Rather than squeeze in the White Sox game (first pitch 3:05 pm) in between the two international contests, we chose to head to the restaurants by Soldier Field. After taking our time leaving Toyota Park, we parked in a lot between S. Wabash Ave. and S. Michigan Ave. on 14th St. for $25 around 4 pm – giving us plenty of time before the 7:15 pm kickoff.

While searching for parking, we saw the American Outlaws partying outside of Weather Mark Tavern – a bar the Ultimate Sports Wife and I have occasionally frequented after Chicago Bears games. By the time we parked and walked over the supporters group had already left for Soldier Field.

Pre Game Dining
Instead of starting at Weather Mark Tavern, we chose to go to the Irish pub Grace O’Malley’s. We sat in the restaurant area and order some drinks and appetizers. After Grace O’Malley’s, we went back to Weather Mark Tavern. As is the case with Bears games, Weather Mark Tavern has cheaper prices and is less crowded than Grace O’Malley’s so unless you have a craving for Irish beer and food, I would recommend going to Weather Mark Tavern – only one block south on Michigan Ave. (1503 S. Michigan Ave. vs. 1416 S. Michigan Ave.).

Walking from Michigan Ave. to Soldier Field
At 6:15 pm, we started the lengthy walk to Soldier Field. From Weather Mark Tavern, you either need to cross the train tracks by walking north 3 blocks to Roosevelt Rd. or south 3 blocks to 18th St. We chose to walk to 18th St. since many ticket scalpers congregate by the tunnel south of Soldier Field. Also, in my opinion it is a much further walk crossing on Roosevelt Rd. since you must walk even further north once you get into Grant Park.

As we were walking to Solder Field we could hear a lot of cheering coming from the stadium as if the game had already started. We were wondering what the heck was going on.

Obtaining Tickets
After we made it across the tracks, the first scalper (also could have been a fan with extra tickets) we talked to had three tickets together (face value $25). I offered him $40 for all three (about ½ price) and he declined my offer. As we walked away, he asked for $50 for all three and I said no. He then accepted the $40 for all three tickets. Our tickets were directly behind the goal on the south end zone. Much better than the $40 tickets U.S. Soccer was selling at the box office at the top of section 429.

The Game
We arrived in our seats about 45 minutes early and realized very quickly we were amongst the minority. The entire stadium (or 80% of the crowd) appeared to be Honduras fans that were all cheering before the game with no action on the field. We now understood why were heard all the noise coming from Soldier Field as we were crossing the train tracks.

The US defeated Honduras 2-1 in the United States first come from behind win in a world cup qualifier since May 15, 1985. Landon Donovan set a U.S. record by scoring his 11th goal in World Cup Qualifying.