Public Transportation Tips

[Sierrascrapper (ETN2)]

My son hasn't left for BC yet, but I'm an information hound and want to learn all I can before he leaves.

We are planning on exclusively using public transportation or Sarge's Taxi Service when we go to my son's PIR.  So...I am looking for specific tips and experiences from those of you who had the same situation.  We really want to go into Chicago for the day on PIR day and I've done some research into the public transportation options.  I spent a semester in college in Chicago and I do have some experience with the Elevated Train, but that is about it. 

I've tried searching on this specific topic, but I just couldn't find a lot of answers from people who exclusively used public transportation or Sarge the entire time.  Thanks for your help!

[mamacita3]

You will not have enough time on PIR day to go with your sailor into the city.  Furthermore,they are instructed to not go further than a certain mile radius from the base and the city is farther than they are allowed to go.  Not to mention, your son or daughter is EXHAUSTED on PIR day and will just want to eat and relax and take a hot shower for the first time in three months.  If you want to go into the city, plan it for the next day or prior to PIR.

[Sierrascrapper (ETN2)]

This is the information I read about going into the city on PIR day:

O'Hare is 30 miles away and Midway is 45 miles away and that Chicago does fall within the 50 mile radius that new Sailors can travel within during PIR weekend.

I think every family has a different experience.  I understand some sailors want to just stay in their room and others want to go into the city.  I just really am looking for information from people who have experience using public transportation the entire time.  Not only just on PIR day.  We will be using it when we arrive and all through the entire weekend.

[FLMuscadine]

I had been in Chicago only once for a brief visit, never driven there and never seen snow.  I called Sarge.....best decision I ever made. 

[Fur&FeathersDVM]

My husband is stationed at Great Lakes, so we've spent a lot of time using public transportation to get down into Chicago. Chicago is within the PIR weekend liberty radius, and we see lots of new sailors celebrating with their families downtown every weekend. If your son is staying in Great Lakes for A school, I would recommend waiting til Saturday or Sunday to make your trip down, but if he isn't, going on Friday is doable, it is just a lot of travel on an already busy day and you will not have much time downtown.

To get into downtown, you will want to use the Metra train system. There is a stop at Great Lakes. Be sure to research the schedule for the day and always get to the station early. The line that goes from Great Lakes is the Union Pacific North Line. Be sure to have cash on hand. There is not a ticketing agent at the Great Lakes Metra stop, so you will need to buy your ticket on the train from the conductor with. (However, if you end up getting on the train at any point at a stop with a ticketing agent, be sure to buy your ticket from the agent. Otherwise, the conductor has to charge you a $3 fee for not using the ticket agent). Do NOT wait for the last possible train that will get your sailor back on time- if you miss the train or the train gets delayed you will be stuck in a hard situation. The train goes into Ogilive Transportation Center, which is an easy walk from some of the big tourist attractions in Chicago. The train helps you avoid all the traffic and is a great resource.  If you are taking the train on Saturday or Sunday, you can purchase an all weekend pass for $7 a person, which gives you unlimited train rides for the whole weekend. The train line that stops at Great Lakes goes as far North as Kenosha in Wisconsin and all the way down to the city. You can use it to get to plenty of great things to do, see, and eat. We almost never use our cars on the weekend because there is so much the train can get you to.

As a side note- if you're looking for a good place to do dinner, I recommend taking the train to either the Clybourn or Highwood stops. Clybourn has some great local restaurants if you're looking for a relaxed place to grab a bite to eat. The Highwood stop puts you right at Chicago North Shore's restaurant row, which is full of lots of great places to eat and puts you a lot closer to the base. I hope this helps!

[yadhira]

thanks for the great info! I've been searching the internet for things to do after graduation. We will probably go to the city on Saturday. this was very helpful.

[Sierrascrapper (ETN2)]

Thanks for the info. My SR will be flying out on Sat so we have to do our fun stuff on Friday. We planned on going to Geno's East Pizza as that was a tradition when I was there. They have the BEST authentic Chicago-style Pizza ever!

My question is can we buy the ticket for Friday beforehand?

