Hey Cheryl, Just wanted to check in and see how your son is doing and where he is now. Mine just returned from deployment and we went to VA for Homecoming. it was an amazing thing, like nothing I've ever attended. He will come home sometime in Sept for his leave. I guess you have started back to school. My 16 yr old started last week at Briarcrest and OMG he is driving himself to school now.
Thanks Cheryl. My daughter's rate is It. Her verbal order is she is going to Maryland. She is graduating from"A" school this upcoming Fri. Sorry it took so long to get back to you and the others.I'll try to reply everyone as quick as I can
Hi Cheryle,
My son goes to his station on the USS Abraham Lincoln June 10.
Maybe he can email us and we can have the boys touch base with each other.
How old is your son. Mine is 19 now, will be 20 years old, Sept. 18.
That would be wonderful to have them both meet.
Linda
Hi Cheryle - I'm in Murfreesboro. Our sailor #1 just finished up AVT school in April and is now at Whidbey Island, so we have something in common! It was a long drive from former duty at Jacksonville FL to Seattle!
Hi cheryle glad to hear he only has 3 weeks to go!!!! i,m sure he is more then ready to leave!!!! my son was there for 5 months and couldn,t wait to leave LOL
where is you son looking to go? or I mean hopes to go? does he have any idea?
my son was joking with me one day when I asked him and said any place but here would be fine with me!! lol my guess is that they kept them there to long!!
Hi Cheryle,
so good for you to write back. there is a chat line for Navy Moms for the bc moms group and they seem to chat all the time. How do I do that you guys in this group. There seem to be always the same people on it. I received the Box today and it was so sad to see all his things throwed into a box even his undergarments. I always want to cry when I think about it. Graziella
Your sailor was given a LES password and you go on MYPAY to log in. If he does not have his password tell him to go to the legal department at Meridian and they will give it to him.
Hi Cheryle did your son graduate on Jan. 23?? My son did. Was just wondering if yours got shipped to Meridian last Wed. maybe our boys went together. I have only heard from Jason once since hes been there. I would like
to know whats going on.
Congratulations!!!!! you must be so proud! I remember the day I got the call about my son passing battles stations!! I was bursting with such pride. wait til you see him in his uniform!! PIR was so amazing!! I,m so happy for you!!! Enjoy that special day with your SAILOR!!!
woooooooooohoooooooooooooooooooo. You got a sailor! I remember the feeling, bring kleenex and plenty of it to the PIR, LOL> after your sailor gets through Indoc at Merdian, we can give you last names and he will have time to look around for Navy 4 moms guys. LOL. Have fun and enjoy your time with your sailor.
While I was there for PIR I learned quite a few things that hopefully will help you when you go.
AIRPORT AND TRANSPORTATION
1. Fly into Milwaukee as it is only 40 miles north from Great Lakes. It is a small enough airport that car rental and getting to and from the airport is quite convenient.
Speaking of car rentals if you do rent a car make sure to ask your insurance company if your present insurance covers rentals as a $125.00 car rental for the week can turn into $400.00 really easy with their insurance.
2. If you do fly into Milwaukee remember your toll money (in this case I needed $1.50 and .50 to get off of hwy 94 at Buckley)
LODGING
3. If at all possible stay at the Great Lakes Navy Lodge. It is possible to get a room if you reserve it as soon as you know your loved ones division. This motel was convenient only about 1 mile away from the base and the people were very nice. If I had one complaint from this motel is that there is no hot tub or pool or lounge or restaurant attached. They do however have great coffee.
4. Do not stay at Great Lakes Motel on Buckley Road it is not the Navy Lodge and is definetly a "no tell don't tell motel". I had a family member stay there last weekend and it was the worst motel I have ever been in. (I.E. soap was the size of a quarter, the towels were almost see through and the noise from the road traffic was really bad). By the way I am used to staying at Motel 6.
FOOD
5. I ate at several really great restaurants. Close to base is Flannigans where you can have a steak dinner for around $10.00. Full moon has good food too.
PIR DAY
6. When you leave for PIR make sure that you leave your motel at 6:00 A.M. as the line to get onto the base is long and then they search your car.
7. You can buy a division t-shirt but you need to bring cash. It is $15.00 for a t-shirt. Buy it as soon as you get into the graduation building as they sell out really quickly.
8. Be prepared to cry as it is awesome!! Don't worry about getting there to early as they have movies to watch and the time really does go by pretty quickly. Although once your recruit walks in all you do is stare at that person anyways and think all right already enough of the speaches I want to be with my loved one.
9. Liberty is not the same as it used to be. It is now a "Cinderella Liberty" in that you have to have your recruit back nightly around 8:30 p.m. (except for Sunday when it is 7:30 p.m.) and you can pick him or her up at 7:00 a.m.
This makes it hard to go into the city to do things but it is possible.
SIGHT SEEING CHICAGO
10. I would definetly recommend using the train. You can park by the base for $2.00 and take the train into Chicago on the weekend for $5.00 your sailor will be $2.50. It is an hour ride but when you get there you are really close to everything.
You can take the free trolley to what ever you want to see (the trolley driver was saying that do to cut backs this might not be available come 1/1/09).
Sears tower is within walking distance and about 3 blocks away from the train station...be prepared to spend 1 hour there as the lines are pretty long. But well worth the view!!
Navy Pier is a great attraction too. Good food, ferris wheel and great shops.
The aquarium must have been really popular as the lines were way to long to go into this attraction.
One thing that I thought was neat is that the sailors didn't have to pay for anything. The water taxi was free for them, the buses were free for them and the train was reduced. Sears tower was also free for them.
Remember to not let anyone have a copy of their id...except for Sears tower as they do shred these every night.
Try to ignore the bums as they will hound you for money.
