Never been to Chicago ... never been to The National

[crazy4kinsler]

Which Harry Carry's would you suggest? We were just going to do the Italian place in Rosemont. Is there a better one?

Originally Posted by Grid

Ive taken players there to do signings. Its very far from the convention center. Its in the Water Tower Place mall in the heart of downtown. Its honestly not very good. Basically its a side attraction to Harry Carys restaurant next door to it in the mall. Yet they charge you $10 to get in.

[PoPCulture]

Originally Posted by crazy4kinsler

Which Harry Carry's would you suggest? We were just going to do the Italian place in Rosemont. Is there a better one?

We went to the one at Navy Pier a couple years ago. It was fine but nothing really memorable. We had a better time at the Billy Goat Tavern the next night.

[crpalmi]

Sorry to piggyback off this but this will also be my first time at the show and I have a silly question, would general admission tickets purchased on the day of ever sell out? I could buy a ticket now but it’s the same price at the door but just want to make sure there’s no such thing as selling out.

[scotthenrichs]

Originally Posted by crpalmi

Sorry to piggyback off this but this will also be my first time at the show and I have a silly question, would general admission tickets purchased on the day of ever sell out? I could buy a ticket now but it’s the same price at the door but just want to make sure there’s no such thing as selling out.

Don’t think they’ve ever sold out, they are $5 more than buying them early, but I think that window has already passed anyways.

[JPSportshack]

As long as you've got money they'll be happy to take it.

[thepilluh]

Lollapalloza is taking place show weekend in Grant Park.

[Sluggerrr]

Originally Posted by crazy4kinsler

Didn't know the Home Alone house was in Chicago. I will definitely have to check that out.

I wouldn't bother. It's probably an hour commute from Rosemont and it's not in the city so not much else around there that I would want to see.

[here2havefun]

Originally Posted by Itsmeagain

Tourist trap? You are a tourist. Enjoy!

I was going to post this hah. Y'all are tourists, it's okay to do touristy stuff. The Navy Pier and city beach is fun to see and walk around. I absolutely love the Fine Arts Museum. There are so many hip/trendy restaurants with outdoor seating right on the sidewalk, it's fun to sit and people watch with a drink. Chicago in the summer is about as good as it gets.

For the card show, be prepared to be completely overwhelmed. There's no way you're going to see every table if you're only there for one day, just keep that in mind and be okay with that. If you try to see _everything_ you will get stressed. Just start at one side of the room and work your way through, skip right over the tables that don't have what you want, i.e. if you're looking for vintage, no need to stop at a table that's all graded shiny cards.

[here2havefun]

Originally Posted by thepilluh

Lollapalloza is taking place show weekend in Grant Park.

Oh wow, that's going to be nuts. 2 years ago, wife and I spent a few days in the city after the National, they were in the process of setting up for Lollapalloza the following weekend, and even just the set up made that whole park kind of crazy.

[crazy4kinsler]

Thank you for this. I think my wife is more excited than I am about going to Chicago. She wants to spend every day downtown. My plan right now is to do the show on Wednesday and Thursday. Not sure how that will work out.

That said, I am only interested in seeing vintage cards, mainly slabbed cards. So I can skip right over all of the modern, shiny stuff. Not really a collector of newer, unless it's the Rangers. But putting that collection on hold for now.

Originally Posted by here2havefun

I was going to post this hah. Y'all are tourists, it's okay to do touristy stuff. The Navy Pier and city beach is fun to see and walk around. I absolutely love the Fine Arts Museum. There are so many hip/trendy restaurants with outdoor seating right on the sidewalk, it's fun to sit and people watch with a drink. Chicago in the summer is about as good as it gets.

For the card show, be prepared to be completely overwhelmed. There's no way you're going to see every table if you're only there for one day, just keep that in mind and be okay with that. If you try to see _everything_ you will get stressed. Just start at one side of the room and work your way through, skip right over the tables that don't have what you want, i.e. if you're looking for vintage, no need to stop at a table that's all graded shiny cards.

[jkampis]

Originally Posted by mjohnatgt

Field Museum?

I'm a fan of the Weber Grill restaurant chain; I try to hit that each time I visit on business trips to Schaumburg, but there's one in Chicago as well. https://webergrillrestaurant.com/locations/

There are some riverboat casinos less than an hour away if you like to gamble.

Every day you don't go to the National is a day someone else is buying the card you would have gotten, from what it sounds like on Net54. Going on Wednesday, you'll have a better chance of finding more rare items before they get snatched up.

There’s actually a casino just down the road from the convention center in Des Plains, about 5 minutes away.

[hammerva]

I saw that AEW was running shows in Chicago the weekend of the National but looking at the tickets available for Dynamite on Wednesday and the cost of Uber to get to the Ballroom there, it is already putting my budget in a hole and I haven't even gotten to the actual show. Maybe I can go to the National on Wednesday and then depending on how good that day and most of Thursday, maybe I can go to Collison on Thursday

Going on vacation on a budget sucks

[crazy4kinsler]

What is AEW? I know Lollypoplooza is going on that weekend. But I don’t know anything about they either. Well probably over up town or take a train. As I said I’m a germaphobe. Not sure I want to be in a subway in a city with, what, probably a million people.

Originally Posted by hammerva

I saw that AEW was running shows in Chicago the weekend of the National but looking at the tickets available for Dynamite on Wednesday and the cost of Uber to get to the Ballroom there, it is already putting my budget in a hole and I haven't even gotten to the actual show. Maybe I can go to the National on Wednesday and then depending on how good that day and most of Thursday, maybe I can go to Collison on Thursday

Going on vacation on a budget sucks

[hammerva]

AEW is All Elite Wrestling the #2 promotion in wrestling

[here2havefun]

Originally Posted by crazy4kinsler

As I said I’m a germaphobe. Not sure I want to be in a subway in a city with, what, probably a million people.

Yikes, there's probably going to be whole sections/areas of the National show floor that you will want to avoid. Last Chicago show, I had a hard time even pushing through some sections, let alone seeing what dealers had in their cases.

The floor area straight inside from the outdoor taxi loop was the most wide-open, lots of room between tables, and I think that's where most of the vintage was.