Planning a Trip to Northwestern Game...Help
- Thread starter TRIPP
- Start date
Mike Mcdee
Special Teams Player
We are going up Thursday AM and staying until Monday. We are trying to figure out if we should get tickets now or wait on them. There are plenty of tix on tickethippo so I guess we could play the waiting game.
RedRedJarvisRedwine
All-American
Anybody have an idea on the time this game will be! Are there only certain slots available?
RockyMountainOySker
All-Conference
There will be a huge number of Nebraska fans at this game. Wouldn't surprise me at all if we actually have the majority in the stadium. I would suggest staying downtown in the loop or River North/Streeterville area. The CTA has a train that runs to within a block of Ryan field. Total time on the train would be about 45 minutes. Have fun in the city...bars, great restaurants, take an architecture boat tour if you have the time.
Green and White
Three-Star Recruit
I emailed my nephew (NW grad) and he came back this morning with the following info. on 'public parking' on the NW Campus. for anyone planning on driving up:
"Regarding the NU parking situation, there is definitely parking on campus, and NU provides several shuttles (i.e. school buses) that take fans to and from the stadium, free of charge. I'd recommend any of the northern-most parking lots just because it'll mean less time getting to and from the game. I think there's one on Sherman or Noyes, but don't quote me on that. The lots are all off of Sheridan Road. Hope this helps!!!"
As SkerChicago mentions above, if you haven't been to Chicago try to make it a long weekend. Some great sights, dinner cruises on the Lake, bars, music, museums, ethnic resturants, etc. etc.
"Regarding the NU parking situation, there is definitely parking on campus, and NU provides several shuttles (i.e. school buses) that take fans to and from the stadium, free of charge. I'd recommend any of the northern-most parking lots just because it'll mean less time getting to and from the game. I think there's one on Sherman or Noyes, but don't quote me on that. The lots are all off of Sheridan Road. Hope this helps!!!"
As SkerChicago mentions above, if you haven't been to Chicago try to make it a long weekend. Some great sights, dinner cruises on the Lake, bars, music, museums, ethnic resturants, etc. etc.
QMany
All-American
we looked at megabus too, but again i think the time slots all sucked for when i plan to leave and come back. leaving friday after work hopeufully around noon, staying till sunday afternoon. latest check out as possible because i know ill be hung over and exhausted from all day saturday!
thanks for the pics of stadium, i will be buying cheapest tickets as it looks tiny!!
Creed
Special Teams Player
I did the MegaBus from Ohio. It is a nice deal. Drops you off at Union Station, downtown Chicago. Take a cab or walk to your downtown hotel.
4skers89
All-Conference
Just to clarify. We could be talking about 3 different kinds of trains.
1. Amtrak. You can take from Lincoln/Omaha directly into downtown Chicago, Union Station.
http://tickets.amtrak.com/itd/amtrak
I've taken Amtrak from Lincoln to Chicago. Not a bad trip, just a little long. Seats are comfortable enough to get some sleep.
It looks like there is one train that leaves on Saturday from Omaha and Lincoln and gets in at 2:50 pm. If it is a night game you can get off at Union Station walk a few blocks east and take the CTA purple line up to Evanston. If it's a noon game it might be a little awkward. You'd have to stay overnight on Friday and take Friday off from work.
2. Metra. Trains that run from Suburbs into Downtown Chicago. I believe most routes end at Oglivie Station.
http://metrarail.com/metra/en/home/maps_schedules/metra_system_map.html
If you have friends that live in the suburbs you can take the Amtrak, walk across the street from Union Station to Oglivie Station and visit them. When coming into Oglivie it's useful to know which street you want to head toward since the exits are marked by which street to exit on. The nightly routes are spotty so if you want to party until 1:00 but need to get back to the burbs, you might have to wait until 5:00 or 6:00 before the next train.
3. CTA. The bus service also goes by this name. Runs local routes throughout Chicago. Been a while since I took this but I believe you need to purchase a card to get on and off. There are vending machines at the station so keep some cash handy.
http://www.transitchicago.com/riding_cta/systemguide/default.aspx
You can get from Midway or Ohare airports on it.
http://www.transitchicago.com/riding_cta/airports.aspx
If you scroll down to the downtown map here and zoom in you can see where the purple line is relative to the Oglivie and the Union Stations. Don't doze off if you need to take the Red line since you could end up in South Chicago.
http://www.transitchicago.com/assets/1/brochures/ctaSystemMapBrochure.pdf
If you get drunk and disoriented and can't find the CTA line, running short of time or whatever, you can always hail a cab and tell them to take you to Oglivie or Union Station. Most likely their english won't be very good but they'll get you to those destinations.
