My Visit to the Windy City Weasels

Next week, I am making a trip to Chicago to see some of my Dip friends and play in Weasel Moot VIII. I expect to get stabbed and totally slaughtered in Chicago as far as the Dip goes, but nevertheless, am anticipating the fun will be huge. I am using this blog post as a means to keep a running log of my trip and to store information I might need to access.

I am trying out taking a backpack to a Chicago youth hostel as an adventure and because the cost of hotels in downtown Chicago is really high. Two nights at a hotel are approximately $400 and that is for a two star.

Today I booked a room through HostelBookers.Com to stay at the Chicago Parthenon Hostel. It is a 8-bed dorm style room at a cost of $34 per night. The Hostel is in a Greek neighborhood. A picture from Google Street view is embedded below.

My friend Jim O'Kelley bought Cubs tickets for Friday afternoon and I am looking forward to going to Wrigley Field again and enjoying a nice afternoon of baseball (Cubs v. Cards). (I am a Braves fan. Baseball is my favorite sport in the summer.)

Afterwards or maybe during the game, I may test out a couple Chicago pale ales. They have some good micro-breweries in the Chicago area.

If the Friday-night, Big-city festivities are not too much for my old bones, I am hoping to wake up and go to the Dip tournament. It starts early on Saturday morning and runs through Sunday.

From the Hostel, it looks like I can catch an El train at the UIC Halstead Station and ride it to the Clark Lake Station. There, I disembark and walk north across the Chicago River and about another two blocks to the fancy Hampton Inn and Suites. There, Weasel Moot happens.

Please comment for any inside Chicago tips about my planned itinerary.  For example, I suspect the Greek restaurants around this hostel are pretty decent and might be worth exploring.

Here is a map to the Dip tourney.
Here is a map to Wrigley from the Hostel. Take blue line to Jackson Blue. Switch to the red line. Ride to Addison.
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Here's a map from the airport to the hostel. Blue line all the way.