NW has a really nice campus and surrounding residential area. Like others have said, NW fans were very hospitable and good sports even after such a heart-breaking loss. First fanbase that I'd ranked ahead of the Huskers' for "greatest fans".

 

FYI, the trains were slower than normal because of the construction on the red line, so it should be a faster trip in future years. I also recommend buying beer BEFORE heading up to Evanston. Get there early with beer and you'll be invited to almost any tailgate.

[4skers89]

Since I live here I didn't take the time to futher explore the city but there was a lot to look at on the train ride in. At the game, I sat next to a young couple who just got engaged that day. I thought it was funny because the girl was so excited but I suspect the guy was being shrewd. He proposed during fall, at a football game so that in the future he can convince her to celebrate the engagement each year by attending a Nebraska game. Interestingly they weren't from Nebraska but his aunt was and got him hooked during the 90s. They were fun to sit by and cool even when I asked him to stop dropping the f-bomb. I had ran into another Chicagoan years ago that was a huge Nebraska fan. When he was playing football in high school his coach wasn't happy with the way he was playing and told him to go home and watch the Nebraska O linemen. He's been a fan ever since. Moral of the story being, there may be quite a few t-shirt Cornhusker fans but don't understand or forgot what it means to be a Nebraska fan. A little counseling is probably not a bad idea- when done correctly.

[Mike Mcdee]

Lots of what everyone else said about visiting Chicago so I won't repeat it. I will talk about a few things I experienced. Where we were tailgating at North Shore Lot, about a mile from the stadium, was free and fun. A group of NW fans had a 5 foot tall Jenga set made from 2x4's. It was great. During the game we sat in the south endzone and all game there was a huge (400lbs) man who loved reminding us which way Lincoln was. Good natured ribbing was fine and all, but if you are going to dish it out, at least stay to take it. When we went up in the 4th, he dissappeared. It was amazing. I didn't even see him go.

 

Funny story on the train ride: I know about the panhandling in the city and all big cities for that matter. Just ignore them and they will get off at their stop. A lady is going up and down the ailes and asking for a "Quarter, a dime, a nickel. Anything helps me get a cheeseburger". Reminded me of the guy down in KC plaza. A guy said he had some for her and proceded to pull out his wallet. He fans out his money and pulls out a buck. Panhandler then says "$2 would be even better, that would get me a nice lunch." The guy then puts the dollar back in his wallet and tells her "You should have been happy with the one. Now you get none." She got off at the next stop yelling at all of us but especially the guy.

 

Best part: Game obviously

Worst Part: Ate at the Purple Pig. Had to seek out a McDonalds afterward just to fill up for 1/4 the price.

[knapplc]

I stayed with family up in Kenosha, just across the Wisconsin border. We took the Metra down to the game, so we were at the mercy of the train schedule. We watched the whole bumbling, fumbling, stumbling mess of a game until about 7:20 to go in the 4th quarter when we had to leave to catch the last train going north at 6:11. So we watched the worst part of the game, but missed the great comeback and all the drama at the end. I sat about four rows behind 007 (he's in one of my pics of the stadium), so I would have been right there at the corner when the team came off the field, joining in the celebration. The trains on the weekends suck, and I'm not happy.

 

Kenosha is a fine little town. We ate at Frank's, the oldest continuously-operated diner in America. We shopped at Tenuta's, a great Italian deli with tons of authentic stuff from the old country. We had fun with family and the drive was pretty easy, but missing the last few minutes of the game kinda ruined the whole trip.

 

Northwestern fans are great. We were welcomed, we talked with several before the game, and we had a fine time talking about the aftermath on the train. There were several NW fans at Frank's the next morning when we went in for breakfast and we chatted with them as well. I will definitely make the trip up there again in a couple of years.

 

Ryan Field is fine, I guess. It's not the kind of facility we're used to in the Big 8/Big XII, but it's OK. I think a lot of college stadiums are like this place. I'll reiterate everyone's assessment - it's like a glorified High School stadium. I didn't use the pisser so I don't know what the amenities are like, but it's damned easy to get in and out of. Their scoreboard might as well not have a screen - it's so small you can't see anything. It's like trying to watch a 19" TV from clear across the room.

 

The field is grass, but it held up really, really well. So well that we were trying to find out if it was grass or turf. We looked around our section, and for rows and rows and rows we couldn't find any NW fans. We really took over that stadium. I'm guessing it was 60/40 Huskers/Wildcats. Funny stuff.

[darkhorse85]

Nothing remarkable except the train ride from downtown to Evanston on the morning of the game. It was a bit early so most of the big red faithful were probably still grabbing breakfast. My group of 4 and a father and son were the only husker fans at the station at the time. We get on the train and naturally we sit close to each other and start talking. Near the end of the red line a homeless man gets up from where he was sleeping on the other end of the car and stumbles over our way and sits down right by the six of us. He's mumbling some obscenities and one of us tells him to watch his mouth because there was a kid around. He starts going through his pockets and pulls out a small paper bag and pours the change that was in it into his hand. He also pulls out about 20 or 30 napkins and puts them on the seat next to him. At the second to last stop on the red line he gets up to exit the train and we get an eyeful of this guys butt. His sweatpants had slupped down well below his butt and the first thing I can think of is that he had sh#t on the seat and got up to leave. I look down at his seat and luckily there wasn't anything there. I lived in Southern California for a number of years and have seen some rather disgusting things on public transportation before so I was relieved that his elastic waistband had just malfunctioned.

[NUance]

I bought tickets from a NW alum and was set to go with two others. But they both bailed out on Wednesday due to a scheduling conflict. Instead of shitcanning the trip I decided to go it alone. Drove my truck up to Evanston Saturday morning. The parking pass that came with the tickets was incredible: In the lot right next to the stadium. I parked about 50 feet away from the Husker football equipment semi-trailer. Had a little time to kill, so I grabbed a hot dog at Mustard’s Last Stand. The seats were pretty good. 45 yard line, just beneath the upper deck. Probly about 95% NW season tickets holders in my section--not many Husker fans in West stadium.

 

The stadium was ROCKING during the last half of the 4^th quarter. It was like a home field advantage for the Huskers. I know it had to be a crushing loss for NW fans. They basically had the game in the bag, only to lose a heartbreaker in the final seconds. Nonetheless, several NW fans offered congratulations to me as they filed out of the stadium. (I was the token Nebr fan in the section.) After the game the band played for about a half hour. I hung out and watched them, then made my way out to my truck. Where I was parked I was midway between the Husker lockerroom and the team buses. The players passed right by me as they made their way to the buses. I hung around my truck for a while with a bunch of other misc Husker fans, offering congratulations to the various players. I think they really appreciate all the Husker fans who come out to see them on the road.

 

When the team buses were loaded the cops asked me to move my truck so the buses could swing through the parking lot to leave the stadium. I backed up, then followed them out of the lot. Instead of heading to the airport, I made my way to Lakeshore Drive and headed to downtown where I was staying. (I know this great little downtown hotel—stayed there several times.) I walked over to Iwan Ries smoking room for a bit, then made my way to Miller’s Pub for a steak. Man alive the beers tasted good at that place! Later in my hotel room I wound down by reading the derp on HB. On the road by 7:30 am Sunday morning for the 320 mile drive home.