Where to fly in Illinois?

J

JOhnH

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Strange question I guess. But when we owned our first plane (a C-172) we flew to about 20 states. We only count those states where we spend the night.

Then we bought the Bonanza and continued tracking states visited until we got all 49 States, including Alaska but not including Hawaii.

The other day we got to wondering, how many states have we actually visited in the Bonanza. We knew that we visited a lot of states in the Bo that we had previously visited in the 172. It turned out that the only State (besides Hawaii) that we have not been to in the Bonanza is Illinois.

So we want to go back to Illinois. But where?
We like history, scenery, museums, and RESTAURANTS! (not necessarily in that order) if that helps.

Suggestions?
 
As much as it pains me to say it, Chicago is the obvious answer. The skyline tour is one of the most unique things you can do in a small airplane. The museum of science & industry has stuff you can only see there, and there are many more museums. Whatever restaurant you could possibly want; Pilot Pete's at Schaumburg (06C) maybe isn't world class, but it's worth a visit if you're up there. You could easily spend a week up there.

If Chicago is too busy (and honestly, it is for me), Springfield is my second suggestion. The Dana Thomas House is worth a trip, as is the Abraham Lincoln museum. Many Lincoln related sites of course. I don't have any restaurant recommendations there, but being the state capital I'm sure there's a few good ones. The airport is pretty quiet and easy to deal with.
 
We used to live in Springfield, IL. Big fan of the Dana Thomas house. Always thought it was really cool.

Get a horseshoe at Darcy’s Pint.

Be sure to do a landing/takeoff at Palmyra (5K1) just 30 miles SW. 32 ft wide runway.


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I forgot; I do have a restaurant recommendation in Springfield... the Cozy Dog. Birthplace of the corn dog, and an original Rte 66 attraction.
 
Based on your interests I'm casting another vote for Chicago, and I promise that's not just the bias of me being a long-time Chicago resident ;)
There's other places around the state with attractions but if you're itching for museums and food, then Chicago is the place to be!
 
I think it depends also if just wanting a stop for lunch, or set up an overnight?
 
Thanks for all the suggestions. I suspect we will stay in Chicago for a couple of days and make a day trip or two to some of the places mentioned.
sourdough44 said:
I think it depends also if just wanting a stop for lunch, or set up an overnight?
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Yes, we will be setting up an overnight (or two or three). As I said,
JOhnH said:
We only count those states where we spend the night.
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Good restaurant on the field at Rochelle (RPJ) called Flight Deck. Recommend going there on a nice weather day and you can watch the crazy skydivers land right next to the patio.

Pilot Pete's restaurant in Schaumburg (06C)

Charlie's Restaurant at Bolingbrooks Clow airport (1C5)

Chicago skyline tour is recommended.

BlueHaven Cafe on the field at Quincy Regional (UIN). (I haven't been here yet)

If you are coming in June, stop at my home airport in Geneseo, IL (3G8) on Father's Day for pancake breakfast.

Moline is a great place to stop if you are interested in touring a John Deere factory or their Pavilion (contact me if that is the case).

I believe Decatur (DEC) has a restaurant on the field.

I agree that the Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield is top notch.

Cahokia Mounds park near St. Louis is interesting, but I haven't been there in 20+ years.

Shawnee National Forest and Garden of the God's in Southern, IL

Hope this helps...
 
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Yup, we're doing Chicago next month. Wife and kiddo never been, but she's really excited about the museums and parks, skyline et al. Should be a good time. Decided to go rental car less this time, so we'll see how that works out with the kid in tow. Coming from the south I'm using MDW.
 
hindsight2020 said:
Yup, we're doing Chicago next month. Wife and kiddo never been, but she's really excited about the museums and parks, skyline et al. Should be a good time. Decided to go rental car less this time, so we'll see how that works out with the kid in tow. Coming from the south I'm using MDW.
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Unless you are leaving the city, why would you rent a car so you can pay $30/day to park it and not use it? CTA, Uber, Lyft . . . or taxi if desperate.
 
hindsight2020 said:
Yup, we're doing Chicago next month. Wife and kiddo never been, but she's really excited about the museums and parks, skyline et al. Should be a good time. Decided to go rental car less this time, so we'll see how that works out with the kid in tow. Coming from the south I'm using MDW.
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The FBOs at MDW will give you a ride to the CTA train station at the passenger terminal. You can ride the Orange Line into downtown from there.

- Martin
 
Dave Theisen said:
@Jim K will knock his home base of CMI, but I really enjoyed some of the downtown restaurants when I had a trip there.

Jim said that farming is the number one activity in Champaign, but he has five kids, so I’d argue that farming is number two on the list. :)
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I mean, there's nothing else to do here...
 
Jim K said:
As much as it pains me to say it, Chicago is the obvious answer. The skyline tour is one of the most unique things you can do in a small airplane. The museum of science & industry has stuff you can only see there, and there are many more museums. Whatever restaurant you could possibly want; Pilot Pete's at Schaumburg (06C) maybe isn't world class, but it's worth a visit if you're up there. You could easily spend a week up there.

If Chicago is too busy (and honestly, it is for me), Springfield is my second suggestion. The Dana Thomas House is worth a trip, as is the Abraham Lincoln museum. Many Lincoln related sites of course. I don't have any restaurant recommendations there, but being the state capital I'm sure there's a few good ones. The airport is pretty quiet and easy to deal with.
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Seeing the skyline in Chicago from the air is amazing. Love it every time.
 
