AC vs Rosemont: A live stream National Trip Report

[Fballguy]

I'm making my second consecutive trip to the National (also my only two) and with last years trip to Atlantic City still relatively fresh in my mind, I came in wondering how Rosemont would compare. My day started at 4:00 am. My wife and step daughter were catching a 6:00 am flight back to Houston. My flight to Chicago was a few hours later, but delayed multiple times due to severe weather in the Northeast. After a longer than expected day of travel, I finally did arrive on Tuesday as scheduled.

First impressions of the area...Mehhh. As the entire experience will take place within a short radius of O'Hare, the area has all the standard accoutrements...Cheap motels, train tracks, Adult bookstores, interesting people. My first impression...I like the Atlantic City area more. Maybe it's my East Coast bias. Against my gut instinct (and because my wife was subtly auditing my expenditures (living expenses anyway. ) I decided to switch my original reservation from the more highly rated Residence Inn in Rosemont to the still decently rated Wyndham Garden in Elk Grove. Based on reviews, including feedback I saw here on Net54, it seemed worth the risk to go from "Excellent" to "Very Good" if I was saving 50% on cost. In retrospect, I wish I kept the Residence Inn. This hotel seems off. Maybe it was the blood orange setting sun casting an ominous 1970s cinematic "Assault on Precinct 13" (the original obviously) pall over the area. But it just felt like something was about to go down.

If the hotel is 10% full, I'd be surprised. I've been to the lobby 5-6 times in the first 24 hours and barely seen another guest. In the parking lot, upon arrival, there were a half dozen or so cars and a van in the corner missing a tire. It looked like it had been there a while. No one behind the desk when I walked in, but there were slot machines (my hotel in AC didn't even have those). One of the two elevators makes unnerving Oceangate-like banging sounds so I'll be avoiding that one. The room, to my pleasant surprise, however was clean and the AC works great. The hallway was warm and I saw a guy walk in behind me when I first arrived carrying a box fan so I expected the worst. But the room was actually ice cold which I like. No free coffee in the morning...a major black mark for the Wyndham Garden Elk Grove. Oh well...McDonald's in only a mile away.

Dinner #1...It was getting late and I was tired. Just wanted some quick food and bed. Despite the ultra-touristy feel of the decision, I went to Harry Caray's Steak House. The reviews were good enough. The location of the place didn't inspire confidence and the sour beer smell of the bar almost triggered a 180, but I was too tired to go look for something else. I had to listen to the bartender regale the patron next to me with details of Harry Caray's "extremely difficult" bartender training program, and how most people can't cut it and how incredibly busy he was that night (the many empty barstools not withstanding)...but the food was decent. Nothing too extravagant...Just a meatball starter with some bread and an order of brussel sprouts. Completely edible...so no disappointment from me.

The hotel (about 10-15 minutes from the convention center) is surrounded on 3 sides by a trailer park, adult bookstore (with arcade...so the sign says...sounds fun. I wonder if they have Ass-teroids) and a large commercial truck repair shop. However, this morning I was treated to the delightful sight of a majestic Elk casually ambling through the neighboring grove. Luckily I had my phone in hand and quickly captured the moment for my album.

No wait...My bad. That's a garbage truck.

[Fballguy]

One hugely underrated perk of staying at the Wyndham Garden Elk Grove is that no one is going to ding your doors.

[mrreality68]

Good stuff looking forward to your updates

[jh691626]

This is amazing. I love this! Please keep posting.

[Jay Wolt]

Rob, I have a feeling that your hotel will be more jammed come the weekend.
Have a great time at the show

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Right near the show, there is nothing but hotels and mostly overpriced dining options.

There's a Mexican place within walking distance. If you like Mexican food, you should appreciate this joint. I still remember Bill Huggins with a margarita the size of his head (and have a photo somewhere of the moment). Bill preferred cubed ice over crushed in case anybody was wondering. Might be called Maria's?

There's some kind of restaurant not too far away on the same street as the convention center. It's a standalone building on a corner. Food extremely bland. Wish I could recall the name of it, but it's not something trendy nor is it a chain (as is seemingly everything else nearby). Just looks like a low-end American eatery. Avoid.

Apparently, there's a Fogo in Rosemont now. Expensive, but has always been worth it anytime I've gone to one. Just stay away from the extremely overpriced booze.

[jimtigers65]

Originally Posted by Fballguy

One hugely underrated perk of staying at the Wyndham Garden Elk Grove is that no one is going to ding your doors.

Thanks for heads up. I’m flying out of Sacramento tomorrow and staying at Wyndham Garden Elk Grove.

[Fballguy]

Day 2...Is off to a fast start. 7:00 am and I already made my first run to McDonald's for coffee. There's actually a Dunkin Donuts closer, but their coffee is too hit or miss for me. Greater chance of getting a prehistoric pour there, though at 7:00 am I'd hope they weren't serving yesterdays leftovers. Anyway...I'd be too tempted to get six donuts and a cinnamon roll. I'll save the calories for later.

