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This site is for mothers of kids in the U.S. Navy and for Moms who have questions about Navy life for their kids.

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All Hands Magazine's full length documentary "Making a Sailor": This video follows four recruits through Boot Camp in the spring of 2018 who were assigned to DIV 229, an integrated division, which had PIR on 05/25/2018.

Boot Camp: Making a Sailor (Full Length Documentary - 2018)

Boot Camp: Behind the Scenes at RTC

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Events

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**UPDATE 4/26/2022** Effective with the May 6, 2022 PIR 4 guests will be allowed. Still must be fully vaccinated to attend.

**UPDATE as of 11/10/2022 PIR vaccination is no longer required.

**UPDATE 7/29/2021** You now must be fully vaccinated in order to attend PIR:

In light of observed changes and impact of the Coronavirus Delta Variant and out of an abundance of caution for our recruits, Sailors, staff, and guests, Recruit Training Command is restricting Pass-in-Review (recruit graduation) to ONLY fully immunized guests (14-days post final COVID vaccination dose).

FOLLOW THIS LINK FOR UP TO DATE INFO:

RTC Graduation

**UPDATE 8/25/2022 - MASK MANDATE IS LIFTED. Vaccinations still required.

**UPDATE 11/10/22 PIR - Vaccinations no longer required.

RESUMING LIVE PIR - 8/13/2021

Please note! Changes to this guide happened in October 2017. Tickets are now issued for all guests, and all guests must have a ticket to enter base. A separate parking pass is no longer needed to drive on to base for parking.

Please see changes to attending PIR in the PAGES column. The PAGES are located under the member icons on the right side.

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Graduation Info
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Printable PDF – 2.0 MB

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Places to Eat in Great Lakes

Chow time!

Comment by fireteamleaderwife on June 16, 2011 at 2:31am

The Silo in Lake Bluff

http://www.silopizza.com/

Giordanos in Gurnee

http://www.giordanos.com/locations.html

Someone had asked about shakes.
I did not get a shake while there...but there are Dunkin Donuts/Baskin Robbins dotted around the area. I believe there is one on Buckley and Green Bay Road.

Then there is the Gurnee Mall which is just a short drive away.

The Mall has a Rain Forest Cafe and LOTS of other eats!

GURNEE MALL

I live in CA. We do not have Cracker Barrels. I don't believe you can GET a bad meal here. Breakfast for four of us was $40 plus a tip.

Our favorite breakfast place was not to far from the mall--Cracker Barrel.

There is also an IHOP near it and a Joes Crab Shack.

The Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon is in the Gurnee Mills Mall parking lot. It is right off of Grand Avenue.

There is also a place called the Steak and Shake that makes hand dipped shakes and their burgers are "steakburgers" Ground from steak, I think. I kept driving past it and thinking that we really ought to try it...but we never did.

Lone Star Steakhouse

http://lonestarsteakhouse.com/files/home.aspx

I have read a few other posts that this place is very good!
Steak n Shake

http://steaknshake.com/about-us

Here is a link on this site to a discussion about places to eat.

http://www.navyformoms.com/group/pirreferenceinformation/forum/topi...

Reply by m3 on June 16, 2011 at 11:30am

Just throwing in my 2 cents!

In waukegan in the Fountain Square Plaza(5 miles from base), there are a lot of places:

TO EAT:

BW3 (10 discount if your sailor is in uniform)

Chilis

Sweet Tomatoes

Jimmy Johns

Chipotle

Pot Bellies

Dennys

Anastasia's restaurant & sports

Dunkin Donuts

Star Bucks

McDonalds

STORES:

Walmart

Office Max

Fashion Bug

Sallies Buty

Deals

PayLess

GNC

Game Stop

BANKS:

Bank of america

Chase

fifth third bank

CELL PHONES:

ATT

tmobil

And a bowling alley

There is also a gas station

Reply by m3 on June 16, 2011 at 11:36am

Vernon Hills Mall

http://www.westfield.com/hawthorn/

There is also Deer Park Town Shopping center. It's and outside shopping center.

Apple Store

Victorias secret

american eagle....just to name a few stores...

There are plenty of places to eat out there, our favorite is California Pizza kitchen!!

http://www.shopdeerparktowncenter.com/go/dirListing.cfm?FL=All

There is another CPK and Apple store at Northbrook. A little more upscale then the other malls

http://www.northbrookcourt.com/

We spent our PIR weekend at the deer park and vernon hills malls but there are a lot of other things to do!

There is 6 flags great america

Free Jelly Belly Factory Tour in Wisconsin (about 25 min away) Lots of free samples!!

Linkin Park Zoo in Chicago (free! Just have to pay for parking....Its on the outside of the city so traffic is not bad)

And of course all the sight seeing in the city.

Reply by jma1216 Ship 2 Div 940 on Sunday

On Grand Avenue (5404) there is a pizza place named Rosati's. They serve Chicago dogs, italian beef sandwiches, and real Chicago style pizza (thin crust, cut in squares!) It is where I used to eat as a teenager, I grew up about 15 SW of the RTC.

For Friday night graduation dinner we went to Sullivan's Steakhouse, 250 Marriott Dr Lincolnshire. It was about a 20 minute drive from our hotel (Residence Inn, Gurnee). The food was absolutely amazing, and very pricey, about $50.00 + per person, hubby and I got a bottle of wine, about $30.00. We had planned on going in to the city to Gene and Georgettis, but due to time constraints we had to stay closer to base. We had been planning on the splurge since he left.

If you're ready to put a dent in your wallet I highly recommend it, and be sure to try the mac and cheese!!

Reply by JustMe from NJ on Monday

For Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza (and delicious pasta dishes) I highly recommend Lou Malnati's. (www.loumalnatis.com) They have a few locations. We went to the one in Lincolnwood, about 20 minutes from the Naval Base. There is also one in Chicago on Well's ... they have valet parking right next door. There are other locations as well. For GREAT grilled foods - Weber Grill in Shaumburg (also one in Chicago) http://www.webergrillrestaurant.com. Started by the Weber grill family. Everything is cooked over charcoal grills. Delicious ribs, burgers. We also found a polish restaurant with the best homemade polish dishes, including incredible Polish Pickle Soup. The name is Reflections and it is located on Deep Lake in Lake Villa about 20 minutes from Waukegan/Gurnee area. www.reflectionsondeeplake.com. Bon appetit !! :)