Travel advice for Great Lakes naval base

[Coelus]

My daughters boyfriend is graduating boot camp at Great Lakes next month. Since I'm sure some of you have been there for the same reasons is there any travel advice? I'm guessing the best bet is to fly in the Chicago and drive to Waukegan the night before. I've never been to anything like this so I'm clueless on the details.

[Debbi]

We flew into Chicago as well and stayed close to the base. Had no problems. We were able to visit Lake Michigan (tons of parks around the lake), the Navy Pier and walked the magnificant mile. Have fun. The ceremony is pretty cool. At least you should have decent weather. My son graduated in early March four years ago and there was four feet of snow on the ground. Brrrrr.

[RandySmith]

What I remember from almost 40 years ago probably won't be applicable ! Jeeesh, has it been that long ?

[Coelus]

Originally Posted by Debbi

We flew into Chicago as well and stayed close to the base. Had no problems. We were able to visit Lake Michigan (tons of parks around the lake), the Navy Pier and walked the magnificant mile. Have fun. The ceremony is pretty cool. At least you should have decent weather. My son graduated in early March four years ago and there was four feet of snow on the ground. Brrrrr.

Sounds good. The boyfriend was going to fly my daughter up there and pay for all her stuff which she thought was a great idea, till we pointed out you had to be 21 with a credit card to get a hotel room, rental car, etc.

[Debbi]

It's the little details they often miss. When my son graduated, he had about 6 hours of leave after the ceremony. We had lunch and did the things listed above (except for the park) with him and it was wonderful. Have fun. Chicago is a cool city.

[studiocygnet]

Since you say it's next month, it will be fall up there. My favorite thing to do is find an apple orchard that's making cider and donuts. They usually have pumpkin patches and hay rides and the like. There are a couple between Waukegan and Rockford along the little two lane highways on the Wisconsin/Illinois border. I don't know the names of the roads or farms, but I usually just drive from my sister's home in Harvard IL until I find one. I just love those cider cake donuts.