My experience-

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I attended 2 PIR's. Yes, the Navy has 100% of my offspring and I couldn't be more proud.

 

The first one was Feb. 18th, 2011. my daughter Emily graduated (Ship 02-Div 913) She held the Connecticut flag. This weekend was horribly cold, snowy and sleet. Apparently, they broke records for miserable weather while I was there.

 

I flew into Milwaukee General Mitchell International airport. (MKE). It is smaller airport and the people were nice. Flying into MKE was about 4100 cheaper than O'hare.

I rented a boat (Lincoln Towncar) from Budget. I had to go with a bigger vehicle since I would be shuttling a lot of people around. Later, I would appreciate the heated seats.

 

The drive down to Waukegan took about 40 minutes. A portion of the Highway 94 was a toll road, however I later discovered that had I stayed in the left lane and took 41 (Skokie Highway) I would have to deal with traffic lights but no toll. FWIW, I always took Skokie Highway after the initial drive down.

 

Lodging- I chose to Ramada Inn, Waukegan-Gurnee. They have a shuttle and a meet and greet reception for Navy grad families. I think it is about 3 miles from the graduation. The hotel was older but fairly well kept. It was nice to have a lot of friendly Navy family members to brag to.

 

The day of Emily's PIR, There was a huge crowd for the shuttle. We ended up getting the second one. By the time we arrived at the RTC, my family was unable to sit together. We were able to sit in the 900 division area though. my mom and I were at the lower level and my oldest daughter Meg and my X were at the upper level. Pick a place to meet your new graduate if they are in the 900 division since they do not get to leave with you. They have to put up the flags and police the area. Emily's boyfriend (fiance after graduation) was not on the approved list but was able to get in after the rest of the families.

 

Your new graduate will likely have a huge appetite. For breakfast, I recommend "Emily's" north on Green Bay about 4 miles. The staff loves the Navy grads/family and the portions are huge. God bless America, land of plenty.

 

I was blessed to spend Friday thru Monday morning with Emily. She shipped off early Tuesday morning to Dam Neck VA for her 'A' School.

 

The second PIR I attended was for my daughter Megan. May 6th, 2011 (ship 02-Div.925) Like her younger sister, she also held the Connecticut flag.

 

This time, I rented a Toyota (also from budget) since there were a few less people to cart around.

 

I chose the Navy Lodge for Meg's PIR. If I had another graduate, I would stay there again. There are not a lot of frills (no pool or hot tub etc) but I found it to be extremely well maintained and clean. If you take my recommendation and stay here (and are not military yourself), make sure you ask the front desk for a pass to the mini-NEX about 2 blocks North of the hotel. The Navy Lodge is the closest place to stay. Also, you do not need to be military to stay here and your recruit does not need to make the reservations (Great Lakes Navy Lodge only).

 

Meg's PIR had 12 divisions so there were going to be a lot of family members there. I pre-ordered a taxi ($3 a head) to take us to the graduation. My intention was to get there early so I could sit in the lower level and get a lot of nice photos. I knew where Meg would be since she would be holding the same flag as her sister did. Despite the pre-order, the taxi driver took a larger group ahead of mine. This caused us to sit in the upper level. I was steamed. By 6:45, the road to the graduation was backed up through the light (about a mile). The cabbie went north and looped around. If you are driving, I recommend getting out early.

 

We met up with Meg at the pre-determined area and went back to grab a taxi. Apparently, the taxis were now charging $25 a head. FWIW, I did not order a taxi back and this could have been the reason. Still, it was crazy to pay that much. Thankfully, I am in halfway decent shape and the Navy Lodge was close enough...about 1-1/2 miles...so Meg and my mom stayed at the train station (which is just East of the RTC) while I hustled back to grab the car. It took about 20 minutes for me to walk back but I was also moving at a decent clip.

 

Meg only had Friday with us. We went to lunch at Grille 43 (28800 North Waukegan Road). The burgers were delicious and the wait staff was very friendly.  For dinner, we had deep dish pizza at Silo (625 Rockland Road). Once again, the staff were very friendly. We arrived late and only had a short time to eat, I told the front desk that we needed to get Meg back to base by 8 pm and they rushed us to a table. The food was also very good.

 

Saturday morning, we met Megan at O'hare airport. We were able to hang out with her for about 3 hours. She shipped out around 2 pm and afternoon for her 'A' school in Goose Creek SC.

 

I hope this helps some of the families that are going through PIR for the first time. GO NAVY!!!

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That would be $100 cheaper, not 4100 cheaper to fly into MKE