Information needed - Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois

6 November 2018 | BlueLancer

[BlueLancer]

Looking for any FReepers who can give me some information about Rock Island Arsenal.

[BlueLancer]

After almost 20 years of avoiding being sent anywhere, I am being sent TDY to the Rock Island Arsenal for two days. I will be flying in on 27 November, two days of classes/training that I missed while having my knees replaced, and then flying out on 30 November.

I am looking for information about traffic conditions, normal weather for that time of year, any recommendations for good restaurants, any advice of what hotels/motels I should to get into or try to avoid ... that sort of stuff.

Any information any of y'all could help to provide would be greatly appreciated.

[PatriotCJC]

Go to the arsenal museum on post - AWESOME!

[NorthMountain]

Hmmm ...

Don’t know much about Rock Island Arsenal ...

But ...

The Rock Island Line is a mighty good road
The Rock Island Line is the road to ride

Or so I heard.

Years ago ...

[Abathar]

Grandpa use to turn cannon barrels there during the big one.

What I know about it is kind of dated I guess...

[ClearCase_guy]

Well, then I won’t bother to post what I was about to post ...

[DeathBeforeDishonor1]

Pretty area. You are far enough away from Chicago which is good. Illinois has ridiculous tolls. Get an I Pass. Lovely historic Galena is nearby.
If you like the rock group Cheap trick , visit Rockford about an hour east and go to Home Depot for the day. Youll see them all.
Hope you like fishing (awesome walleye fishing.)and corn.Lots of corn.
If you ride motorcycles you will be in heaven due to the scenery and winding roads.
Its near enough Chicago so food and eating out is still the best in the country.

[BlueLancer]

Well, if I've got to ride it, I gotta ride it like I find it,
So I'll get my ticket at the Station for the Rock Island Line.

[bigbob]

Traffic is not an inssue, Rock Island is part of the Quad Cities but isn’t a big place. You do have to be a US citizen and provide certain documentation in advance to enter the island, all the information is on their website.

The John Deere Commons area in downtown Moline is worth visiting, and if it’s nice weather the riverfront is nice. The fall colors will be gone by then, but the views up and down the river bluffs this time of year are spectacular.

[BlueLancer]

Sounds really nice ... but it might be a little bit of overkill for a two-day visit (especially since I’ll spend most of those days inside a classroom).

[BlueLancer]

Now that I might have enough time to do ...

[NorthMountain]

;’}

[BlueLancer]

Won't have much trouble with citizenship or ID ... I've got enough military, retired, and civil service ID to get me into just about anywhere.

Hopefully it will be nice weather. I'm originally from Central Michigan and know that it can get cold up there MUCH earlier in the year than it ever does here in Texas. What are the normal temperatures in that area for the end of November?

[DeathBeforeDishonor1]

Check with the hotel and ask about deep dish Chicago pizza or beef sandwhich's. Portillos or Giordanos or Lou malnatis if its close enough!

[pepsi_junkie]

If you like the rock group Cheap trick , visit Rockford about an hour east and go to Home Depot for the day. Youll see them all.

Which department do they work in?

[DeathBeforeDishonor1]

[DeathBeforeDishonor1]

No joke , I threw the drummer Bun E Carlos down a firemans pole one new years eve. He fell 12 feet. They live there and quite frequently youll see one of them out and about running errands.

[BlueLancer]

Heck, that doesn’t look like a pizza at all ... that’s a tomato-and-cheese cobbler!

[JohnBovenmyer]

museum's website with hours.

[ConservativeMind]

If you can get to East Davenport, the grilled tenderloins here are the best you can find:

http://www.11thstreetprecinct.com/food/

I guess they are “award winning,” now. All I know is before they greatly freshened the building up, it was a real hole-in-the-wall, and the grilled tenderloin taste hadn’t changed when I went back.

Amazing food.

[BobinIL]

The american Pickers home base is in LeClare IA not 20 minutes away.