BUYING SOUVENIERS
The NEX is the best place to buy your Navy items as it is really cheap there. By the way the NEX (off of Green Bay Road) has a Fedex where you can send your sailors photos and photo frames home. The fedex prices there seemed to be really cheap.
If you are into Harley Davidson there is a don't miss museum in Milwaukee.
He can have his car at Meridian - there is a time limit as to when they can leave the base but he is allowed to have it - I believe it has to be registered in his name with proof of registration and insurnace.
Cheryle, Welcome, I see you are in Collierville - I'm in Germantown. My son was in Meridian, he is an AZ - has been promoted to Petty Officer 3rd class in less than a year. Meridian isn't bad at all - it's just there isn't much to do. My daughter in law to be and I went down a couple of times and visited and then for Mother's Day weekend we went and got him and stayed at my sister in laws in Clinton MS. After a certain amount of time yu will be able to check him off the base for the weekend - if you wanted to get a room and just hang with him for the weekend. How old is your son? Look, if you ever want to talk just give me a call - I'd be glad to try and help you out or just put your mind at ease. 606-4241
I see that your son is an AZ there is a great website on Navy for Moms dedicated to AZs.
It has new AZ and old AZ and is very informative.
When does your son get to Meridian? Mine got there on December 5th and is waiting to class up.
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Cheryle's Comments
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I will keep in touch.
Linda (-:
I don't see a private site here.
Let me know.
Thanks again,
Linda
My son goes to his station on the USS Abraham Lincoln June 10.
Maybe he can email us and we can have the boys touch base with each other.
How old is your son. Mine is 19 now, will be 20 years old, Sept. 18.
That would be wonderful to have them both meet.
Linda
where is you son looking to go? or I mean hopes to go? does he have any idea?
my son was joking with me one day when I asked him and said any place but here would be fine with me!! lol my guess is that they kept them there to long!!
so good for you to write back. there is a chat line for Navy Moms for the bc moms group and they seem to chat all the time. How do I do that you guys in this group. There seem to be always the same people on it. I received the Box today and it was so sad to see all his things throwed into a box even his undergarments. I always want to cry when I think about it. Graziella
to know whats going on.
Hope the weather wasn't to bad for you.
AIRPORT AND TRANSPORTATION
1. Fly into Milwaukee as it is only 40 miles north from Great Lakes. It is a small enough airport that car rental and getting to and from the airport is quite convenient.
Speaking of car rentals if you do rent a car make sure to ask your insurance company if your present insurance covers rentals as a $125.00 car rental for the week can turn into $400.00 really easy with their insurance.
2. If you do fly into Milwaukee remember your toll money (in this case I needed $1.50 and .50 to get off of hwy 94 at Buckley)
LODGING
3. If at all possible stay at the Great Lakes Navy Lodge. It is possible to get a room if you reserve it as soon as you know your loved ones division. This motel was convenient only about 1 mile away from the base and the people were very nice. If I had one complaint from this motel is that there is no hot tub or pool or lounge or restaurant attached. They do however have great coffee.
4. Do not stay at Great Lakes Motel on Buckley Road it is not the Navy Lodge and is definetly a "no tell don't tell motel". I had a family member stay there last weekend and it was the worst motel I have ever been in. (I.E. soap was the size of a quarter, the towels were almost see through and the noise from the road traffic was really bad). By the way I am used to staying at Motel 6.
FOOD
5. I ate at several really great restaurants. Close to base is Flannigans where you can have a steak dinner for around $10.00. Full moon has good food too.
PIR DAY
6. When you leave for PIR make sure that you leave your motel at 6:00 A.M. as the line to get onto the base is long and then they search your car.
7. You can buy a division t-shirt but you need to bring cash. It is $15.00 for a t-shirt. Buy it as soon as you get into the graduation building as they sell out really quickly.
8. Be prepared to cry as it is awesome!! Don't worry about getting there to early as they have movies to watch and the time really does go by pretty quickly. Although once your recruit walks in all you do is stare at that person anyways and think all right already enough of the speaches I want to be with my loved one.
9. Liberty is not the same as it used to be. It is now a "Cinderella Liberty" in that you have to have your recruit back nightly around 8:30 p.m. (except for Sunday when it is 7:30 p.m.) and you can pick him or her up at 7:00 a.m.
This makes it hard to go into the city to do things but it is possible.
SIGHT SEEING CHICAGO
10. I would definetly recommend using the train. You can park by the base for $2.00 and take the train into Chicago on the weekend for $5.00 your sailor will be $2.50. It is an hour ride but when you get there you are really close to everything.
You can take the free trolley to what ever you want to see (the trolley driver was saying that do to cut backs this might not be available come 1/1/09).
Sears tower is within walking distance and about 3 blocks away from the train station...be prepared to spend 1 hour there as the lines are pretty long. But well worth the view!!
Navy Pier is a great attraction too. Good food, ferris wheel and great shops.
The aquarium must have been really popular as the lines were way to long to go into this attraction.
One thing that I thought was neat is that the sailors didn't have to pay for anything. The water taxi was free for them, the buses were free for them and the train was reduced. Sears tower was also free for them.
Remember to not let anyone have a copy of their id...except for Sears tower as they do shred these every night.
Try to ignore the bums as they will hound you for money.
BUYING SOUVENIERS
The NEX is the best place to buy your Navy items as it is really cheap there. By the way the NEX (off of Green Bay Road) has a Fedex where you can send your sailors photos and photo frames home. The fedex prices there seemed to be really cheap.
If you are into Harley Davidson there is a don't miss museum in Milwaukee.
It has new AZ and old AZ and is very informative.
When does your son get to Meridian? Mine got there on December 5th and is waiting to class up.
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