CoCoFEST! Chicago Area Attractions and Thing To Do

Archades:

Dave & Buster’s in Lombard

Enterrium in Schaumburg

Galloping Ghost Arcade in Brookfield

Underground Retrocade in West Dundee

Things to do:

Mastermind Escape Games Escape Rooms Schaumburg, IL

Disco, Night Club, Chicago, IL

American Science and Surplus, Geneva/West Chicago, IL

American Science and Surplus, Park Ridge, IL

Chester Electronic Supply Co., Kenosha, WI

Micro Center Computers & Electronics, Westmont, IL

Hobby Lobby, Bloomingdale, IL

Alien Entertainment Store, Lombard, IL

Adler Planetarium, Chicago, IL

Brookfield Zoo, Brookfield, IL

Chinatown, Chicago, IL

Chicago Segway Tour, Chicago, IL

Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL

Illinois Railway Museum, Union, IL

DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center, Chicago, IL

North Riverside Park Mall, Riverside, IL

Yorktown Shopping Center, Lombard, IL

Leaning Tower YMCA, Niles, IL

     (half-size replica of the Tower of Pisa)

Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, IL

Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament, Schaumburg, IL

Museum of Broadcast Communications, Chicago, IL

The Oriental Institute, Chicago, IL

     (museum about ancient Middle Eastern cultures)

Six Flags Great America, Gurnee, IL

Shedd Aquarium, Chicago, IL

Twin Lakes Golf Course & Recreation Area, Palatine, IL

     (Golf and paddleboats)

Frank Lloyd Wright Tours, Oak Park, IL

Woodfield Mall, Schaumburg, IL

Geneva 3rd Street and State Street, Geneva, IL

     (Antiquing and shopping)

Long Grove, Long Grove, IL

     (Antiquing and shopping)

The House on the Rock, Spring Green, Wisconsin

Galena, IL

     (Antiquing and shopping)

Ulysses S. Grant Home, Galena, IL

Chicago Theater, Broadway Shows, Chicago, IL

Busse Forest Elk Pasture, Elk Grove Village, IL

The Sculpture Park, Schaumburg, IL

LEGOLAND Discovery Center, Schaumburg, IL

K1Speed Indoor Go Karts, Buffalo Grove, IL

Cosley Zoo, Wheaton, IL

Forest Preserve/Nature Preserve, Cook County, IL

Wendella Tours and Cruises, Chicago, IL

     (Chicago River Tours)

Chicago River Tour

Casino/Gambling

Historic Route 66 Begin Sign, Chicago, IL

Mass Transit Chicago:

Chicago Trolley and Double Decker Co, Chicago IL

Big Bus Tours Chicago, Chicago IL

Gangster Tour Chicago

Chicago Tour

Chicago Transit Authority – CTA Buses and Train Service

Metra train

South Shore Line train

Airports:

O’Hare International Airport (ORD)

Chicago Executive Airport-PWK

Schaumburg Regional Airport

Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW)

Religion:

Billy Graham Museum, Wheaton, IL

Moody Bible Institute, Chicago, IL

Bahai House of Worship, Wilmette, IL

     (I hear it is very beautiful to look at)

Ark Encounter, Willamstown, KY

Creation Museum, Petersburg, KY

Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership, Chicago, IL

The Oriental Institute, Chicago, IL

     (A museum about ancient Middle Eastern cultures)

Holocaust Museum, Skokie, IL

Sporting Events:

Chicago Sky

Chicago Cubs

Chicago Bulls

Chicago Blackhawks

Chicago Fire

Chicago White Sox

Chicago Bears

Chicago Curling Club

Chicago Park District Badminton

Chicago Boxing Events

Windy City Rollers (Roller Derby)

Roller Rink

Ice Skating

Golf

Frisbee Golf

Miniature Golf

Bowling

Shuffleboard

Carol Stream Park District Adult Pickleball

Climbing

Paddle Boat

Chicago Landmarks:

875 North Michigan Ave. (formerly known as the John Hancock Building)

Willis Tower (formerly known as the Sears Tower)

Cloudgate sculpture, Millennium Park, Chicago (known as “the Bean”)

Buckingham Fountain, Grant Park, Chicago

Chicago lakefront, Jean Baptiste Point DuSable Lake Shore Drive

Navy Pier, Chicago, IL

     (Amusement rides, boat rides, IMAX Theater, restaurants and ship cruises)

Gardens

Chicago Botanic Garden, Glencoe, IL

Lincoln Park Conservatory, Chicago, IL

Fabyan Villa Museum & Japanese Garden, Geneva, IL

Lilacia Park, Lombard, IL

Morton Arboretum, Lisle, IL

Notes:

American Science and Surplus

Salvador Garcia says: Yes, you can go to the Website and browse, but it does not prepare you for when you go in person. There is a huge number of stuff, everything from a periscope (Geneva store), beakers, test tube and more for your chem lab, motors, gearmotors, LEDs, electronic components, foam human hearts, stuffed plushy brain neurons, real frogs for dissection, bearings, magnets, DaVinci machines kits… well, the list just goes on and on.

