PIR Tips and Advice

[Cindy]

With so moms of recruits in boot camp, I'm hoping this will be a chance to gather words of advice from moms who have already been there/done that. So, please, if you have already experienced PIR, post any insights -- things to look for, to experience, places to be sure to go (or not to go!),you name it! Thank you in advance!

Hope you don't mind...I did a scan through history in our Nor Cal group and am copying posts that include PIR advice. (Please let me know if you see anything you'd like edited or removed).

[Tee-1sailor's mom]

We stayed at the Residence Inn, Waukegan. It was wonderful. We got a AAA discount so I booked a 1 br suite. Full kitchen, (everything but an oven). If you are there on Thurs. night they have a free dinner buffet, and hot breakfast every day. The staff is also very helpful with directions, etc. We told them we were going to PIR and they had a packet of information for us.

My son wanted to mostly hang out and eat. There's a Walmart and several eating places really close. The Mall is about 20 minutes away. We went to the movies there and if you want to shop, it's nice.

[Cindy]

Posted July 2, 2008 by Ann:

1) Don't go to six flags unless your Sailor really, really wants to. It is so busy that it can take up to 2 hours to get into parking. The traffice backs up all the way on the freeway. We went on Saturday and were there for about 6 hours and Andrew got to ride on 2 rides!!! It was not money and time well spent.

2) There is traffic EVERYWHERE in Chicago so study the metra stations and where you can travel to on it. The station is right outside the gate and 1/2 a block to your right. It is super easy. You can take an express train into downtown Chicago that takes 45 minutes. We didn't do this and instead drove our rental car which took us 3 hours to get into downtown. My poor Son only got to eat a meal with us on Navy Pier and then turn around and get right back into the car to get back to the base for the night. Again, not time well spent.

3) There is a great little town called Lake Forrest and there is a really good restaurant there called South Gate. The food there was incredible and it is a great place for a celabatory meal. Reservations are suggested.

4) Not too far from Lake Forrest there is another town called Lake Bluff. There is a great beach there where you can take pictures and see beautiful views and homes.

5) There is an ice cream parlor off the grand ave exit (same exit for six flags) called Oberweis. They have great ice cream. We went there every night.

6) Get to graduation EARLY. I believe the gates open at 6am. We got there at 6:30am and there were already people lined up being inspected and going into graduation. Be ready for your entire car to get inspected. Some of the cars had to literally unload everyone out of the car, open all the doors while they went through the cars with a fine tooth comb. By the time we got into the graduation, we could hardly find a seat in front of our Son's division.

7) Navy Pier is VERY cool and alot of fun. You can get some great pictures there. We did a speed boat river tour that was really cool and worth the money. It takes you through the city of Chicago.

8) Of course, have fun :0)

I CANT STRESS ENOUGH TO TAKE THE METRA WHENEVER POSSIBLE. TRAFFIC IS HORRIBLE.

[Cindy]

Posted July 2, 2008 by Ann:

...the metra station is SUPER close to the base, actually you could walk there. Your Son would be able to get off and walk right back onto the base in 5 minutes time max. It is wonderful. We stayed in Gurnee which was about 8 minutes from the base. The location (off the Grand Ave. Exit) was great because there were things on both sides of the freeway as far as shopping, movies, restaurants, six flags, ice cream parlor etc. I did see Waukegan & Libertyville though and they are also close by.

I forgot to tell you guys we had a great breakfast at a place called wildberries. I am drawing a mind blank on the town it is in but it isn't far and has wonderful food. You can do a google search and find their website and address if you are interested. My husband loves great restaurants that are NOT chains so he found a a few good ones. Also, cracker barell is a cute, quaint little place with great food too. We dont have that here in Cali. It was right next door to our hotel which was nice.

[Cindy]

Posted July 3, 2008 by Heloisa:

I stayed at the Quality Inn, in Waukegan. It was very nice. They let us have a room with two double beds, and when we told them we were bringing our daughter, they charged only $10 more for her to stay in the room. They also have a huge poster board in the lobby, with pictures of more than 500 Navy graduates, and a banner congratulating the graduates. The rooms are nice, and they fold the towels in the bathroom in a format of flowers. They are about 5 minutes away from the Base by car, and they offer Continental breakfast.

