MN Chicago Road Trip

That's a gracious and kind offer JodoKast, but I have to turn around and head straight back to Minneapolis right after the movie. I wanted to extend my appreciation for your hospitality nonetheless.

You are a towering figure is the Backyard-BBQ Pantheon...

 

Hey, To all headed to the Windy City - Hoo Ahh - I will be seeing it next weekend there
So I look forward to the scouting reports. Have a great and safe trip and may the force be with all of you!!
Reb

 

Hi QG Jenn...

MaraJadeSkywalkerFF might be looking for drivers/riders due to her work schedule PM her, or vice versa. I'll be showing up early for shopping then meet you all at the movie.

 

QG Jenn. If you'd like to travel together, let me know! Sorry I didn't see this sooner, I've been offline the last couple of days.

I'll send you a PM with my phone number. If you get my answering machine, leave a message and I'll call you back!

 

We'll be leaving soon. See you guys tomorrow!

 

I hope you guys/gals all have a great Trip. Let us know how it goes.

 

Yes, please do tell. Is it worth the trip or not? Inquiring minds want to know!

 

It was worth it, but I don't think I would go more than once per SW movie.

 

(Waving hand in Jedi fashion) You will return. No, you must return..........

 

Thank you to everyone who made the long
trip down here, it was fun meeting you!
I plan on having the few pictures I took
at CONvergence. Hope to see you all there.

Mary from Chicago Force

 

Sounds like you guys has a blast wish i was there. well i get to meet some more of you at convergence and at the planing meeting on friday

Ben

 

I hope everybody that went had a good time.

Vader2000: Having seen it at a digital theater, you can read what I thought here if you would like to do so. I figured since I didn't go on the Chicago Road trip, I shouldn't post my experience in here.

~*~Bria

 

Yeah, I read what you said Bria. I was just curious to see what others thought too. Thanks, though.

 

Wow, what a weekend. Here's my trip summary:

Alison, Jason, and I left from downtown Minneapolis just after 2:00pm on Friday. Alison picked me up at work and we went straight from there. 389 miles later we arrived in Schaumburg. We took 4 stops for various things (changing Jason's diaper, Alison stretching her legs, supper, gas) and even with some crawling traffic just east of Tomah, Wisconsin, we made it there around 10:00pm. The place we stayed was a Homestead a few miles from the theater. It was really nice - we had a kitchenette with a stove, refrigerator, and microwave. The rate was really good, too - only $49 through Travelocity.

Saturday morning we cooked our own breakfast and left at 10:00am to go to the theater. We went to Gameworks first, and saw Zak and his dad there. Jason really like climbing onto the seats for the tank games and playing with the steering wheels. We had lunch at the Gameworks Grill and then walked over to the theater where we met ElenSarah and her friend Paige, who had ridden with Zak. JediGSeif and his friend Dave were already seated. Bobafemme and MJSFF came in at the last minute with a bunch of the Chicago Force members.

Let me say seeing AotC in digital was AWESOME! Everything seemed so sharp and crisp. I noticed so much more of those little details like reflections, lighting and shadows, etc. Definitely worth seeing. If I lived near a digital theater I wouldn't see it any other way.

After the movie we all met out in the hall, and I saw some of the Chicago and Milwaukee people. Got directions to the train station and parking information for Miller Park, and then we took off. Stopped back at the hotel to stock up on diapers (don't leave home without them!) and drop off a few things, and then drove to the Rosemont CTA station, which is right next to O'Hare. We had to stop by a gas station first to get some quarters, as you had to prepay for parking with quarters only (only $1.50, so not bad for a whole day, but annoying that you had to have exact change). The attendant at the station waved us through when he saw us examining the ticket vending machine, so our first ride was free. (I like free.)

Chicago was fun to see, but I wish we'd had more time. We started out on State Street and saw some of the shopping district. We had supper there (a cop recommended a place called Beef & Brandy, which turned out to be very good). Then we took a bus to Navy Pier. Just walked around there, got a couple of souveniers and a sweatshirt for Jason so he wouldn't freeze. It was pretty windy right there on the lake. I realize Chicago is the Windy City, but it was in the 70's in Schaumburg, so we didn't think to bring our jackets with us. From Navy Pier we took the bus to Michigan Ave. and walked up that to the Water Tower. We had ice cream at the Ghiradelli Soda Fountain. Mmm, ice cream. Mmm, Ghiradelli chocolate. Mmm^2, Ghiradelli Chocolate Ice Cream. Then we walked up to the Hancock building and went up to the observatory. Jason was fascinated with looking down at the cars (he's HUGE into cars right now). We walked to the CTA station from there and rode back to Rosemont. Jason fell asleep on the train, as it was a little past his bedtime (after midnight, actually). By the time we got to the hotel and fell into bed it was 1:00am.

Sunday Alison made breakfast again and we packed up and checked out. The drive to Milwaukee was smooth and easy, about 90 minutes. Miller Park was right next to I-94, so we didn't have any trouble finding it. The walk from the parking lot to the stadium was a pretty good hike. Then we had to go all the way around the stadium just to get our tickets. They were giving out Ben Sheets (Brewers pitcher) bobblehead dolls to all the kids, so Jason scored one of those. We found our seats and saw many other Twins fans there. It was a good game, especially for the Twins fans, as we won 7-6. I went down to talk to JediGSeif and Dave in the middle of the game, but only got to talk to Dave, as Gregory was stretching his legs - out

 

V2k: Allrightly then.

jfren: Sounds like you had a blast. That's great. Hanging out with FF folks is always a lot of fun.

~*~Bria

 

my hang over was all tk604's fault!!!!

 

So much better with the DLP, so crisp. Then there was the Hello Kitty store, such bliss

 

HEY JFREN, the Chicago Force people were
the first to arrive. The folks with
Bobbafemme were from the 501st!
Mos Eislen Radio, JodoKast74, JediJeff 13
and myself were there waiting for everybody else.

 

Wow, sounds like everyone had a fun time. I wish I could get over there and see it, but it'll probably be gone by the time I can go.

I'm curious, though. How packed was the theater at the screening you went to? Do you think digital will continue to expand to other theaters?

 

Digital projectors are fairly expensive, from what I've heard. But... a theater can have one digital projector, without having an entire theater full of them (if any do?). I know the screen I saw AOTC on in Arizona (Harkins Arrowhead Cinemas 18 in Peoria) had the only digital projector at that theater. Hopefully a MN theater will invest in one.

~*~Bria

 

Amber_Eyes - you guys must have been seated already when we got there, because I didn't see you until after. I saw darthgoat with Bobafemme and MJSFF, so I just assumed the others were you guys. No offense (to either party).

Vader2K - it was pretty full, but there were still a few seats available, in the front row and in the back corners mostly. I think DLP will grow. I don't think many, or any, theaters will convert all of their screens, but I think a lot will have at least one DLP screen eventually. The Woodfield theater had only one DLP screen. I don't know about McClurg.

 

McClurg has 1 DLP screen that seats about 700 and Woodfield seats 335 exactly. (Yes, the nerd I am, remembering that)

 

actually the folks with bobafemme were 2 Rebel Legion members and 2 501st members.

just fyi.

 

So 2 scum and 2 villainy, eh?

 

Yeah, I know it'll be a long time before all the screens in any given theater will be DLP, but it'd be cool to see at least one of the theaters here getting a digital projector.