What a wonderful weekend. Here are some things that helped us-
* Go to WalMart and buy a 4 pack of dining room chair pads. They are only $10. Your butt will thank you!
* If there are people in your guest group that get cold easily, bring coats to the PIR! You sit directly under the AC vents. I was fine but my wife and mom froze.
* Go to Sarge's meet n greet. Its a great time, invaluable info, and great food. make sure you get a business card and keep it. Sarge and the guys helped us out a few times with rides when we were in a jam. We used Sarge's taxi service to and from the PIR, and it saved alot of time and confusion, even though we rented a car for the weekend. Put a card in your sailor's wallet as well, especially if they are staying in GL for any reason.
* We took a Sarge taxi to PIR at 6:45. The taxis know the fast route to the base, and they are allowed to drop you right in front of security, so we had plenty of time, and had our choice of seating.
* In retrospect, I would have spent the additional $$ and gotten a suite-type of room instead of a standard hotel room. You will spend more time hanging out in the room with your sailor than you think. They just want to relax and not get yelled at for a while, so you might as well be comfortable - plus we ended up throwing away a ton of leftover food from area restaurants that we couldn't store or re-heat.
* For our "big dinner out" with our sailor, we chose Bertucci's in Highwood, on Sarges recommendation. It was really nice (go ahead and dress up), they will take care of your sailor, and the steaks (and all their food) were fantastic. Our sailor got the 20oz ribeye and killed it! Call ahead and make a reservation, they are busy on Fri. and Sat. nights.
* Get your sailor back to the base with plenty of time (at least 45min) before their liberty is up. They are not allowed to "double-time" in uniform, and there are alot of other sailors checking back in. It will really stress them out if you make it close. You will marvel at your sailor's new concern for being on-time everywhere they go!
* If you get to spend Saturday with your sailor- We went to Navy pier in Chicago. You can spend hours there eating, going on rides, taking a boat tour, and getting great pics with downtown Chicago behind you. They are used to sailors there, and many people will thank them for their service-neat to see. There are parking garages there ($24 all day). We took the trolley to Michigan ave and walked a few blocks north to Superior ave and had Gino's Chicago pizza. We had to get a cab back due to pouring rain that had come in. Also- it takes 45 min to make a deep dish pizza, so plan for that! Coming in to Chicago, we took the North av exit off I-94 and cut over to Lakeshore. Its beautiful to come into downtown on the lakefront.
* If your sailor is in GL for the weekend- try to get over to the main gate (the other side of the base from RTC) and take your sailor to the big NEX. Its way bigger than the NEX at RTC. They have to go over there to get their "Ike" jacket, and they can supply up on underwear, socks, new running shoes etc. You will need your car pass from PIR, ID's, and your sailor will need their Navy ID. We went on Sunday morning.
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Good advice, Sean, those seats did get hard. My wife brought her sweater and was very comfortable, while other women were over at the booth buying blankets to wrap up in. Bring binoculars is mentioned in another post, will come in handy to try to pick out your sailor in a sea of white.
We did a boat tour 9AM Sat morning in Chicago and had a great lunch at Lou Malnati's Pizza on N. Rush. Excellent place and people. We were heading out of the city about 2PM, just as the rush into the city was building. Your sailor will want to stretch out, relax and get some peace and quiet, and sitting around a hotel room watching a movie with you may be the best way to do it.
You haven't seen them for eight weeks and it may be a while before you see them again, so enjoy your time with them.
Whats he doing in Pensacola? Mine is rescue swimmer, waiting for aircrew school. We are hearing its 3 mos. waiting to class up for aircrew. The good side is the weather is great and they are chasing girls on the beach during liberty! Needless to say, my son is trying to get there ASAP.
Charles, There are 3 groups, all with different liberty rules. Grad & Go, GL A school, and THU. My son is THU (temporary hold). He needs a medical form signed off for something he had been cleared for, before moving on to Pensacola. You could be THU for a variety of reasons, usually paperwork that is not completed by PIR, so they stay at GL for a time before shipping out. THU has to be at muster at 21:00. I believe grad/go is 22:00, and GL A school is also 22:00. A good thing about THU and GL A school is you get the whole weekend with them, however, you won't get them until 14: to 15:00 on Fri. We made Sat night reservations that afternoon with no trouble, just to make sure we didn't wait for a table. Grad & Go's will be dismissed immediately after PIR, (10:30), muster at 22:00 (i could be wrong about this, sailor will know), and bussed to the airport sometime after midnight. Their departure times will vary, so you may get a long airport visit with them.