Holland, MI

[emerge]

So how was the trip overall?

solid A experience

worst part was traffic on the way home but that was expected

Tell me more.

well, google maps showed long stretches of red & black traffic so we opted to go south through Valparaiso, Merrillville and Schererville to avoid the backups around Gary.. would not recommend.

Heading through that area next week.  Other than avoiding Chicagoland altogether between 6 am and 8 pm, any way to get through there without committing murder/suicide?

Go up through the U.P.?

I would if we were going to MI, but we are heading south to Columbus, OH.

http://www.manitowoccarferry.com
http://www.ssbadger.com

[flyingbison]

yeah, 8pm.  we left here a bit after 5.

if you left GB at 8 AM and got to Chicago at 11 AM you'll fly through going on 294. go through the iPass lanes and just pay online afterwards.

No need to.   

I might push it a little and leave by 7:00 ... or maybe I should leave at 2:00 am, instead.  This trip is going to suck. 

[flyingbison]

http://www.manitowoccarferry.com
http://www.ssbadger.com

I've always wanted to try that thing, but it is pricey and the schedule times suck. 

[emerge]

http://www.manitowoccarferry.com
http://www.ssbadger.com

I've always wanted to try that thing, but it is pricey and the schedule times suck.

Just think of it as a 4 hour cruise.

[flyingbison]

http://www.manitowoccarferry.com
http://www.ssbadger.com

I've always wanted to try that thing, but it is pricey and the schedule times suck.

Just think of it as a 4 hour cruise.

[OHLRangers]

it's really just rush hour that fucks everything up in my experience. time it so you aren't there between 4-6:30 PM and you'll be good.

LOL

[mr. furley]

it's really just rush hour that fucks everything up in my experience. time it so you aren't there between 4-6:30 PM and you'll be good.

LOL

everyone moans about Chicago traffic but the only times i can remember it ever being really bad was 290 coming in for a Sox game late morning and one out of 20 trips through downtown.. and even at that.. never a severe delay.

timing is the key

[emerge]

Traffic has been *somewhat* lighter due to vacation season and school being out. Rush hour is still rush hour though.

[mr. furley]

Traffic has been *somewhat* lighter due to vacation season and school being out. Rush hour is still rush hour though.

i'm sure it's still a peach

in terms of someone who has to time traffic once, he should be good.... except during rush hour.

[flyingbison]

in terms of someone who has to time traffic once, he should be good.... except during rush hour.

I have to come back, too.   

[mr. furley]

in terms of someone who has to time traffic once, he should be good.... except during rush hour.

I have to come back, too.   

playing the odds here

Vegas has you at 8:1 to survive

[flyingbison]

in terms of someone who has to time traffic once, he should be good.... except during rush hour.

I have to come back, too.   

playing the odds here

Vegas has you at 8:1 to survive

Bet the farm, Mitch.

[fRed Scare]

yeah, 8pm.  we left here a bit after 5.

if you left GB at 8 AM and got to Chicago at 11 AM you'll fly through going on 294. go through the iPass lanes and just pay online afterwards.

Or better yet, just get an iPass/EZ-Pass and save 25% on tolls.

[flyingbison]

yeah, 8pm.  we left here a bit after 5.

if you left GB at 8 AM and got to Chicago at 11 AM you'll fly through going on 294. go through the iPass lanes and just pay online afterwards.

Or better yet, just get an iPass/EZ-Pass and save 25% on tolls.

Don't confuse Furley with the details. 

[Tip Top]

yeah, 8pm.  we left here a bit after 5.

if you left GB at 8 AM and got to Chicago at 11 AM you'll fly through going on 294. go through the iPass lanes and just pay online afterwards.

Or better yet, just get an iPass/EZ-Pass and save 25% on tolls.

I have an iPass just for our trips to Chicago.  Well worth getting.

[mr. furley]

yeah, 8pm.  we left here a bit after 5.

if you left GB at 8 AM and got to Chicago at 11 AM you'll fly through going on 294. go through the iPass lanes and just pay online afterwards.

