Planning a trip to the air and water show. Looking for advice on where to put in possibly overnight and where not to go. And where to be and not to be on the water. Thanks in advance.

Where at might help?????

Sorry, Chicago August 16-17. Are there others?

Where are you coming from? How big is your boat? How much do you want to spend? Do you want to overnight?

My suggestion would be to launch at either East Chicago or Hammond and run to the city...if you are coming from the south, east or west...not sure from the north what is best, but you might try inquiring in either the Northern IL Offshore section OR in the Great Lakes section above...cuz Chicago is on one of those...

East Chicago (Robert J. Pastrick Marina) is the easiest ramp to use...its probably around 20 miles to the city by water...costs $20 to launch, but there are not many transient slips if you want to spend the night (although there IS a hotel/casino)...PLUS I would not recommend leaving my truck/trailer overnight if you can't park inside the gate (and that is never a guarantee). Couple friends have had damage to their vehicles doing that...

Hammond is a little more expensive to launch ($35 for a triple axle), about a 14 mile run to the city, and has secure parking and plenty of transient slips.

If you are thinking of staying in a marina in the city...grab your ankles. Figure about $100 or more for a slip...extra if you want to plug in, lol. 31st St. is the newest marina, and is pretty nice with a nice ramp, but I think its like $130/night, and parking is very limited. Diversey Harbor or Burnham Harbor are the closest to the show, but, again, pricey and more crowded. Each of those have ramps as well, but limited parking...and personally, I wouldn't want to pull my boat through the city to get to a ramp.

Insider advice: If you can, go to the PRACTICE day on Friday...you'll see the whole show (sans announcers), but the crowd is nonexistent. If you do go on a show day, be prepared for major crowds at the ramps...launch early, and be ready to wait to pull out...most of the ramps in the area are total zoos on Air Show weekend.

Its awesome to see from the water...that is for sure. And you aren't dealing with the 1-2 million people that usually watch from land...

+1 for practice day! I went to a practice day number of years back....the single best thing about it is that there is no "off limits" zone during it like there is for the show days. So you can be right under the flight path of the jets! The blue angles or thunderbirds may not make the super low passes they do during the show but its still awesome! The last year i went to the practice was the last time i think they had the F-14 tomcat before the retired it......the pilot did his routine and went into the city to turn around before going out over the lake to go back to base....i dont know if it was intentional or not but he timed it just right that he broke the sound barrier right over navy pier!!! IT WAS AWESOME!!!

Thanks!
I live in Washington IL so coming from the south. I have a 34' Scarab and was looking to slip it overnight as the only thing that I would like to do less than trailer it into the city would be to spend all day on the water and then load it up and trailer it out of the city that night.And now after this response possibly two nights as Friday seems like a great time also. Also, when you refer to "Hammond is a little more expensive to launch ($35 for a triple axle), about a 14 mile run to the city, and has secure parking and plenty of transient slips." is that the Horseshoe Casino?

Thanks again for the responses!

from the north choice would be whinthrop harbor nice harbor - slips - nice boat ride to down town 20 -25miles and theres the tropics for food nothing to do in town. free ramps secure parking with security

Yes sir. The Horseshoe Casino is IN Hammond Marina. Unfortunately, no hotel or anything with that casino, but plenty of room to overnight in a 34 Scarab. If you DO come to Hammond, hit up the NIOC forum on here and let people know. You will want to visit the infamous T dock, where Mr. Cig, Sonic700, and a bunch of other Chicago offshore legends hang their hats...and their boats...

I will be out of town, or I'd be glad to show you around...

Yes the Hammond marina is where the Horeshoe casino is.