Waukegan Illinois - things to do and see?

[Jeffrey]

My son is graduating from Navy boot camp in Great Lakes Illinois. We will be staying in a hotel near Waukegan. Does anybody have suggestions of what to do that would be family friendly?
Thanks, Jeffrey

[NSP64]

Don't bring a gun.

[NSP64]

http://www.visitlakecounty.org/family.cfm?utm_source=Madden&utm_medium=GoogleCPC&utm_content=FamilyFun&utm_campaign=SEMC-ILIOT

[Jeffrey]

Don't bring a gun.

It's going to feel funny to be without my firearm. Good thing we're flying and not driving. Driving that far unarmed is unthinkable: almost 1000 miles each way.

[sparkz]

I Use to Live in Zion, Illinois, Small world that it is....
Illinois State Beach, In Zion, Illinois (Next to old Nuc-Plant)
Gurney Mills Shopping Center / Bass PRO-Shop (It's Big Place with lots of Out-Let stores)

(In Zion Illinois On Corner of Shiardan road and Wadsworth road, Is the best Carry-out Fired shrimp & Clam, BBQ Place
Cap-in Porky's worth getting a few bags and picnic at the Illinois Dunes on North side of the Beach)


Hope ya have a great Trip
Patrick

[Jeffrey]

I've eaten bbq sauce on rice, so I'm looking forward to checking out how it's done there. Shrimp? - they are probably getting it from the Gulf of Mexico - less than 20 miles from where I'm sitting.

[firefly1957]

It has been a few years since my son was there Gurnee mills is the only place a recall i did spend time at the beach a Waukegan also in warm weather.

[Bad Water Bill]

Here is another option and not far away.

http://www.fortsheridan.com/about/area.asp

Also have your son see if a tour of the base is available.

I should go back there some day and see if any of the places I used are still there. :sad:

[trooperdan]

You can see Jack Benny's house: http://www.waukeganweb.net/index.aspx?NID=473

[Olevern]

graduated from that facility many years ago, myself. I believe it was in 1970. A week before it was done they gave us liberty-passes and bus passes to downtown Chicago.
Don't believe I'd take 'em up on it now a days.

[Jeffrey]

I'm really not crazy about going into Chicago. My wife is mainly interested. Big cities and the goings on there no longer interest me. I'd rather spend as much time as possible with my son.


graduated from that facility many years ago, myself. I believe it was in 1970. A week before it was done they gave us liberty-passes and bus passes to downtown Chicago.
Don't believe I'd take 'em up on it now a days.

[starmac]

I have been accused of being hard headed (rightly so) but what I do when I have to go to a state like illinois is not spend a penny. I have no way out of paying the road taxes, but I try to not even buy a bag of chips otherwise.

[45 2.1]

About the only worthwhile thing around that area are the two museums in Chicago. Stay away from those areas if it is dark or close to it.

[Bad Water Bill]

The Field museum (home of the U505),Shedd Aquarium and Adler Planetarium are all on one campus. Just bring LOTS of money.

I think admissions START at $10.00 and if you want to visit (U505,coal mine etc)More green stuff is needed.

If you come by car bring even more money as parking is not free either.

[PB234]

Not much happening near where you will be. If you decide to come into Chicago be a little careful. http://crime.chicagotribune.com/chicago/shootings/

[PB234]

Also while the Field Museum is interesting it is about natural history. The Science and Industry Museum has the U505, etc. If you like art the Chicago Art Institute has a excellent collection and the park next to it is worth seeing as is Michigan Avenue from the river north. Parking will be expensive. Admission to museums will cost and lunch will be both expensive and not great. You could get a thick Chicago style pizza for an almost reasonable cost to feed a few people. Parking - I would try for the underground garage under Grant Park which will be expensive but not as bad as many other places. If I had a day or about 7 hours might park under ground and go to the Museum Campus selecting whichever ones I wanted to go to and then head north along Michigan Ave. getting a pizza (ask for suggestions if interested) and looking at Michigan Ave. Of the museums in Museum Campus the Field is probably the best. The Science and Industry Museum is located about 7 miles south and means parking again. I would just park and enjoy seeing Chicago along Michigan Avenue. Get a pizza and spend a nice easy day. Stay out of the South and West Sides as a person who doesn't know where to avoid might end up in the wrong place at the wrong time.

[PB234]

And if you park underground near the Art Institute (Grant Park) and want a reasonable priced lunch go to the Marino's grocery store in Illinois Center and on the 4th floor is a food bar, etc. Just outside they have tables set up and it is a nice way to get a sandwich, salad, or hot food at an almost reasonable price in a very expensive part of town. Two hours of free parking too if you buy something there. Figure a salad bar salad at about $5 or $6. Sandwich at about $4 to $5. Drinks at grocery store prices. Hot bar has decent fried chicken, etc, and will set you back about $5 or so. Way better than a Big Mac or other fast food and about the same cost. Or just buy some cold cuts and a roll etc. and have a picnic in the park next door at the same cost you would experience at home for a picnic. When you stamp your parking card you only have 10 or 15 minutes to leave the parking lot so don't get it stamped until you are ready to leave.

