I recently took my son and a friend to dads slot car racing where they had the best time racing…read morecars - and eating ice cream! My son wanted to take 2 other friends back on a Thursday evening. Unfortunately, dads was closed but I saw that mid- America was open for business score! This is way bigger than dads. They had the "professional" racers up front and put us on the beginner track on the back. Lurie set up my kids and also had them racing for 30 min. They all had a fun time despite a few meltdowns, but usually the case with a group of 1st grade boys. The cars and tracks here were in much better condition than dads where everything kept breaking. So if choosing between the 2 locations I'd probably come back here next time. It's a great way to kill some time (especially on a rainy or winter day) and a pretty affordable activity too! I also think would be a fun spot for a kids bday party!

Owner Roger Schmitt operates "Mid-America Raceway and Hobbies"…read more Mid-America Raceway and Hobbies is one of the last surviving electric model car (slot) raceways open to the public. There were thousands of 'commercial' slot car tracks in the USA in the late 1960's and 1970's; there were a half dozen racing centers in the greater Atlanta area alone. A lot of things caused the slot racing centers to close one by one- people not being as interested in hobbies and the rise of computer video games being a couple of reasons. In the last few years, there has been a revival of sorts with a certain amount of people who were glued to computer screens in the 1980's and 1990's playing "adventure" and "virtual reality" games discovering it was actually more fun "playing" in 3-D. So hobbies like model railroading, R/C airplanes, and yes slot car racing have made a comeback. For a change, more new raceways have been opening in the last few years in the USA than have been closing. All that having been said- Mid-America Raceway and Hobbies is one of the best equipped and run model car raceways in North America. Mid-America Raceway and Hobbies is about people having fun and inviting their inner child to come out to play. Rental racing cars are available so that you and your buddy can pretend you are Ricky Bobby and Cal Naughton Jr. to "Shake and Bake" around their awesome 8-lane Oval track. By the same token children are invited for hours of family fun-Mid-America Raceway and Hobbies can even arrange a memorable racing birthday party for children aged 6 and up. Call them for special package deals for a day of fun for any sized group. Does your company want to encourage team building? How about a team racing event? Drivers, pit crews, team leaders... miniature racing teaches the same working together for success lessons that "pro" racing instills. Call the raceway now to plan and schedule your corporate event. Stop in sometime and check it out for yourself- but keep an open mind that this is something intended to be a pre-digital age entertainment. It may not be the right sort of thing for impatient or short attention span children or adults.

Went to our first Windy City Bulls game and I was not sure what to expect. We decided to go since…read moreit was Filipino Heritage Night. The Windy City Bulls wore Philippine themed jerseys which was pretty cool. Throughout the night they celebrated or talked about the Philippines and the history. They opened with the Philippine National Anthem followed by the United States National Anthem. For the first 2,000 fans, they gave away a toy Jeepney and if you wanted a special hat, you had to purchase it with the admission ticket. The game was entertaining and the Bulls won! What I really loved about it was it was very kid friendly and all the kids loved it. The were really involved and were into the game! The big screen and score was not over the court like most arenas, but it was off to the side. The benefit of that was the screen was bigger than the normal over the court screen. Overall, I really liked the arena, the game and the way they made it kid focused. What a great way to get the younger kids to love Bulls basketball. Parking was free and it took sometime to get out but once you got past the main lot entry, it was smooth sailing (unless you were trying to get to the 90 Interstate. I would go to another game for sure! I highly recommend going if you have little ones that loves basketball.

We attended the Now Arena for the PCB Rodeo. We rented a suite for our large group. They offered a…read morecouple packages for food and beverages. It was an amazing time, service was great!

Very nice course . . . I can say that now that I've recovered from the mini hill at mile 10.5 over…read morethe highway and the slight incline the final 2 miles. Well organized. Enough water stations. Minimal bathroom lines. Only complaint is with the hoodies. They are too feminine. My wife says thanks!

The course through Busse Woods was nice. It is a small race so for me being a slow (12-13 minute…read moremile) runner, it did not work. I ended up running most of it by myself with very little people around. The volunteers were poorly trained. I got stuck on the course and they did not know how to radio a ride to help me. The course was confusing and not clearly marked. I think if you are a faster runner and can stay with the main group this is an okay race but not for a slower back of the pack person like me.

I bring my boys here and they always are thrilled to race. They have gotten so good that they have…read moreplaced first place several times.

Great staff , friendly . One of the guys up front thinks he's Rico suave but other than that guys…read moreout on track are awesome. I come here multiple times a month

This is such a gem for the 2-7 age range! It was $15 for a 4 year old and 1 year old. Our 1.5 year…read moreold even got to ride the train (with an adult), go down the giant slide and play on the playground. Quick drive from the city. We spent 2 hours here and got to try every ride and have lunch. It's small so 2 hours was perfect. Our 4 year old rode the carousel, flying pirate ship, train, Giant slide, water boats and rock climbing wall (with harnesses). There is a big play lot that is really fun too. Concession options were good - pizza, chicken tenders, corn dog, hot dog, fries, ice cream. No juice boxes. Clean bathrooms and water fountain. Lots of tables in the shade to eat. The ride operators were extra special nice to the kids. One stopped to help our kid with her shoe at the top of the slide and one put towels on the seat of the ride so it wasn't too hot from the sun. We left happy!

This is great a place for young children…read more You only have to pay for the child. $15 for non residents. There's only two rides parents can join on - the train and the burlap sack slide. The other rides the child does by themselves. My 3 year old son had a blast! A young 3 years old was the perfect age and we will definitely take him back next year. This would be a great place for birthday parties too.

I have been to K1: Buffalo Grove and K1: Addison in the past and never really had an issue, but I…read morehappened to see an e-mail for their Karting Academy so I thought it would be a good way to introduce my 15 year old daughter to Go Karts. She didn't end up making it, but the staff was able to give me a more than fair equivalent for the Academy tuition, already above and beyond just at the check in expereince! Academy started in the classroom to learn the basics. Surprisingly, the information dump was not overwhelming and we were lead to the track for a warm up so the staff can study our pre-existing driving habits. At the academy, individual strengths and weaknesses were identified and we got LOTS of laps to practice. I was physically sweaty and tired by the time we finished! I look forward to bringing my daughter back!

A lot of fun!!! Great place for teenagers Birthday! I like…read moreto visit them just for racing with my daughter and son. We had a great time there/ Thank you guys!

This was a fun half marathon. It was super cold in 2014...but fun. Lots of random runners before…read morethe race talking to each other, being super friendly just so to keep your mind off the very cold run that is going to happen. It's mostly trails for this half marathon and you see some duplicates. Hills weren't really an issue. But, they could have done better in terms of a quality control check and had some of the road/trails salted to get rid of the ice patches. Lot's of random icy spots along the course that were very slippery and could have hurt some runners. Not sure if there were any accidents, but at least the runners are very considerate to each other as they warn you ahead of time. At post race, they gave out the finisher medal and had plenty of goodies as well. They gave out a pretty nice long sleeve fleece sweater to all runners. I will definitely be wearing that during my winter runs here in Illinois. I wouldn't mind doing this again. Friendly people, great perks, pretty cheap...hopefully they will salt the roads next time. Note to self 2014: 1:48:53

Nice race to end the Chicago running season. Ran the half at the end of the year. Pretty flat…read morecourse (with the exception of a couple of bridges). You run through a park, so the scenery is not bad, but also fairly undifferentiated throughout. Limited crowd participation except at the end.