One of the Christmas themed bars in Wrigleyville
We all have our traditions this time of year and the state of the world has made us have to cancel many of those traditions. For those that still got to take part I’m so happy you got to see family and for those that could not I am sorry and I hope you and your families are now healthy and safe.
With that being said, I always wanted my blog to be all about Cleveland and my other travels and then the pandemic hit. I haven’t traveled out of state since 2019 and was very excited to travel and I’m so excited to share our travels with everyone. Which I’m sure you’re like how does traveling have anything to do with Christmas but for us this year it did.
Chicago 
Lake Michigan is so blue
We had made the decision back over the summer that we were going to spend Christmas in Green Bay, WI for the Browns game. We knew that this may never happen again in our life time that the Browns play at one of the most iconic football stadium, Lambeau Field, on Christmas. I am so glad and grateful this amazing experience.
We left and drove up on Friday, Christmas Eve. Not only did we get to go to Green Bay on this trip we also stopped in Chicago and Milwaukee. I had never been to Illinois or Wisconsin and was super excited to pack in as much as possible. We drove through Chicago and stopped for lunch. I was just in awe as we were driving in and through the city. It just looks gorgeous and I can’t wait to go back to explore. On our drive through we saw the White Sox stadium, the Bears stadium, and Wrigley field. All places as a sports fan I have wanted to visit.
We stopped at a food network favorite Al’s Beef. I will admit I had never had an Italian beef and was excited to see what this sandwich was all about. They do have other items on their menu but they are known for their Italian beef. Al’s is now a Chicago chain, with a couple locations but is still local and has a pretty interesting history. You can order the Italian beef 3 different ways. Either dry, a touch of gravy, wet, extra gravy, or dipped, where the sandwich is submerged in the gravy. I was told that dipping it was a must so I went with a dipped sandwich with sweet peppers. They also have hot peppers if you prefer.
I was worried about the bread being soggy since it was dipped, something I really dislike is soggy bread, but the hoagie roll held up well with the liquid. Once your committed you have to stay committed is my only advice. The beef was thinly sliced with no fat, had tons of good flavor, and then the sweet pepper and cheese just added to the flavors from the beef and gravy. We also added crinkle cut fries to our orders. I don’t really eat a lot of crinkle cut fries so I really enjoyed a different type of French fry. I now understand why trying an Italian beef was a must. It was so worth it. I’ll be back Al’s beef!
We drove through the Wrigleyville area, past Wrigley field. I’ve always been an Indians fan and will always be but the outside of Wrigley Field was just gorgeous and there were tons of things to do in the area. They had an ice rink set up, a Christmas tree and all the bars were Christmas themed.
Christmas tree outside Wrigley Field
We stopped at a Total Wines in Milwaukee and bought some bourbon and some wine of course. The Total Wines was in an outdoor shopping area, that reminded me of a Legacy Village or Crocker Park, it had all kinds of different shops. We didn’t have time to explore any further since it was getting late and we still have a couple hour drive to Green Bay.
We find Browns fans wherever we go! 
All that bourbon
Part 2 of our Christmas vacation coming up next!