I was a little surprised there weren't more food options within walking distance around the convention center (advantage Atlantic City). I arrived around noon figuring I'd grab a quick bite, drink a couple beers for energy and then head inside. I parked in the garage directly infront of DES for only $15. I believe that was cheaper than AC last year. Uber would've been $15 each way plus tip (but would've had one key advantage which I'll get to in a few minutes).

There's a catwalk connecting the garage to the convention center, so I headed there first to get the lay of the land. Around noon there was already a line of hundreds of people forming.

Satisfied with what I learned about the layout after about 20 seconds, I went to get something to eat. Not seeing any obvious destinations right off the bat, I asked a pedestrian if he was familiar with the area and if he could recommend a place. The options were Morton's, Gibsons and "some Mexican place back over there". Two minutes later, the same guy pulled up next to me in his car and offered me a ride (people sure are nice in Chicago. Advantage Rosemont. Or maybe not? ). I politely declined.

Being from Houston and marrying into a Mexican family, I eat enough Mexican so that was out. Morton's is only open for dinner, so that was out. And just like that, I was eating a $34 French Dip at the bar in Gibsons. Quick note on the immediate difference between Gibsons and Harry Caray's. The bartenders in Gibsons struck me as highly trained professionals. The guy at HCs seemed like he was toiling in Double AA, hoping to someday make it to the bigs but not really good enough. A wannabe vs the real thing. The French Dip was decent. I enjoyed it. But I didn't think it was as good as a Philly Cheesesteak (Advantage AC). For $34 you did get fries and the spicy giardiniera was a nice touch. Was it worth $34? It probably would've tasted a lot better for $20. This wouldn't prevent me from going back. I'm a steak guy for sure and I don't have a problem dropping coin on a good steak (I love Keens when I'm in NYC). I just have a "sandwiches should be under $30" policy.

Anyway...Five minutes after ordering, I received a call from a friend telling me I could come in early (A million Thank Yous!). Five enormous bites later, I was jay walking over to the show.

The lobby was pretty packed at this point...about 1:30ish. The line to buy admission tickets for the right to go stand in line extended out the door. Many people milling around, many sitting on the ground eating concession food. There was a small underwhelming and overwhelmed bar in the lobby. Also a Starbucks.

Picked up by my friend and being escorted passed convention center security, I could definitely feel the anticipation building...and then boom...the place opened up before me. Immediate sensory overload. As we walked over to his booth, I'm pretty sure my head did several Linda Blair-type rotations. It was enormous. I want to say I saw signs indicating the booths went up to the 3000s. I'll double check that today. I may have been delirious. The show spans multiple rooms, in kind of a weird (horseshoe?) configuration. At one point I wandered out of the show before realizing I was back in the lobby and had to show my pass to get back inside. The main room was much larger than the others. I think booths upto around 1000-1200 were in there.

I wish the booth numbers were displayed more prominently. It's kind of awkward to have to ask a dealer what booth number they are. "Excuse me sir, I'm looking for a guy who has good stuff, what's your booth number?". And kind of like in NYC when you're canvassing the city and need to use the restroom, you're kind of obligated to buy a beer for the right to pee. I feel like I need to buy something from the guy giving me his booth number. (I didn't )

I plan to take my time today and really dig into what's there. At this point, I feel AC had more of what I collect (Pennants almost exclusively, and Cleveland/Los Angeles Rams memorabilia). I made about 6-8 nice additions to my collection last year. So far, one day into this show, I'm not having as much luck. But yesterday was a lot more phrenetic than today will be. I had a 90 minute headstart and I knew several pennant sharks were outside circling the convention center doors. I was in Supermarket Sweep mode and honestly, by the time 3:30 hit, I hadn't bought anything for myself. I just wasn't finding it. I can confirm, however, that the National does have baseball cards. If you're into that kind of thing. Memorabilia volume seems down this year, compared to last year despite what is seemingly a bigger show this year in Rosemont. Maybe it's just perception because I'm not finding what I want.

The highlight from yesterday for me was the dinner with friends that we had after the show ended. Old friends, new friends met for the first time in AC last year and new friends met just yesterday...but somehow felt like I'd known them forever. Just a great group of guys full of jokes and insults and interesting hobby stories (and diverse. A boxing collector? I thought I had a hard time finding items). Looking forward to tonight as more friends have flown in for the show.

One last word on the advantages of Uber. As I was driving back from dinner, about 5 miles from the hotel, I noticed a cop was behind me. I had two beers with dinner spread over about two hours, so I was fine...but who wants the hassle. He seemed to be following me very closely...so closely I couldn't see the lights on top of the car in my mirror without ducking down to get a different perspective. I turned. He turned. I turned again. He turned again. I turned into my hotel parking lot. He turned into the hotel parking lot. I went around the right side of the building. He drove around the left side of the building. Never saw him again. Not sure if that was a bizarre coincidence or if he thought I was someone else. But...Advantage Uber.

PS: Excuse any typos. Wanted to hammer this out before I head over. I'll try to post more pictures later today.

PPS: Well...The place is definitely filling up!