2025 Baseball Stadium Tour: Four Winds Park

 One of my 25 in 2025 items was to see a new baseball park. When we had to cancel spring training, I didn't think it was going to happen as we planned on going to Iowa and Omaha which we've been to before. Then we had to pivot at the last minute and ended up going to Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky which gave us a couple new stadiums

Four Winds Park is the home of the South Bend Cubs, in downtown South Bend, IN. The South Bend Cubs are the High-A Affiliate of the Chicago Cubs and play in the Midwest League. This is our 11th Midwest League Park (8th active). Only 4 more to go.

There is plenty of parking around the stadium. It was a short walk from the parking lot to the gates. We opted to walk to the main entrance and not the outfield entrance. We just followed the paw prints.

One ticket scanned just fine but my other ticket would not scan. The guy was all apologetic when he sent me to the ticket window for a paper ticket. Didn't he know paper tickets are like the ultimate keepsake since all tickets are pretty much digital now. I had no issues going to get a paper ticket. 

First order of business (okay second after getting a pressed penny) was to get my stamp. The team store was out in the outfield in an old Jewish Synagogue. 

We then found our seats which were in the front row. The cubs were playing Fort Wayne Tin Caps. It wasn't a bad game. Our seats were great. 

I found it surprisingly they had the bullpens on the field. There wasn't much foul territory.

Like most minor league parks, you could walk around the whole park. I loved the little pieces of history scattered around the outfield. 

Four Winds Field surprised me since it is a Cubs park. Despite being home to a Cubs team, we would definitely go back even if the fans were definitely Cubs fans. 

Spending the night in South Bend

When we finally confirmed where we were going after the World Series and we were going to be staying, I had the fun job of booking hotels. Luckily I only had book 2. The first night we stayed in Canton. The second night we stayed in South Bend. I tend to use Hotels.com when booking hotels. In South Bend, I found Country Inn and Suites for $85. Since we have a rewards card with Country Inn and Suites, I checked their websites and the price varied by pennies. I booked directly though Country Inn and Suites.

I should have known better for $85…

It wasn’t the worse Country Inn and Suites experience we’ve had but it fell short of our expectations.

The girl at the front desk didn’t seem too thrilled to be there when we checked in. Then she proceeded to tell us there was no elevator and we were on the second floor. Normally this won’t bother us but we haven’t been home in a week or more and our oversized luggage was quite heavy.

Our room was fine. The bathroom was modern. The hubby was impressed by the modern looking bathroom. I found it quite tiny but nice.

We were hungry when we got to our room and needed a place to eat. We didn’t want Applebees or similar places as we could get them at home. I look around the room for that binder of information that is every hotel room. No such binder was found. Down to the desk we went. The check-in gal was answering a question for someone else as we neared the desk but disappeared by the time we got there. We did find a local guide in the breakfast room. I start paging through it and between the guide and Google we settled on O’Rourke’s.

In the morning when we went to breakfast, there wasn’t a big selection. The hot dishes were things I didn’t eat. I don’t remember what I had besides some yogurt with granola. What I do remember is that there was no milk. Both the 2% and skim were out. There was no sign or anything indicating this. When a worker finally emerged to refill dishes, I asked and she said, yeah we’re out. Couldn’t you at least put a sign out?  

As we left we saw a delivery truck pulling in…maybe they had my milk.

Overall, we might stay here again if in the area but only if we get a good deal again.

Gotta Go Irish When at Notre Dame

We try to eat at places we can’t get back home on vacation. When we got to South Bend, it was past dinner time. Once we got to our room, I looked for the standard hotel guide that is usually in every room. Ours didn’t have one. We go down to the desk but no one was there. I spied a South Bend guide and we proceeded to check it. Between the guide and Google, we settled on O’Rourke’s – an Irish Pub not too far away that didn’t seem overly pricey.

It was definitely a good choice. The food was excellent. The hubby had a burger. I decided to go with Irish Stew since we were at an Irish pub. I contemplated a couple other items but wanted truly Irish fare. The stew was amazing. It came in a bread bowl with mashed potatoes underneath. Our waitress told me to cut the bread bowl so I could eat the mashed potatoes too. The meat was very tender. Even the hubby said he wished he got the stew. The only issue we had was that they were out of French Dressing for the hubby’s salad – no salad for the hubby.

O’Rouke’s in a town center area right across the street from Notre Dame. There were plenty of restaurants and stores to browse afterwards. I even spied an ice cream place. Too bad I was too full from my stew. There was only street parking but we managed to find a spot about a block away.

If we are ever back in South Bend, I would come back here in a heartbeat and maybe have a glass of Guinness or Harps next time.