Alien Entertainment Store

Salvador Garcia says:  And if there are any sci fi fans (Dr. Who, Star Wars, Star Trek) then Alien Entertainment in Lombard has enough stuff to keep you busy for about two hours.

If you are coming to the CoCoFEST! from out of town on an extended stay, you may be interested in other things to see while you are here. The ladies may enjoy a trip to the mall or antiquing and shopping in Long Grove, IL or Geneva, IL.

Chicago Chinatown

North Riverside Park Mall

Salvador Garcia says:  And if there are any die-hard fans of the movie Contagion, I can point you to the mall where the mall scenes were filmed 🙂

Navy Pier

(Amusement rides, boat rides, IMAX Theater, restaurants and ship cruises)

Frank Lloyd Wright Tours

Salvador Garcia says:  If anyone is into architecture, Oak Park was home to the internationally renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

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CoCoFEST! Questions and Answers

How to prepare for the CoCoFEST!

Q) What should I bring?

A1) Musical instruments.

A2) We hold two auctions, so bring stuff you want to keep out of landfills to go into the auctions, and bring some spending money to spend on auction items to add to your collection that you didn’t have a chance to purchase when you were younger.  The money from the auctions goes to help pay for the CoCoFEST!  Buy books, manuals, software, cables, joysticks, disk drives, computers, fanfold paper, and such.  If you bring an item and it does not sell, then consider taking it back home with you.  Printers generally do not sell and no one wants to be stuck with them.

A3) People are selling hardware and software (outside of the auction) so bring some spending money for that.

A4) Charge the battery in your camera and bring it.

A5) Bring hardware you want repaired or upgraded.

A6) If you have a booth, then bring extension cords, power strips, and tape to hold them down.

A7) Bring your ideas.

A8) Chicago has toll roads but you can no longer bring some change to drop in the tollbooth change accepter basket. Instead you can pay by plate by signing up at https://www.getipass.com/ Or use your GPS and avoid toll roads altogether.

A9) An ice scraper for your car, just in case.

Q) Is Wi-Fi available to all at the CoCoFEST?

A) Yes!

Q) What kind of computer should I bring to show at the CoCoFEST?

A1) CoCos, Tandy, TRS-80, Radio Shack, and clones.

A2) Anything that runs a Motorola 6809, Hitachi 6309, Motorola 68k, Zilog Z80, Intel 8080, Intel 8008, Intel 4004

A3) Southwest Technical Products Corp. (SWTPC)

A4) Tomcat, MM/1, AT306, Delmar System IV/ Peripheral Technology PT68K-4

A5) FPGA, Microprocessor, Arduino, Raspberry Pi and such.

A6) Calculator, adding machine, slide rule, and abacus.

A7) Analog computer

A8) Mechanical computers

Q) Would people want to see NitrOS-9/6809 driving a teletype machine, teleprinter, paper terminal or silent 700?

A) Yes!

Q) Would people like to see a plain old telephone bulletin board system in operation using 300 baud?

A) Yes!

Q) Can I arrange for my booth to be next to someone else?

A) If you sign up early enough then you can select the tables you want. This is done on TandyList.

Q) What is the attendance like?

A) 50 to 100 people are likely to attend and 95% of them are male.

Q) Will there be an opportunity for non-vendors to swap/trade/sell hardware?

A) The entire event consists of trading, swapping, buying and selling software, hardware, other stuff, stories, anecdotes and knowledge. I think you would be hard pressed to not find time to do this.

Q) How do I get from the airport to the hotel?

A1) You can take a rental car, taxi, Uber, or limo.

A2) If by taxi, I would recommend American Taxi (AT).

Q) What should I wear?

A1) A Hawaiian shirt and blue jeans would be fine.

A2) A CoCoFEST shirt and wash pants are also fine.

Q) How do I know I am getting a good room rate at the hotel?

A) Check out the link below:

Q) When should I arrive?

A) Get there before dark on Friday.  Sunset is 7:40 PM.

Q) When can I set up my booth/table?

A) It may be possible for a few people to set up on Friday evening between 5:00-11:59 PM.  Otherwise you can set up on Saturday morning between 8:00-9:00 AM.

Q) What are my options for gluten free food?

A1) Jimmy John’s sells a lettuce wrap.

A2) Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria, Schaumburg, IL

A3) Pizzeria Uno, Schiller Park, IL

Q) How do you know how many people are coming to the catered dinner?

A) You can signup for the dinner on TandyList.

Q) Is the CoCoFEST! in a high crime area?

A) No!  Absolutely not!

Q) Is this a busy area?

A) Busy is a relative term.  Downtown Chicago is very busy.  Carol Stream is half or a third as busy.  And parking is free.

Q) What if I have more questions?

A) Go to the About Us portion of our website.

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