I am going behind the lines Sunday.

[Guest cardcutter]

I am being sent to a plant just outside of Chicago for two weeks.

Any advise from the ex patriots of the peoples republic of Illinois?

[Will Carry]

You may not make it out, unchanged. "Da Bears." Good luck and God's speed.

[TripleDigitRide]

Where exactly outside of Chicago?

[mcurrier]

Food is the only positive thing about Chicago. Eat some pizza. Pizzeria Due! Some meat. Lowrey's! Some french. Les Nomades! Some italian. Quartino!

[mikegideon]

At least you won't get shot. Guns are illegal.

[daddyo]

Gino's

Billy Goat Tavern (Cheeborger, cheeborger!)

[Guest cardcutter]

Where exactly outside of Chicago?

It in Bartlet Il. its about 20 miles west of Ohare.

[Mike.357]

get real Vienna Beef Chicago style hotdogs, and avoid Old Style beer.

if you get a chance ride the El to Wrigley Field and go see a Cubs game, try to sit in the bleachers.. There is/was a greasy spoon sausage place underneath the El station there. They have the best polish sausage I ever had. Go to Murphy's or the Cubbie Bear afterwards.

Edited May 9, 2012 by Mike.357

[TripleDigitRide]

It in Bartlet Il. its about 20 miles west of Ohare.

I was born and raised right around the corner in Wheaton and Naperville. Make the short drive to Warrenville and get us some Al's Pizza. I will take a sausage, mushroom, and onion. Make that two.

[Guest cardcutter]

I have been reprieved! I am being diverted to Fayettville NC instead.

I guess they have a bigger problem there.

Edited May 10, 2012 by cardcutter

[MattCary]

I have been reprieved! I am being diverted to Fayettville NC instead.

I guess they have a bigger problem there.

LOL!

Diverted from Chikago to Fayettenam!! Not sure that's an improvement, but you can take your EDC!

[Major Kong]

I was born and raised right around the corner in Wheaton and Naperville. Make the short drive to Warrenville and get us some Al's Pizza. I will take a sausage, mushroom, and onion. Make that two.

Ha, I dated a girl from Wheaton in college. Been there a time or two.

I have been reprieved! I am being diverted to Fayettville NC instead.

I guess they have a bigger problem there.

I was born and raised in Fayetteville. Not my favorite place in the world, but quite a bit better than Chicago.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

On a driving vacation to visit wife's old relatives in MI, we had made a reservation at a holiday inn for a few days, way out on the west side of chicago. About 1993. After visiting the old folks in rural MI, we were gonna drive down on the way back and stay a few days in chitown and go to the museum and such.

Maybe had a bad attitude about the chitown excursion, and nothing bad happened but I was uncomfortable the whole time. I don't like crowds and kinda felt claustrophobic thinking about how many miles we would need to be drive to get far away not to be surrounded by millions of yankees. Just had an "alien feel" to the trip.

Driving from beautiful MI farm land into Chicago, we first passed thru a series of outskirt cities that felt like driving thru the outer gates of hell. Innumerable giant factories belching black smoke. Solid stinky factory smoke blocking the sun and hanging thick as fog over the highway for miles and miles until finally arriving at Chicago. After checking in to the hotel on Friday we needed to get wife a swimsuit so looked in the phone book and located a huge burb shopping center not too much farther west. It was July and we got there about 5p Friday evening, only to find we had to hurry up and find a swim suit because that whole huge upscale suburban shopping center closed at 6p. Asked why so early and as far as we could tell there was too much risk of "trouble" even that far out in the burbs if they stayed open too late.

Went to the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry Saturday. The exhibits were old and dusty. The "demonstration mechanisms" educational interactive kid's displays were in bad repair and either broken or barely working.

So it was about 5p Sat afternoon and we decided rather than ride the expressway back to the hotel, our hotel was on a major street (big line on the map) that ran in a ruler-straight line from downtown out about 20 miles or whatever to the hotel. So we decided to drive back to the hotel on that city street in order to soak in a good cross-section impression of the city. Nothing bad happened but it wasn't fun. Apparently the city folk in some of the neighborhoods were in the habit of spending Sat afternoon just milling around on the street, sometimes carrying gallon jugs of wine around for sipping. Sometimes get stopped in traffic or barely crawling along because of large numbers of folk just milling around on the sidewalks and standing out on the street and not in much hurry to move. We'd pass thru a few blocks of real ritzy upper crust apartments and big houses, then a few blocks of slums, then a few blocks of abandoned rotted husks of factories, then another few blocks of ritzy dwellings, then another few blocks of slums, over and over for 20 miles.

Didn't look much like a fun place and felt vaguely ill-at-ease for a few days til it was time to pack up and get the heck out of dodge. Once out among vast stretches of wheat and soybean fields I felt much better.

Edited May 10, 2012 by Lester Weevils

[Guest cardcutter]

At least NC has reciprosity with TN on CCP. Also as I will be driving I can take the wife along.

[Timestepper]

Say "Hi!" to the "half-backs" - you know, the New Yorkers that move to Florida and can't stand it so they move half-way back (to North Carolina).

[StPatrick]

Dammit. Thought I might have a chance to do a Chicago TGO meetup next week, but Cardcutter is getting sent to a more reasonable place. Anybody else ever goes there, you've got good odds on a weekday I'm there...and wishing for simpatico company.