Just got our hands on a couple of tickets for
the Cards/White Sox games this weekend. Plan
to drive. Need recommendation on a hotel - one that's easily accesible to Comiskey.
(Another possiblity, of course, is AMTRAK...can we take the El to ComiskeY??)

Thanks.

Dear Donna: I'm going to the game on Saturday night. We take the former Dan Ryan (now called the Bishop Ford, I think) from the Southwest and we also have two other expressways to take before we reach that one. We exit at 35th Street or Pershing Rd which is
31st St. It is located West of the expressway. I hope you get someone who comes from the North to answer this one for you. There is an el but it does not come anywhere near a direction that would work for us. I have traveled to many, many ball parks and one of the saddest things I can say is that our new Comiskey park is not easy to reach for most of its fan base. I can not think of one hotel/ motel that is in walking distance, but I may be wrong. It is surrounded by expressways, IIT, Bridgeport, and huge tracks of public housing are not that distant. I have walked the neighborhood to a distance of
7 or 8 blocks each way in just the last
few years, but I have never seen any hotels or motels in evidence. Sox crowds are very, very friendly and
there may be a way to stay downtown and
exit the el near Comiskey. Try an inquiry at Whitesox.com or CTA. There are lots and lots of hotels/motels on the near South or SW sides. You could drive from these easily. It will cost $10 to park. It has the best food of any park we have been to, except maybe
Milwaukee on a good day- but things are
expensive at the ballpark. The steak fajaitas are great. It is NOT like Wrigley Field, as people who get to a Sox game are there to watch baseball first and to have a good time with their family/friend etc. while possibly having a few drinks and good things to eat at the same time. At Comiskey the people are all looking AT the game. Hope we get to see you. Saturday is FireWorks Night again and that is tops.

A long, long time ago there used to be buses from the loop from various restaurants out to the old Comiskey Park. Am wondering if that's still the case? I remember going from the Berghof on some occasions and there was another bar type restaurant that I can't remember the name of. To take the El, you have to walk through a bit of iffy neighborhoods. Think probably a car would be best and then just pay for parking. Investigate the restaurant buses, however.

The L Red Line does have a 35th/Sox stop near Comiskey. However as the last post said the area is a bit iffy. My brother lives in Chicago, and says as a rule of thumb never take the Red Line south of the Roosevelt stop, and it is past Roosevelt. However it is also close to Downtown, and the ride isn't that long.

Thanks to all of you for the good advice. Looks like our plans have changed slightly and we'll drive there for the game and then turn around and drive home. (My 16-yr old is on a Khoury League team that just scheduled make-up games for Fri pm and a doubleheader Sat am. As much as he wants to go to Comiskey, he really, really never misses one of his own ball games. In fact, thought I might be selling some White Sox tickets on the web today! But he left me a note on the refrigerator indicating that he'd be willing to miss the Fri night game as long as we came straight home so he could play Sat morning.)

Looking forward to the trip though. We've made it a "hobby" the last few years to visit other major league ballparks. (Matt is a big STL Cards fan.) Over the last several years, we've been to stadiums in Cleveland, Chicago (Wrigley), Kansas City, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Philly, New York (both), Baltimore, Boston, Detroit (old Tiger Stadium), and Colorado. And Cooperstown!

It's a great way to spend time with your child(ren) ... and having a shared hobby keeps the conversation lines open -- even when the kids get into their teens!

Our next trip is a return trip to Jacobs Field the first week of August for the Indians/Rangers series.

Thanks again for the help. Happy I found you!

Donna

Donna: Keep it up! My son is also a big St.Louis fan as he went to school at Southern Ill. University. Traveling to see baseball parks and games can remain a great connection way into your child's adulthood. We are still at it and hope to be at Toronto and Baltimore next year. Have a great time at the game! Jeanette