[Cindy]

Posted July 3, 2008 by Sheryl:

We stayed at the Homewood suites in Linconshire last weekend. It was Very nice, totally worth it...Be sure to ask at the front desk how to get to the base taking the side road, its a very easy drive and that way you miss the tolls and all that traffic on 94!!!

[Cindy]

Posted July 4, 2008 (the day my son signed-up as a Depper!) by Georgia:

I checked out a bunch of hotels when visiting my son at the Great Lakes, IL Navy base, and I found the Courtyard by Marriott Chicago Waukegan/Gurnee (www.marriott.com/chiwk). They are listed in the Navy brochure. It is the best hotel ever! We checked in and they gave us a ton of information about the graduation, shuttle information and a huge "Navy Family" welcome packet. It had directions to everything you could think of plus Chicago transportation info and tons of restaurants and things to do in the area. When we came back from graduation, the hotel had a huge color poster put out "congratulations graduates" with cookies and their free fresh fruit water/coffee & tea they have out every day. The staff was more than accommodating. I never travel but I felt at home with the staff and the very comfortable, clean non-smoking hotel. The hotel was not a party hotel like most hotels in the area, it was very quiet and as a single woman I felt very safe. It was very modern and more upscale than any hotel in waukegan/gurnee and has beautiful marble floors in the lobby. Anyways I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed this hotel and it you want a nice place to take your graduate back to, this is the place!

[Cindy]

Posted July 7, 2008 by Wendy:

We stayed at Navy Lodge...good for a short while ( 4 days). They told us when to laeve for PIR (6:00AM if you want in front of your sailors div.) so we did! Great seats! Buy your Division T-shirts early! Jeff's div 237 was sold out by the time PIR was over! We got to order them & they will be shipped BUT....oh,well. We got 3 nights of liberty...he wanted fast food ( & lots of it), a large, soft bed, & TV!! That's about all! Wanted to tlak & rejoin the family. Didn't want a lot of tours & excitement. Just relax & spend time with us. IT WAS GREAT! What a change. July 4 was fun, but crowded! The base put on a great day. :Lots of people & lots of fun. We went back early to hotel & watched from Lodge. Too many cars ( must have taken at least an hour to get OUT of base for some people.) We just kicked back, caught fireflies (they don't have those in CALIFORNIA..) & enjoyed being together. I like a car. We drove to Navy Peir in Chicago, 6 Flags in Waukegan, & we even drove to Milwaukee ( just to say we did!).

[Cindy]

Posted July 30, 2009 by Kelly:

I flew into Midway for Erichs PIR. While there I learned about the Metra system. I had a car for PIR but im looking at flying out again with out renting a car. You can look up the Metra and take the train which has a station a few blocks from Midway and 2 blocks from the Base in Great Lakes.

[Cindy]

Posted October 8, 2009 by Christine:

When we went to PIR we flew out of Sacramento to Milwaukee WI, drove 45 minutes down to GL, very easy route, and you don't have to fight Chicago traffic. We also saved over $150.00 round trip flying into Milwaukee, you may want to look into it.

[Cindy]

Posted October 8, 2009 by Alaina:

Avoid going into downtown Chicago if at all possible. If you want to go, allow at least 1.5 hours to get anywhere in Chicago. Navy Pier was nice, but expensive.

[Cindy]

Posted October 8, 2009 by Ginger:

...go downtown!!! Maybe it was luck or time of year (July), but we had a very easy time of it driving downtown and I am normally a nervous driver...We spent most of the day at the Art Institute and had a blast.

[Cindy]

Posted October 9, 2009 by Naomi:

We took the train into downtown and went to Gino's East for authentic deep dish pizza and then had a very generous cab driver take us on a tour all over (for the same price that the first one charged just for the ride from the train to the restaurant). My sailor wanted to go the the Mall, and that was a fun time too.