Omaha to Evanston looks like 7 1/2 or 8 hour drive so theoretically you could get up early early in the morning and make it to a noon game. If you can do it, the better option would be take off work early on Friday drive and stay overnight. That's what I usually doing going the other direction. Sleep in a little on Saturday and be ready for the noon game. It's a drive I've made too many times. The windfarms in western Iowa are fascinating, otherwise get used to looking at corn and soybean fields (and it's Iowa). There is the Iowa 80 truck stop, apparently the worlds largest if you believe their sign. Food's not bad there. Gas in Chicago is more expensive so fill up before you get close.
Here's information on parking and transportaton to the campus
http://www.nusports.com/tickets/gameday-info.html
People in Chicago do have a thick accent. Try not to laugh. Also, they can be abrasive and rude so don't be shocked, it's normal. In case you haven't figured it out yet, Midwesterners aren't quite the same as people in the Great Plains states.
Now I'm getting excited for this game. I need to get a ticket.
1. Amtrak. You can take from Lincoln/Omaha directly into downtown Chicago, Union Station.
http://tickets.amtrak.com/itd/amtrak
I've taken Amtrak from Lincoln to Chicago. Not a bad trip, just a little long. Seats are comfortable enough to get some sleep.
It looks like there is one train that leaves on Saturday from Omaha and Lincoln and gets in at 2:50 pm. If it is a night game you can get off at Union Station walk a few blocks east and take the CTA purple line up to Evanston. If it's a noon game it might be a little awkward. You'd have to stay overnight on Friday and take Friday off from work.
2. Metra. Trains that run from Suburbs into Downtown Chicago. I believe most routes end at Oglivie Station.
http://metrarail.com/metra/en/home/maps_schedules/metra_system_map.html
If you have friends that live in the suburbs you can take the Amtrak, walk across the street from Union Station to Oglivie Station and visit them. When coming into Oglivie it's useful to know which street you want to head toward since the exits are marked by which street to exit on. The nightly routes are spotty so if you want to party until 1:00 but need to get back to the burbs, you might have to wait until 5:00 or 6:00 before the next train.
3. CTA. The bus service also goes by this name. Runs local routes throughout Chicago. Been a while since I took this but I believe you need to purchase a card to get on and off. There are vending machines at the station so keep some cash handy.
http://www.transitchicago.com/riding_cta/systemguide/default.aspx
You can get from Midway or Ohare airports on it.
http://www.transitchicago.com/riding_cta/airports.aspx
If you scroll down to the downtown map here and zoom in you can see where the purple line is relative to the Oglivie and the Union Stations. Don't doze off if you need to take the Red line since you could end up in South Chicago.
http://www.transitchicago.com/assets/1/brochures/ctaSystemMapBrochure.pdf
If you get drunk and disoriented and can't find the CTA line, running short of time or whatever, you can always hail a cab and tell them to take you to Oglivie or Union Station. Most likely their english won't be very good but they'll get you to those destinations.
Omaha to Evanston looks like 7 1/2 or 8 hour drive so theoretically you could get up early early in the morning and make it to a noon game. If you can do it, the better option would be take off work early on Friday drive and stay overnight. That's what I usually doing going the other direction. Sleep in a little on Saturday and be ready for the noon game. It's a drive I've made too many times. The windfarms in western Iowa are fascinating, otherwise get used to looking at corn and soybean fields (and it's Iowa). There is the Iowa 80 truck stop, apparently the worlds largest if you believe their sign. Food's not bad there. Gas in Chicago is more expensive so fill up before you get close.
Here's information on parking and transportaton to the campus
http://www.nusports.com/tickets/gameday-info.html
People in Chicago do have a thick accent. Try not to laugh. Also, they can be abrasive and rude so don't be shocked, it's normal. In case you haven't figured it out yet, Midwesterners aren't quite the same as people in the Great Plains states.
Now I'm getting excited for this game. I need to get a ticket.
Last edited by a moderator:
Blackshirts007
All-American
Yes we bought 3 tickets through them and got the 10% off but then with fees it's like an extra 15 per ticket, they literally got to us in two days after purchase however, which was very nice