[Fur&FeathersDVM]

You can buy tickets ahead of time for the train, but if you're departing from the Great Lakes Metra stop you can also just buy them from the conductor on the train. They will come to where you are sitting during the ride and are very knowledgeable and helpful. The conductors can only take cash so have enough on hand. Be sure your sailor asks for the military discount! (Only available to active duty). That way you can just take care of your ticket while heading downtown. If you would like to buy tickets ahead of time, you can go to a stop that has a ticketing agent (the closest one to Great Lakes is the Lake Bluff stop) and they will help you out.

I do recommend going right to the ticket agent at Ogilive Transportation Center once you arrive to buy your return ticket. That way it's taken care of and you don't have to worry about what the line for tickets will be like when you get back to the station. Enjoy Geno's! :)

[yadhira]

Can someone provide good tips on what to do in the area the day of graduation?

[Fur&FeathersDVM]

Depending on what you like to do, there is a lot of different activities near the base. If the weather is nice there are lots of beautiful parks that you can go and see Lake Michigan. There are lots of fantastic local restaurants if your sailor is looking for some good food! Lake Bluff is a small town located near the base that has a lovely downtown area if you are looking to just wander around and enjoy some little shops (and again, lots of good restaurants!). The Great Lakes Naval Museum has a lot of interesting navy history if you are interested, although it can be quite crowded on graduation day. The Gurnee Mills Mall is also a popular place to go after graduation for shopping and attractions. I'd see what type of activities your sailor is interested in (they may just want to get some real food and relax!) and go from there. Enjoy your time up here, it's a great area! :)

[Liberty]

Hi- They ARE allowed to go into the city. I am positive! We just had PIR on 3/28 and here is our experience...We flew into to O'Hare on Wednesday and took a taxi to the James Hotel(we had been there last year and loved it). We checked in and then walked to the John Hancock building with a plan to go up to the lounge and have a drink. I had read on Trip Advisor that the view is just as good at the Willis Tower and the lines are better. We knew that we would be pushed for time and we were. You must be 21 to go into the lounge after 7pm and if you are there before 7 you have to leave at 7. By the time we got there it was 6:45 so we went ahead and bought tickets and went up to the observatory- because we had a 17 and a 19 year old with us.I think that the tickets were 18.00 per adult and well worth it. The views were amazing and we took really great pictures with the Navy Pier behind us. Then we walked back toward the hotel to Joe's Stone crabs where I had made a reservation for dinner. (It is about a block and a half from The James). We had eaten at the original Joe's in Miami about 15 years ago and always wanted to go back. It was FABULOUS! It is expensive though, so it would not be for everyone. The waiter was from our hometown and so the restaurant gave us our desserts on the house! The next morning the girls shopped and then met me at Nordstroms (across from Joe's) where we found a prom dress for our daughter.After checking out of the hotel we went to the Ogilvie Transportation center to head to Great Lakes.I don't know the cost of a taxi because the bellman at the James sent us in the house car so it was free! We, of course, gave him a very nice tip. The tickets to great Lakes were 6.25 each. The ride was very pleasant and the train was clean and quite safe! The Ogilvie Transposrtation center has food and shops....At GL Sarge had a driver waiting for us. He took us to the Rental Car place to pick up our car and we used it until Sunday when Sarge himself met us at the Rental Car place and took us to O'Hare. That trip was 54.00 and we gave him 65.00. We had planned to take Sarge's services everywhere and he (very nicely) told me that since it was a payday weekend that we may have to wait a little while for taxis. We decided to follow his suggestion.He picks people up at Navy Lodge at 6:00 am and we did not want to leave that early. we left at 6:40 and had PLENTY of time to get a good seat. By the way, the reason that we went a day early was because I did not want my daughter to be that close to Chicago and not get to see it(in case my son was exhausted. I kept reading about how exhausted they were going to be. Here was my experience..My son was in an 800 division and they have more PT than the other groups. However, he was not exhausted at all. But, let me say that he is a kid who stays up late anyway and he had been training twice a day since last April. So, he was in top physical shape and used to less sleep than many. (His Battle Stations was on Tuesday) On PIR day he was one of the ones who had to move over to the regular base. That took EXACTLY five hours. So, we spent time with him at PIR and took some great pictures. Then we went back to the hotel to drop off our daughter.SHE was exhausted- haha! Then my husband and I took our son's girlfriend to Lake Forest for lunch. Lake Forest is a beautiful nearby town and it is fun to drive over and see the GORGEOUS homes on the way.That night we went back to Lake Forest and ate at MK Fish House. I had read about it in Trip Advisor and knew that it would be good and it was. It is expensive (although I am sure not any more than Lovell's and the food is rated much higher). On Saturday my husband picked up our son(on Saturday and Sundays) you have to check them out yourself) and he spent the day with us. The plan was to take the train into the city but he had some very specific things that he wanted to buy. So we went to the NEX and to the Gurnee Mall. That was a mistake! The NEX is great and they were having a sale so we got some terrific deals! However, the mall is just BIG. It is not a place that I would visit again.We should have gone into the city(by train) We were hungry when we got there and went to the Red Lobster and the waitress was lovely and the food was pretty good. On Saturday night we went to The Silo which was delicious! The waitress was wonderful (Navy mom and a Navy wife) and our food was very good. Even the homemade Italian dressing was superb! We had deep dish pizza and everyone was happy with the meal. The cost was the best part! Cheapest meal all weekend! On Sunday we got our son and went to the NEX on the base and shopped some more. Then we headed back to Silo(needed to eat fairly quickly) but it was closed on Sundays. Instead we went across the street to the Panera Bread Company which was good, as always.After lunch we took our son to the base and drove to the Enterprise Rental Care place and met Sarge...So we did both public and rental car. I am glad that we did because it was easier to have a car to go back and forth and get our son. If he was one of the ones who was leaving after PIR I would NOT suggest a rental. Sarge can take care of you! His prices are very fair and he is awesome! I would also highly suggest reading reviews of places on Trip Advisor- it has never let me down! We were not trying to watch every penny since we planned for it to be our "Spring Break" budget. We just wanted to have a great experience and we did. This week we are having a "Staycation" for Spring Break! Good luck! Feel free to private message me if you have anymore questions!

