The hotel between Bannockburn and Deerfield was hosting Naval Graduates and their families. I think the graduation was going on all week and there was a steady stream of very proud parents and grand-parents coming and going from the hotel. The day was going to be broken up with some essential (more) shopping and a visit up the Lake Michigan shore to Waukegan IL.
This small industrial town is situated about 28 miles north of downtown Chicago and we followed a non-toll route that runs parallel with the shoreline. Waukegan is also the home to the Naval Station Great Lakes the only Naval base in Illinois. It is the largest training station in the US Navy and consists of over 1,000 buildings. So wherever we looked there were more and more of the naval graduates in the area.
We found parking at Silver Park by it’s harbour and the marina. Further along was Waukegan’s Municipal Beach where there is plenty of free parking, toilets, beach volleyball courts and very neat sand. It is hard to look across Lake Michigan and not think that it is a sea. Very tranquil and quiet and even more graduation families walking along the shoreline.
Waukegan itself is a small town with the rail tracks running close to the lake. The area’s other nearby attraction is Six Flags Great America a 304 acre theme park. The park is in a town called Gurnee so there are plenty of restaurants and accommodation nearby. I visited in 1980 when it was called ‘Marriott’s Great America’ and the characters were all Warner Brothers cartoon favourites.
States 46 & 47 (Kenosha WI – Milwaukee WI – Chicago IL) Days 7 & 8
States 46 & 47 (Chicago IL – Kenosha WI) – Day 6
States 46 &47 – Day 4 (Altoona IA – Deerfield IL)
States 46 & 47 – (Council Bluffs IA – Altoona IA) Day 3
USA Road Trips by Max 
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