Or better yet, just get an iPass/EZ-Pass and save 25% on tolls.

we stopped to pay with coins at one of the tolls on our way back

guy grilled me about not having an iPass

wtf, guy. just take my dirty coins and open the fucking gate

[flyingbison]

I've had my E-ZPass since the 1990s

[mr. furley]

yeah, 8pm.  we left here a bit after 5.

if you left GB at 8 AM and got to Chicago at 11 AM you'll fly through going on 294. go through the iPass lanes and just pay online afterwards.

Or better yet, just get an iPass/EZ-Pass and save 25% on tolls.

even better, it's 50% off now

Download and complete an I-PASS application and mail it with payment. It is $30 to open an account ($10 refundable deposit/$20 prepaid tolls). Make checks or money orders payable to the Illinois Tollway.

[flyingbison]

yeah, 8pm.  we left here a bit after 5.

if you left GB at 8 AM and got to Chicago at 11 AM you'll fly through going on 294. go through the iPass lanes and just pay online afterwards.

Or better yet, just get an iPass/EZ-Pass and save 25% on tolls.

even better, it's 50% off now

Download and complete an I-PASS application and mail it with payment. It is $30 to open an account ($10 refundable deposit/$20 prepaid tolls). Make checks or money orders payable to the Illinois Tollway.

DO IT

[mr. furley]

I ALREADY DID, STEPHE

[howardf]

So how was the trip overall?

solid A experience

worst part was traffic on the way home but that was expected

Tell me more.

well, google maps showed long stretches of red & black traffic so we opted to go south through Valparaiso, Merrillville and Schererville to avoid the backups around Gary.. would not recommend.

Heading through that area next week.  Other than avoiding Chicagoland altogether between 6 am and 8 pm, any way to get through there without committing murder/suicide?

Go up through the U.P.?

I would if we were going to MI, but we are heading south to Columbus, OH.

Make sure you go to the North Market.  It's amazing.

[flyingbison]

Make sure you go to the North Market.  It's amazing.

:notebook:

[flyingbison]

in terms of someone who has to time traffic once, he should be good.... except during rush hour.

I have to come back, too.   

playing the odds here

Vegas has you at 8:1 to survive

I SURVIVED

Traffic on the way there sucked ... the whole trip.  Slow crawl around Chicago and through NW Indiana ... Indianaoplis sucked even worse ... Columbus was only bad for the last couple of miles into downtown.  There was construction pretty much the entire way , and I wasn't able to use the cruise control for more than a couple of miles at a time.

The drive home was much better for some reason.   Sailed through Indy unscathed and hit a few slow downs around Chicago, but no big delays.  Worst traffic on the way home was actually Milwaukee, even though it was 3 in the afternoon. 

[flyingbison]

Make sure you go to the North Market.  It's amazing.

Hit the North Market twice while we were there.  Hot chicken place was OK, but a bit of a letdown.  So were the donuts.  Really like the Himalayan dumplings, the polish place, and Jeni's ice cream.  I wanted to try more, but it was so mobbed the second time we were there, I wasn't willing to wait in most of the lines. 

[emerge]

Might do a SW MI day trip one of these days.

[mr. furley]

Might do a SW MI day trip one of these days.

do it

[emerge]

Might do a SW MI day trip one of these days.

do it

I could use a permanent vacation

[flyingbison]

Might do a SW MI day trip one of these days.

do it

I could use a permanent vacation

Wine is fine but whiskey's quicker
Suicide is slow with liquor
Take a bottle and drown your sorrows
Then it floods away tomorrows

[OHLRangers]

Might do a SW MI day trip one of these days.

do it

I could use a permanent vacation

Wine is fine but whiskey's quicker
Suicide is slow with liquor
Take a bottle and drown your sorrows
Then it floods away tomorrows

Always love a good Dylan tune

[fRed Scare]

Might do a SW MI day trip one of these days.

do it

I could use a permanent vacation

Wine is fine but whiskey's quicker
Suicide is slow with liquor
Take a bottle and drown your sorrows
Then it floods away tomorrows