If you need help figuring out your visit a bit more PM me. Chicago is a good place. Just stay away from the trouble spots or people who look troublesome. Do not bring a weapon of any sort (even a more than 2 inch bladed folding knife) as it puts you on the wrong side of the law which is somewhere you do not want to be in Chicago.

[PB234]

the 2 hours free parking is in the lot for Marino's grocery store for customers and not in the Grant Park garage which I am guessing might be $15 or $25 for a couple hours or more.

[Lloyd Smale]

great american isnt to far away.

[grumman581]

I should go back there some day and see if any of the places I used are still there. :sad:

I was up in Racine, WI on business around 2000 and ended up having to take a later flight out of Chicago instead of the originally intended flight out of Milwaukee. Since I had quite a bit of time before the Chicago flight left, I decided to stop off at the Great Lakes NTC main base and see how it had changed in the last 20 or so years. There was definitely a lot of changes. Various old buildings had been destroyed and new ones put in their place. Don't know about the RTC (boot camp) since I had taken boot in San Diego. Of course, the thing I remember most about Great Lakes NTC from back then was having to walk across base with snow up to my 'nads during the winter. I got to be intimately acquainted with snow shovels. You might even say that we were on a first name basis. :(

[LUCKYDAWG13]

fall salmon fishing off of government pier in waukegan.Bass Pro shop

[JakeBlanton]

It's going to feel funny to be without my firearm. Good thing we're flying and not driving. Driving that far unarmed is unthinkable: almost 1000 miles each way.

The place you probably most need the gun is when you get near Chicago (or Waukegan for that matter). Back in the day, the Waukegan area was a good place to end up getting robbed. It seems that the "locals" liked to prey upon the sailors coming off base since they knew that they had been paid and were carrying cash (since we didn't have bank accounts back then).

If I was flying there, I would probably fly into Milwaukee since Wisconsin has laws that allow honest folks to carry guns (whereas Chicago has laws that only allow the criminals to be armed).

Another option is to fly into Chicago, but ship your handgun back to your home before you leave so that you don't have to declare it at the Chicago airport. That just leaves you unprotected from the UPS shipping location to the airport and from your home airport to either your car or you home (depending upon whether you keep a gun in your car when it is parked at your home airport).

These are the contortions that we have to go through when dealing with leftist areas of the US.

[TheGrimReaper]

When I was "fortunate" enough to spend most of a year at Great Mistakes we went to Gurney Mills a lot. Good food up there though.

[grumman581]

When I was "fortunate" enough to spend most of a year at Great Mistakes we went to Gurney Mills a lot. Good food up there though.

When I was there, they just barely paid us enough to *drink* off base, much less *eat* off base. I remember one bar that we used to go to one night each week after classes that had a taco "buffet". Unfortunately, I had no idea where that bar was (or if it still even existed) when I was there back around 2000.

Don't remember if that "buffet" was free with the drinks or just really cheap.

[Bad Water Bill]

2000 and you can not remember that far back??

I bet you even had real brick barracks.

[grumman581]

2000 and you can not remember that far back??

I bet you even had real brick barracks.

No, 2000 was when I had revisited it after being away for 20 or so years...

[Jeffrey]

Thanks guys, monitoring thread. Hoping sheet heads don't get stupid tomorrow and I have to drive up there.
J

[grumman581]

Thanks guys, monitoring thread. Hoping sheet heads don't get stupid tomorrow and I have to drive up there.
J

According to Google Maps (https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=kiln,+ms&daddr=Great+Lakes,+North+Chicago,+IL&hl=en&sll=31.168934,-100.076842&sspn=10.069312,21.643066&geocode=FXsB0AEdVFSr-ikRZiD_psudiDFkY1BElppU4Q%3BFYCNhQIdC5LD-iEEnu1h8A1lSSmTyf9dsOwPiDEEnu1h8A1lSQ&oq=great+lakes,+il&mra=ls&t=m&z=5), it's about a 14 hour drive. That's definitely a one day drive if you are so inclined. I usually put my limit these days at 1000 miles in a single driving session without a relief driver. Depending upon your vehicle and how many people are going to be with you, driving could end up significantly cheaper than flying. Cheapest flights between MSY and Chicago are around $275 (with Southwest) per person plus you'll need to pay for a rental car. If there are two of you, it would be cheaper to drive than to fly even if you were in a pickup that only got 12 mpg.