I recommend Peoria. We have the Caterpillar museum. I mean, who wouldn't fly hundreds of miles to see it? And if you park at 3MY you can walk to the Panera.

Follow me for more tips.
 
NealRomeoGolf said:
I recommend Peoria. We have the Caterpillar museum. I mean, who wouldn't fly hundreds of miles to see it? And if you park at 3MY you can walk to the Panera.

Follow me for more tips.
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I thought the cat museum would be bigger, but it was fun; told a story. It's similar in size to the John deere pavilion in Moline, but they do a lot more with it. The JD Pavilion was a real disappointment. Plan about 20m there. Moline is cool though... the Rock Island Arsenal is awesome if you're into guns. Any old river town is usually worth a visit. Between the Illinois, Mississippi, Wabash, and Ohio, Illinois has lots of them. Technically Chicago is a river town.

Speaking of hugely important river towns collapsing under the weight of poor governance, Cairo would be the lowest effort way to get an illinois credit if you're coming from the south. They have a nice (old... everything is from the 60's before the city really fell apart) airport. Take the courtesy car; drive around and look at all the abandoned buildings. Keep your doors locked. Actually there are some people restoring old Victorian mansions into b&b's, so maybe Cairo will rise again.
 
I would vote for the Chicago skyline tour, but funnily enough we made a lunch run from the Nashville area to MDH (Carbondale) this weekend. There's a quite nice restaurant/brewery in the FBO building that we'll probably go back to with some empty growlers to fill so the pilot can partake after getting back home. :)

Based on what I could see from the air, though, I don't think there's a whole lot else going on in the area (locals can correct me if I'm wrong).
 
well, made the command decision to scrub the TX-IL trip via lawnmower this morning. Icing sigmet from the surface persisting through the day for half of my entire route would mean I would have to drive the arrow at pattern altitude from Little Rock, and hope I could weave whatever precip before the ceilings dropped further at MDW in the evening; little slop for delay. Just too much work with fam onboard to still potentially end up stuck with bad wx, so we're taking the tube tomorrow at great premium and dispensing with the weather what if'fing. Live to fly another day though.

To be fair, fiki would have made the planning much easier, since the icing is not persistent enough and the weather for cruising is pretty much clear above. Oh well, fiki expenses are not in the cards for my case use, so we rent seats in the big fiki tube for this one. Still looking forward to showing the wife the city, she's still very excited (first time for her). cheers!
 
Really, nothing to add to trips to Illinois since Meigs field was one of the best experiences, and it’s no more. I don’t think anyone is interested in the white squirrels found in the town of Olney a few miles from KOLY. Flying into St Louis downtown area was always easiest for me arriving at KCPS on the Illinois side though, where seeing the Arch from the air is kinda something to say you’ve done.
 
We made a run over to SPI today for my nephew's Eagle Scout Ceremony. Went over early and toured the Cathedral, the Statehouse and Lincoln's tomb. All three were way more impressive than I remembered. The state house in particular had an excellent guided tour. Had a Cozy Dog too. Enterprise dropped the car at the fbo for just a couple dollars more than the in town price, and there was no ramp fee or fuel minimum.

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mark.staggs said:
I would vote for the Chicago skyline tour, but funnily enough we made a lunch run from the Nashville area to MDH (Carbondale) this weekend. There's a quite nice restaurant/brewery in the FBO building that we'll probably go back to with some empty growlers to fill so the pilot can partake after getting back home. :)

Based on what I could see from the air, though, I don't think there's a whole lot else going on in the area (locals can correct me if I'm wrong).
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There is a lot of good hiking in southern IL, but you definitely need a car, and a lot of digging to find the good places. Giant City State Park is the obvious place nearby. There is also SIU. The campus is pretty nice, and there are of course some decent restaurants, but nothing I'd go out of my way to get to.
 
keen9 said:
There is a lot of good hiking in southern IL, but you definitely need a car, and a lot of digging to find the good places. Giant City State Park is the obvious place nearby. There is also SIU. The campus is pretty nice, and there are of course some decent restaurants, but nothing I'd go out of my way to get to.
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+1 for hiking around Carbondale and +many for needing a car. There are some really good restaurants in Carbondale if you're willing to dig a little, including the best tacos and burrito I've had since leaving CA (in the back of Doña Camila).

ETA: Best option for variety with a good chance of success is brunch IME.

If you're adventurous and overnight you can stay in a fallout shelter.

Nauga,
fallout-adjacent
 
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Dave Theisen said:
I’ll be in Decatur next week. Any restaurant recommendations?
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We ate at Bobbie Lane's BBQ once and enjoyed it. The FBO at KDEC wasn't very friendly though, but at least they have the highest fuel prices around.
 
Oceanview IL had a prominent place in "Follow that Bird", a Sesame Street video that my kids drove me crazy with. But I always like the absurdity of the name. You should check out the Oceanview FBO and report back! :)

-Skip
 
baboss said:
I have friends that enjoy the Beach House. I've never been.
home | Beach House | Decatur IL US (decaturbeachhouse.com)
we're open:
Lunch Tues-Friday 11-1

Tuesday - Saturday
open from 5pm
call for closing hours
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The beach house is pretty good. It's a little more classy like Dave :p. The restaurant on the field is supposed to be pretty good too, but I haven't been there because I'm too cheap to pay the the ramp fee. It's more of a casual type place. Other than that, maybe see if they'll let you borrow the plane...
 
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