Ping: FOFC Chicago Contingent

[sterlingice]

My wife and I are in Chicago as I'm doing training in Downer's Grove. And we were trying to come up with stuff to do "out on the town", so to speak- nice dinner and something, but not entirely sure what or where. And before throwing out ideas, there are a few limitations which is probably gong to make this all but impossible to come up with something.

We were trying to keep it out towards the west where we are at since we have to drive to Rockford at some point tonight so we definitely don't want to be out past 10. We can start as soon as 4 or 5 and, in fact, will be trying to figure out what to do as we will have had to check out from the hotel this morning. But that only leaves us with 5 hours absolute maximum so going too much "in" to Chicago is out since it will be rush hour and we'd spend at least 2 or 3 of the 5 hours driving so there would be no time to do anything else except eat and then turn around and leave.

As for the something fun to do tonight, when I say fun at night for us, it means something that doesn't involve the words "bar" or "club". We don't exactly have time to sit at a comedy club and sitting at a smokey bar with music only to have to jump on the road for a good hour and a half or two hours, smelling like smoke and half deaf, just doesn't sound at all like fun. It could be something simple like a nice park to walk around at night (tho that would be chilly) or something tourist-y that's open after 8pm, I don't know.

I know I've thrown out a bunch of parameters that probably make this all but impossible but are there any suggestions for either food or something to do or both?

SI

[PurdueBrad]

Sterling, off the top of my head, here are a couple ideas:

Dinner at Benihana's in Oak Brook (not a far drive and right by I-88 which you can use as a means to getting to Rockford).

Dinner and some gambling at the Off-Track Betting in Oakbrook

Dinner and a touch of gambling at any of the riverboat casinos (Aurora or Elgin make the most sense as you are continuing on to Rockford)

Yorktown Mall has a premium AMC theatre (leather chairs/love seats, full dinner menu, drinks and a movie)

Don't know if any of those are up your alley but I'll try to come up with some more ideas as the day goes.

[Coffee Warlord]

Downers?

Heh, you're five feet away from me. For food at least, just tell me what genre of food you two want, and I'll point you to a close good eatery.

[Passacaglia]

I'm not extremely familiar with the area, but whenever I'm out that way, I like to hit up Mongolian Barbeque in Naperville. It's all-you-can-eat, so if you're planning on having an appetite, it's a good choice. You choose the meat, vegetables, and sauces, so if you like to experiment and "play" chef, it can be fun. Then the rest of your time can be spent walking around Naperville's cute little faux downtown.

[PurdueBrad]

Pass, I had no idea there was a Mongolian BBQ in Naperville. Whereabouts? We're out in DeKalb but drive into the Naperville area often and would love to hit that place up. Thanks in advance.

[Coffee Warlord]

Originally Posted by PurdueBrad

Pass, I had no idea there was a Mongolian BBQ in Naperville. Whereabouts? We're out in DeKalb but drive into the Naperville area often and would love to hit that place up. Thanks in advance.

It's downtown off Washington, between Jefferson and Jackson. Roughly across the street from that bigass Barnes & Noble.

[sterlingice]

PurdueBrad, maybe on the gambling but my wife isn't usually into it. The premium AMC is an interesting idea.

Hey, CW, what was that Greek restaurant you were talking about?

SI

[finketr]

hmm, rockford..
that's like 2 hours, maybe from here.

[sterlingice]

We ended up eating in Chicago and then decided we would just head to Rockford since we had gotten a late start. But then drove by the Dave and Busters where 355 turns into 290 and decided to stop there for an hour or so.

Thanks again for all the input

SI