[JakeBlanton]

According to Google Maps (https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=kiln,+ms&daddr=Great+Lakes,+North+Chicago,+IL&hl=en&sll=31.168934,-100.076842&sspn=10.069312,21.643066&geocode=FXsB0AEdVFSr-ikRZiD_psudiDFkY1BElppU4Q%3BFYCNhQIdC5LD-iEEnu1h8A1lSSmTyf9dsOwPiDEEnu1h8A1lSQ&oq=great+lakes,+il&mra=ls&t=m&z=5), it's about a 14 hour drive. That's definitely a one day drive if you are so inclined.

It's been quite a few years since I've done a 1000 mile drive. I usually limit myself to 500 per day at the very most these days. I like to limit my driving to the daylight hours so that I can actually enjoy the scenery also.

Not that there is all that much scenery along the interstate highway system unless you are in the Rockies. Not that being out west is exactly a guarantee of interesting scenery.

https://maps.google.com/?ll=41.640078,-108.483124&spn=0.131367,0.676346&t=m&z=11&layer=c&cbll=41.640073,-108.483355&panoid=9ic9MSHzLTLp0-d5RngGZw&cbp=12,290.19,,0,6.21

[Bad Water Bill]

Thanks guys, monitoring thread. Hoping sheet heads don't get stupid tomorrow and I have to drive up there.J

Remember to fill up your tank before you leave INDIANA. Also if any of you smoke Indiana sells cigarettes at $5.40 per pack. In Illinois you will have to COUGH up over $10.00 per pack.

Also even tho it will cost more to take I 294 around the city of Chiraq your life is worth more than the extra toll road fees.

If you should run low on fuel in Chiraq you WILL be putting your life on the line to pull off of the expressway to fill your tank.

[searcher4851]

Pulling off the expressway will more likely endanger your financial wellbeing. Gas prices in the city are ridiculous.

I don't know why so many are trying to scare Jeffrey so much though. He's from Mississippi. Most recent compiled murder statistics I've seen (2011) indicated that the murders per one hundred thousand people is higher in Mississippi than it is in Illinois, and has been for at least the last 15 years.

As far as helping with tourist stuff, I can't be of much help. I prefer woods to cities, and the fewer people the better.

[Jeffrey]

Pulling off the expressway will more likely endanger your financial wellbeing. Gas prices in the city are ridiculous.

I don't know why so many are trying to scare Jeffrey so much though. He's from Mississippi. Most recent compiled murder statistics I've seen (2011) indicated that the murders per one hundred thousand people is higher in Mississippi than it is in Illinois, and has been for at least the last 15 years.

As far as helping with tourist stuff, I can't be of much help. I prefer woods to cities, and the fewer people the better.

EXCUSE ME, I'm from New Orleans, home of the "Mother's Day Massacre" http://tv.ibtimes.com/mothers-day-shooting-massacre-twelve-people-injured-new-orleans-parade-10787 I've learned that if approached by an "actor" hide your hand in a pocket or behind your back. Criminals look for an easier target shen they cannot see what you have in your hand. Criminals prefer unarmed victims. ;)
Chicago violent crime stats 1 / 100 http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/il/chicago/crime/ Kiln MS violent crime rate 1 / 767 http://www.areavibes.com/kiln-ms/crime/ . I hesitate publicising this. We have enough yankees here. :)

[Jeffrey]

JUST got back. Days went well. Flew into Milwaukee, stayed in Waukegan. Tolls in Illinois are something: Wife says "AWFUL, probably worst part of trip". Oh well, got to see him 7 hours Friday, 2 hours Saturday. He did a lot of growing in the last 2 months.

[45 2.1]

I don't know why so many are trying to scare Jeffrey so much though. He's from Mississippi. Most recent compiled murder statistics I've seen (2011) indicated that the murders per one hundred thousand people is higher in Mississippi than it is in Illinois, and has been for at least the last 15 years.

The area around Chicago and the city itself is another place entirely versus the rest of the State of Illinois (except for the major cities)..... we are usually civil, unlike a trip thru Chicago.

[grumman581]

The area around Chicago and the city itself is another place entirely versus the rest of the State of Illinois (except for the major cities)..... we are usually civil, unlike a trip thru Chicago.

Yeah, such a friendly place... I see it hasn't changed in 30+ years... :(

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/10/17/arkansas-man-robbed-shot-dead-after-asking-for-directions-in-chicago/?intcmp=obnetwork

[Bad Water Bill]

Yeah, such a friendly place... I see it hasn't changed in 30+ years... :(

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/10/17/arkansas-man-robbed-shot-dead-after-asking-for-directions-in-chicago/?intcmp=obnetwork

Yes it has changed.

The gangbangers have expanded their range by a factor of about 20

It will be interesting to see what happens in 2014 when we can finally carry concealed[smilie=s:.