[Holymac]

Wow! What a great account of the weekend, Liberty! Definitely helps me in my planning!

[Sierrascrapper (ETN2)]

I figured it was a good idea to post an update as to our PIR experience and using Public Transportation. We decided not to rent a car for this trip as it was going to be so very expensive due to the fact that it was a holiday weekend.  We were fortunate to connect with a family in our PIR group who lived near Chicago and they picked us up from the airport when we arrived on Wednesday.  They also took us to the M&G on Thursday and to PIR on Friday morning.  This past week, the Navy Lodge started shuttle service to PIR.  So that is VERY HELPFUL to many of the guests staying there.

After PIR, our Sailor wanted to head into Chicago and catch some of the sites and have some traditional Chicago-style Deep Dish Pizza.  We hopped on the Metra North Line to downtown Chicago.  It was a nice relaxing trip and we were able to just sit back and listen to our son tell his BC stories.  Once we arrived in Chicago, we hit the streets and headed down to Millenium Park which was about 9 blocks from the Metra Station.  It wasn't a difficult walk and we found our way around pretty easily.  We wanted to eat at Geno's East Pizza and found one on our way back towards the Metra Station.  We didn't have a LOT of time to spend downtown, but it was fun all the same.  One thing to take into consideration...it takes an HOUR for a deep dish pizza to cook, so plan accordingly.  We had no idea and we had them start our pizza right away because we were on a time crunch at that time.  We had to hustle back to the Ogilvie Train Station and barely got on the train in time to make it back to base in a timely manner for our son who had watch.  The Metra Train station is right outside of RTC, so it's easy to get your Sailor back to base.  Once we got our Sailor back on base, we called Sarge to have him drive us back to the Navy Lodge which was only a $6 fare.  

We rode with another Navy family to the airport on Saturday morning to see our Sailor off to A-school. From there, we ended up taking a train back into Chicago so that we could take a different train to meet up with some friends that lived in the area that wanted to meet up with us.  We rode the train all day that day.  It is WISE to buy a weekend pass at that point so that you can ride the train all weekend long and not pay the fare every time.  After our day of riding trains on Saturday, we arrived back at the train station near RTC and had Sarge pick us up again to take us back to our hotel.  

On Sunday, we connected with another family that was flying out of the same airport as we were. They had a much earlier flight, but it saved us so much money to get there early and wait than to schedule a taxi ride into the airport.  

My best advice is definitely get connected with your PIR group and if you can make arrangements ahead of time for transportation it will help a lot.  We were so very gracious to our new Navy Family for all of their help in getting us to where we needed to be.  It would have been nice to have a rental car, but when you just can't afford it, know that there are other options.