Wisconsin-based Cubs fans headed South on Friday morning to take in the team's World Series victory parade.
The parade begins at 11 a.m. in Chicago, although the Cubs buses are set to leave Wrigley Field at 10 a.m. on Friday. A rally at Grant Park will follow. In Milwaukee, trains bound for Chicago left the intermodal station downtown at 6:15 a.m. and 8:05 a.m.
"I'm playing hooky today," said Grace Rodriguez.
Rodriguez and her friend Jessie Maybrun are both Chicagoland natives currently in school at Marquette University. They said they couldn't miss a Cubs victory parade 108 years in the making.
"It's a big deal for Chicago and for us to be able to go down there and cheer on our team," Rodriguez said.
"It's my hometown," Maybrun added. "My family's always been big Cubs fans."
Ryan Fritsch, a Cubs fan now living in Madison, said he woke up at 3 a.m. to be in Milwaukee in time to catch a train to the Windy City.
"I just wanted to be there to see all the happiness, and to see everybody excited," Fritsch said.
Fritsch is originally from Cobb, Wisconsin, in Iowa County. He said there's a large contingent of Cubs fans in Southwestern Wisconsin because of its proximity to Iowa. The Triple-A, minor league Iowa Cubs team, which plays its home games in Des Moines, is affiliated with the Cubs organization.
"I just had to take the day off work today to see the players, see the trophy, and just experience everything," Fritsch said.
Meghan and Trevor Pirics, originally from Illinois, also departed Milwaukee early this morning. They said they would think about all the loved ones who raised them as Cubs fans as they take in today's parade.
"Our Mom grew up in Wrigleyville," Trevor Pirics said. "Our Grandpa worked at Wrigley. We were born and raised diehard Cubs fans, so we had to be there for this."
"Our Great Grandmother was a huge Cubs fans, Meghan Pirics said. "She never got to see something like this, so for a lot of our family members, this feels like a once in a lifetime type of an event. This is history."
"We're just going straight to Grant Park," she said. "We're going to claim a spot early and hopefully stand there for the day."
