NJC East Coast

Kristie

Kristie

Mama Bear....
Staff member
Doug and I are going to talk about sponsoring an NJC on the east coast on our way to/from switzerland this weekend.

What i want to know is how many folks do we have that live in NYC, BOS, CHI, MIA and DC? I'm not concerned with the folks that live around those areas because what we're gonna need is for the people in those areas to tell us where the good locations are as far as staying somewhere, costs, entertainment and so forth...

mainly, we want to treat it like a NJC Vegas where we don't have to get a car (can cab it everywhere for a low cost like in Vegas), hotels are priced right for the type of group we have and can be entertaining without everyone being spread all over or having to entertain 24/7....

see, the nice thing about vegas is that you can walk/cab everywhere (no need to rent a 30 person van) and it's self-entertaining and that's what i would be looking for on the east coast....

so, let me know your thoughts...I have ACity that i'm looking at as well but want to take the major city's at a broad scale for now.


*btw, i think i've exceeded meritflyers poll posting count! :)*
 
I've been to all of those cities a few times, minus MIA. Never been there. However, out of those options I'll tell you that Chicago and NYC are by far the two best options. Here is why: Transportation. I have some familiarity with NYC, and I know they have decent public transportation. Thing is, Chicago has in my opinion one of the best public transportation systems around. Anyone who flies into ORD or MDW will be able to take a train ride for less than an hour into the city for $3 (if I remember the price correctly). Better than that, with a small walking you can hit most of the large attractions... the Museum of Natural History, the Shedd Aquarium, The Planetarium, Grant Park, Millienium Park, Navy Pier, Michigan Avenue, Sears Tower, John Hancock Building, Rush Street, and for another train pass Wrigleyville/Lakeview. If people did want to take a cab, most areas in the city are $10-15 at most if you keep it a reasonable distance. I've had days though where we'd walk from the Museums/Soldier Field down the lakefront to Navy Pier, then over to Michigan Avenue, then take the El line (subway, but elevated) to Wrigleyville. You'll be tired by the end of the day, but it's a blast.

It really depends though on the time of year. Any time between May and September is great for doing the walking, shopping, museums, etc. Especially so with Navy Pier! You can't really experience Navy Pier if you go in winter... the ferris wheel, and the Beer Garden... great times. There is an abundance of bars and restaurants to choose from, and most are moderately priced... not like NYC, where beer and food rivals Vegas prices.

In fact, I could probably plan out restaurants and bars to hit up for a whole weekend like Vegas, and still have a good time. For an hotel event, there are some great, high-class hotels near Michigan Avenue and other places downtown that would be perfect.

As for aviation events, you have two majors airports to choose from, not to mention the other airports nearby. A tour of Boeing's Corporate Flight department in Gary, IN might be neat. A tour of SWA operations in MDW, or United and American operations in ORD. I've done tours of the American ops in ORD, and it's a great visit. Each of these three airlines mentioned has major maintenance facilities at MDW or ORD which is always an interesting experience. As for ATC, you have ORD and MDW towers (ORD would be a spectacular tour!), Chicago TRACON, and Chicago Center. The Center facility is in Aurora, so that is a mile drive from downtown. If we did the MDW or ORD visits, those are just train rides for $3. Approach and Center would require cars or a van. Then of course there is Boeing Hdq in downtown Chicago, but who wants to go see cubicles. :D Finally, MDW has some major corporate flight departments, as do DPA and PWK (the final two driving distance again).

I think you'd find better hotel accomodation pricing in Chicago than in NYC or DC (not sure about Miami), not to mention competitive flights via SWA, AirTran, etc. to MDW. I know JetBlue will be starting flights from JFK soon if all goes as they plan.

Finally, I think you'd find we'd all be a lot better off with the time zone change in Chicago than other spots... the west-coast types will only change one to two hours rather than three, and the east-coast types will only drop back one hour. Not as much of a shock on the biological clock like Vegas when getting to the hotel room late (or early as it may be :D).

Ok, there is my sales pitch on Chicago! I am biased, I will admit... but overall I think you'll find this to be a clean, easy-navigatable city that is a bit more friendly than NYC and much cheaper as well. Not to mention the benefits of three major airlines having a hub here, with two major airports to choose from for travel and tours.
 
What about Hotel costs in Chi and NY...To be where you wanna be in NYC is gonna cost more then most are going to want to pay. I would think the same about downtown Chicago. I know where we stay out by the airport in ORD is realitively inexpensive, but its a 50 min train ride into the city. Frugal hotels in NYC can be downright scary...But true, great cities!
 
Kristie said:
*btw, i think i've exceeded meritflyers poll posting count! :)*
Click to expand...

Now, now K. You know what this means..
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Opps sorry about voting for DC thought that was a vote for where we wanted to go, I guess I should have read the thread.
 
I certainly do! :)

no.. the vote isn't for where you want to go... at least, not yet! haha
 
What about the Jersey Shore? We get a house on the water for the weekend with plenty of rooms, you will have access to the beach, a short train ride to NYC, and a cheap AWESOME night life (that Seggy has connections to :) )
 
You can definitely get around the DC area without a car. The Metro takes you pretty much everywhere and you can cab wherever else you need to get.
 
BOS is a nice, clean, safe city with EASY transportation via the "T". Get a weekend pass for $10? or so. The T covers the airport as well and is close to downtown. I'm not too familair with the hotels down there. I always ended up with friends. The clubs and bars are great. I believe Sam Adams has a brewery there. Lots of Irish pubs too. Oh yeah, its also 20% college students for gawking et. al.

I an a 4hr or so drive from BOS
 
Seggy said:
What about the Jersey Shore? We get a house on the water for the weekend with plenty of rooms, you will have access to the beach, a short train ride to NYC, and a cheap AWESOME night life (that Seggy has connections to :) )
Click to expand...

Great idea! The ocean, good food and gambling (for those that must)! And it's a short train ride to Philly too!
 
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