Parking TC in Chicago?

camperpaul wrote:

jroddick wrote:
I would be very careful where you park in the Chicago area. The towing companies are a bunch of pirates.
-- snip --

To wit ...

Ha! Good one. S&S Towing is in Melrose Park midway between Glendale Heights and Lincoln Park. They can only legally tow you to a storage yard 10 air miles away.

I thought of Steve Goodman too. Lincoln Park Towing is still in business, sadly, Steve passed away, and still the Cubs haven't won a WS since 1908 and haven't been to one since 1945.

Way, way, tow them away...

But Glendale Heights is certainly not Chicago.

I would be very careful where you park in the Chicago area. The towing companies are a bunch of pirates. I stopped for a bite to eat in Glendale Heights a couple years ago in my big rig at a shopping center where we have stopped for many years. S&S Towing broke into my new Freightliner Cascadia and drove it away, almost running me down in the process. It took a $50 cab ride and $700 to get my truck back. It nearly ended in violence. The Illinois Commerce Commision Police eventually forced them to pay it all back. I had a couple of million dollars worth of CT scanners in the trailer. It still pisses me off. I have an extensive file on the stooges who ripped off my truck as well as the Sicilians who own the property they operate on. The owner of the towing company was shot and critically wounded by a towing victim a few years ago. I'm not surprised.

Sue Bee wrote:

Indiana Dunes is close (50 miles east) to the city, there is the South Shore train stop right at the park entrance, it is about 1 1/4 hours from Dune Park stop to Millenium station, it also stops at the museum campus.

I completely agree with Sue Bee. The Indiana Dunes can be beautiful and its not too far to Chicago. I know I was a bit harsh in an earlier post - but unless you live in Downstate its a little hard to understand the profound resentment that is felt towards Chicago. And if you have been the unwitting victim of a flash mob of "youths" on Michigan Ave., as one of our friends was, you'll know why people avoid Chicago.

Choose good weather - not hot weather - for your trip. Stay away from the south side and the west side - they're as dangerous as Baghdad. Feel comfortable inside the Chicago Art Institute, one of the best museums in the world as well as the Field Museum. Get back to the Dunes before nightfall.

The OP is coming from the south, so campgrounds south of the city are the best bet.

Indiana Dunes is close (50 miles east) to the city, there is the South Shore train stop right at the park entrance, it is about 1 1/4 hours from Dune Park stop to Millenium station, it also stops at the museum campus.

Plus, the Dunes is worth a day or two of exploration there, beautiful beach, trails, etc.

From Millenium station, it is exactly a 1 mile walk or less than 2 mile cab to Willis (Sears) Tower.

Navy Pier is less than two miles to Millenium Station.

Wendella Boats offers really cool tours of the Chicago River and Lake Michigan (sunset tours, architecture tours, fireworks tours, etc)

Here is a tip, if you take a cab back to Millenium, tell them to drop you off short of the station so that the panhandlers don't harrass you as you get out of the cab.

If you are interested in the Museum Campus, the City Pass is a really good deal, and it also gives you admission to the Skydeck at the Willis.

As others have mentioned, driving a truck in parts of Chicago is prohibited, parking is just about impossible and super expensive when you find it, and traffic can be just about gridlock, especially on weekends, during the Taste, and when there are ballgames at either US Cellular or Wrigley.

RVs and trucks are prohibited on Lake Shore Drive.

ILL traveler, I am a bit confused. You say to avoid Lakeshore drive but according to the map , Highway 41 is Lakeshore drive. So if I'm coming down Highway 41 and take the 31 st. exit, it looks like I would be coming off Lakeshore drive. However I would be coming in from the south anyway and could stay away from Lakeshore I suppose.

RV parking
Depending on when you will be visiting, plenty of harbors/ parks along lake front with parking. ei.. Montrose harbor
martin campground
Not much of a campground, just a place to sleep. easy access to I-80 southwest of town. (close to nascar track)

Rode Rt.41 from Indiana through the city up to WI back in 86 I think. Had a Chevy C-30 crew cab srw and a 10'tc. Closed my eyes for the low bridges, saw many amazing things south of the Loop, most want to forget about, but the memories linger........I learned where Mueller Indiana is, don't go there.