As a Chicago native, Peg Champley has always been a die-hard Cubs fan. Even after she moved to Chester, Virginia, Peg was able to watch the Cubs play against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park, about a two-hour drive from her home. Little did she know, her newfound closeness to the Nationals would complicate her team loyalty.
“I got hooked on the Nats because I wanted to follow the Cubs, and they were both in the same league,” Peg says. “It was the only time the Cubs would come this close to where I lived so I could see them play. So I bought season tickets, and the Nats just grew on me.”
Later, when Peg embarked on Sports Travel and Tours’ Windy City Plus trip to Chicago, she was put in a very difficult position. It turned out that the Cubs would be playing the Nationals. Who should she root for? Which gear should she wear? Feeling torn, Peg managed to remedy her situation by wearing both her Nationals T-shirt and her Cubs baseball cap.
This year, the Windy City Plus trip is scheduled from Friday, Aug. 7 to Wednesday, Aug. 12 and will feature stops in Milwaukee, St. Louis and, of course, Chicago. Travelers will experience four games at four different ballparks: Wrigley Field, U.S. Cellular Field, Miller Park and Busch Stadium.
Regardless of her internal conflict, Peg has fond memories of the Windy City Plus trip, as well as the numerous other trips she has taken through Sports Travel and Tours.
“I love that everybody on these trips is a serious baseball fan,” Peg says. “I got to spend a week together with baseball fans that just loved to talk about the games and the parks.”
Peg Champley
Peg first learned about Sports Travel and Tours back in the early 2000s. At the time, Sports Travel and Tours was advertising its 30-day trip that would bring travelers to see all 30 baseball stadiums. Peg couldn’t make that trip work but later traveled with us on six different trips over four years to complete the 30 ballparks and entered the Stadium Hall of Fame in 2009. She’s been hooked on the sports adventures ever since.
In fact, for several years, Peg participated in two trips each year, including two Windy City Plus trips. Given her fondness of Chicago, she was attracted to the trip’s location as well as its brevity. “It’s a nice, short trip if you don’t have a lot of time for a longer one,” she says.
Peg also appreciates that the trip brings travelers to both of Chicago’s baseball stadiums, which are unique in their own respect.
“First, you have Wrigley Field, one of the two oldest parks in the majors, second only behind Fenway Park in Boston,” Peg says. “The fans there are very attached to the uniqueness and the traditions that are in that park, and the crowd is very social. You spend a lot of time there finding new friends.”
Then, she continues, there is U.S. Cellular Field, home of the White Sox. Peg remembers that because of the rivalry between the White Sox and the Cubs, she was told to never wear Cubs paraphernalia at U.S. Cellular Field. Instead, she would bring her Nationals baseball cap and stay out of the rivalry completely.
Whether the games are played at night or during the day, travelers can take advantage of free time to explore Chicago. To Peg, the city offers endless opportunities. The hotel, Palmer House Hilton, is fortuitously located near museums, phenomenal restaurants and Shedd Aquarium on the lake.
Learn more about the Windy City Plus trip.