Adventures in Chicago

  • A Blackhawks Game, The Nostalgia of Hockey and Shifting Allegiances

    A Blackhawks Game, The Nostalgia of Hockey and Shifting Allegiances

    This weekend marked the first hockey game I’ve attended in over 6 years, far too long to go without seeing a game in person. The game was a matinee and as an early bird this was why we picked this game from the Blackhawks schedule.

    We began our adventure with a short trip on the CTA to Haymarket Brewery and Taproom in the West Loop. It made for the perfect stop to have a couple of tasty beers with lunch before walking to the United Center.

    Game time was quickly approaching and what was clear blue sunny skies when we arrived at Haymarket had turned to a gray cloudy early Spring day. Knowing the threat of rain was possible we walked quickly, but not quite fast enough. The final few blocks were spent in a light rain which didn’t feel great in the chilly mid-40 temperatures but could have been much worse.

    We entered at the main atrium and slowly made our way through the crowd towards the concourse. Seeing all of the families and kids decked out in their Blackhawks gear brought back fond memories growing up watching hockey. The Red Wings were a powerhouse team when I was a kid and tickets to any of their games were not cheap, not to mention going all the way to Downtown Detroit at 7PM on any given day usually wasn’t the top of my parent’s to do list.

    Not attending many games didn’t change my love for the Red Wings and of watching hockey. For most of my life I would not have described myself as a “sport” guy, with the exception of hockey. I have so many good memories of watching the Red Wings as a kid, the Stanley Cup championship runs, the drama and excitement of the epic streak of playoff appearances, attending countless Lightning games when I was living in Tampa. Stepping into the United Center and seeing all of the Blackhawks jerseys, hearing the sound of the puck bouncing off sticks or against the boards and, biggest of all, the cheers of the crowd when the puck hits the back of the net. It was like jumping into a Time Machine and felt so great to be back and enjoying a game in person.

    The game couldn’t have been better, while the Blackhawks are struggling near the very bottom of the standings this year, both them and the Flyers came out ready for a game. There were six goals in the first period alone and it was so much fun seeing the crowds cheer with excitement and riding the emotional rollercoaster of the score swinging back and forth between the two teams.

    As the game progressed though, the Blackhawks kept dumping the puck into the Flyer’s goal and ran off with a lead that they never gave back. The game ended with the Blackhawks having 7 goals to the Flyers 3 goals, what a fitting final score for the Blackhawks with new Bears Head Coach Ben Johnson in attendance!

    The game made for a fun afternoon out in the city, helped me reconnect with my love of hockey and really left me feeling ready to commit to being a Blackhawks fan. I still love the Red Wings of my childhood, but I feel no connection to the city nor the current team at this point. My hero Steve Yzerman is running the front office, and I wish him all the success, but my heart is here in Chicago and supporting my home teams seems the only logical way forward for me. Getting out for this game really has me excited for the Ballpark Passes we got for the White Sox. Will we actually use all of the tickets we got for the first few months of the season? Probably not, but I think I’ll be feeling motivated to get down to quite a few and I’m really excited to spend more time watching the games in person and hopefully connecting with some of the die hard White Sox community.

    Until next time…

  • New Beginnings

    Today marks the start of a new adventure for myself. I hope to use this site as a way of combining a few hobbies I’ve long wanted to explore with a focus on exploring the city I love, Chicago. While I’ve dabbled in some cellphone photos over the years, last year I purchase several cameras. I spent the Spring and Summer of 2024 wandering the city, taking photographs and trying to learn the basics. Life changed through the later part of the Summer into the Fall and Winter and I fell out of the habit, this is my push to pick that back up.

    Another interest I’ve been too afraid to pursue for several years now is writing. I don’t exactly know what I want to write, I don’t see myself being a novelist, or writing a nonfiction book, but I do want to write. So for now, I will write here about my adventures around the city, and I’ll be sure to bring my camera with me regularly so that I can share the photographs I make. Last year I began journaling, and I’ve found that just picking the pen up and writing helps open doors, helps my brain see things different and explore different ideas that I would have never come across without the practice. I hope this same idea carries forward into my writing here and helps me improve my ability to write interesting, engaging material.

    I look forward to the work ahead of me here in building this blog, expanding my ability to write, to create ideas, to examine the art of photography, to explore Chicago and to use that as a focal point for practicing these two hobbies I’m interested in, and most importantly, push myself out of my comfort zone and try new challenging things.

    Until next time…