That suicide is painless
It brings on many changes
I can take or leave it if I please
That game of life is hard to play
I'm gonna lose it anyway
The losing card of some delay
So this is all I have to say
That suicide is painless

[flyingbison]

Might do a SW MI day trip one of these days.

do it

I could use a permanent vacation

Wine is fine but whiskey's quicker
Suicide is slow with liquor
Take a bottle and drown your sorrows
Then it floods away tomorrows

That suicide is painless
It brings on many changes
I can take or leave it if I please
That game of life is hard to play
I'm gonna lose it anyway
The losing card of some delay
So this is all I have to say
That suicide is painless

[heckmanm]

So how was the trip overall?

solid A experience

worst part was traffic on the way home but that was expected

Tell me more.

well, google maps showed long stretches of red & black traffic so we opted to go south through Valparaiso, Merrillville and Schererville to avoid the backups around Gary.. would not recommend.

About once every 5 years I drive through Merrillville just to remind myself why I don't drive thru Merrillville.

[mr. furley]

it was an amazingly awful stretch of country

although, we did some some crazy big looking waterpark that inexplicably had a dirt/grass parking lot

[thewimperoo]

Red Arrow Highway which transitions into 12 (Dunes Highway) is the pro move to avoid traffic on 94 & 90.  Can take that all the way back to Illinois.  It's definitely faster than going south. 

[fRed Scare]

So how was the trip overall?

solid A experience

worst part was traffic on the way home but that was expected

Tell me more.

well, google maps showed long stretches of red & black traffic so we opted to go south through Valparaiso, Merrillville and Schererville to avoid the backups around Gary.. would not recommend.

About once every 5 years I drive through Merrillville just to remind myself why I don't drive thru Merrillville.

For about 5 years my company had an office in Merrillville.  I hated going there.

[howardf]

So how was the trip overall?

solid A experience

worst part was traffic on the way home but that was expected

Tell me more.

well, google maps showed long stretches of red & black traffic so we opted to go south through Valparaiso, Merrillville and Schererville to avoid the backups around Gary.. would not recommend.

About once every 5 years I drive through Merrillville just to remind myself why I don't drive thru Merrillville.

For about 5 years my company had an office in Merrillville.  I hated going there.

It's always the "Fuck, I don't need gas, do I?" moment of the trip. 

[mr. furley]

WE'RE GOING BACK

less than 2 weeks from now.  i'm more excited than a grown man should be about it, maybe.

[mr. furley]

gmfb this place

so, so good. there's something to keep everyone happy.

[mr. furley]

i've eaten KC BBQ

i'll try this Michigan BBQ in a week or so and let you all know if Northern BBQ is definitively better than Southern based on my extensive research in to the matter

welp, we finally made it to the Southerner after 4 years (and 6 attempts).

had to pop in on a Wednesday at 5 to make it work. food was OK. not superlative as i'd hoped. $25 for a half chicken, mediocre collards and a biscuit. i've had better in every category for less than half price and no wait.

[emerge]

i've eaten KC BBQ

i'll try this Michigan BBQ in a week or so and let you all know if Northern BBQ is definitively better than Southern based on my extensive research in to the matter

welp, we finally made it to the Southerner after 4 years (and 6 attempts).

had to pop in on a Wednesday at 5 to make it work. food was OK. not superlative as i'd hoped. $25 for a half chicken, mediocre collards and a biscuit. i've had better in every category for less than half price and no wait.

WTFack

That’s as jacked up or more than the boutique places here I complain about.

[mr. furley]

it was nuts.

i got "traditional" chicken. they had Nashville hot on the menu, too for the same price but i saw an order come out and it looked like they dunked the chicken in ketchup after frying it. just... sloppy with sauce. that's a hard no for me.

was really excited to get the collards because that's not something that's available around here. i've tried making my own a few times but couldn't nail the flavor. that said, mine were better than theirs.

[urbanhack]

DO YOU OWN A TIME SHARE IN HOLLAND MICHIGAN NOW?

[mr. furley]

DO YOU OWN A TIME SHARE IN HOLLAND MICHIGAN NOW?

r u selling $$$