Return to Wrigley ... and Wrigleyville

In February, I had occasion to walk through the Wrigleyville neighborhood of Chicago's Northside and snagged a few photos on my iPhone 6s Plus that I included in a post here. I was up there for the occasion of my granddaughter's birth.

Anniston will mark her five-months-old birthday in a few days but will do so in a different home elsewhere in the Chicago area. Her parents spent last week and weekend packing and moving, and I was up there to help care for the two children (Anniston has a 2-year-old brother, Maddox) while their mom could pack and run errands.

So while I was there, I made what probably will be a final swing through that interesting neighborhood -- named for the Chicago Cubs ballpark it surrounds -- and present these for posterity. In just a couple visit, I came to enjoy the neighborhood ... and the proximity of the ballpark, even though I've long lost my fanaticism for baseball.

All of these photos were taken with the iPhone on two different days. On the first swing, which was east toward the lake (Michigan), I was by myself on a walking errand to a Jewell/Osco store at 3531 North Broadway. The second came the next day -- with Lee Ann and the two grandchildren. This time we worked our way west, winding around the ballpark, in pursuit of a hardware store that had a T4 size screwdriver. (We didn't find the screwdriver then, but I did get one later in the day in a car drive to Clark-Devon Hardware, which is about 30 blocks north of where we were).

On that second trip, which was Wednesday, two days before the Cubs would open a short homestand against the Texas Rangers and New York Mets, emergency officials were conducting what they told us was a terrorism drill at Wrigley Field. News stories on the drill described it as "an active shooter drill." Waveland Avenue behind the ballpark was blocked off to vehicular traffic. It made for an interesting trip.

I thought I'd start the post with my ballpark photos, beginning with the one leading off the post, which is a look at statues of two venerable Cubs (Billy Williams on the left, Ron Santo on the right). You can find these at the corner of Addison Street and Sheffield Avenue. The first photo below features a statue of longtime Cubs broadcaster Harry Caray (1982-97) outside the main bleachers ticket windows at the corner of Sheffield and Waveland.

Above: A pullback from the Caray statue scene above, looking down the Waveland Avenue portion of the ballpark's back side. 

Above is the brick sidewalk along Waveland Avenue (behind left field) with memorials purchased by fans. You can read some of the memorials if you click on the photo below. Periodically along the path, a larger inlay appears with the name of a famous Cubs player. The player's name in the foreground above is Joe Tinker (of "Tinker to Evans to Chance" fame); the one in the photo below is of Ernie "Let's Play Two" Banks. 

Above: One of the emergency vehicles outside the ballpark along Waveland Avenue.

Above and below: The most familiar views of the ballpark, as seen from Clark Street near Addison. Lots of tourists were around who, like me, were taking snapshots of the facade.

Above: A look east down Addison a block west of the ballpark.

Above: Construction on the ballpark grounds along Waveland near Clark.

Two different scenes along Clark Street -- looking south (above) from Waveland, and Rockit Burger Bar (below), which is in the first block north of Waveland.  

Above: D'Agostino's at 1351 W. Addison, about five blocks from the ballpark.

Shots above and quite a few below reflect residential buildings in an around the ballpark, mostly along Cornelia Avenue but also a couple of the intersecting streets. 

Above: Peet's coffee shop at 3500 N. Halstead St. I ducked into this nice shop during a brief rain on yet another walk during my visit to Chicago. A view from just outside Peet's is below.

Above and next two below: Views of Broadway (northside above, southside below) and of the exterior of an Asian restaurant at its intersection with Cornelia. 

A cafe Americana (above) grabbed at Julius Meinl (below) at Sourthport and Addison while on the pedestrian hunt for the T4 screwdriver. The sugar was not used. 

Above and remainder below: Exteriors of a couple businesses, churches and a full commercial block along Addison Street on the trip home from the screwdriver hunt.